SpoonWood Productions - Educational Art Programs

Increasing Knowledge through Art
Octavia Sexton
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About Me
 
"With flesh and bone, heart and soul - a single thread - I weave my cultural traditions and wisdom into the fabric of the human experience."

 

ABOUT ME:

 

A storyteller and teaching artist, I was born into a storytelling tradition. My grandparents didn’t have a formal education but were master storytellers.  They told stories their English/Irish/Cherokee parents and grandparents had been telling for generations. I attended a one-room school in eastern Kentucky through eighth grade.  We were all just a bunch of poor country kids.  We didn’t have toys to play with at recess so we played a lot of imaginative games, told stories, and made up a lot of songs.  I guess I was always a ‘show off’ and loved being in front of a bunch of people telling stories.  My storytelling programs provide a glimpse into an Appalachia past and my natural dialect includes many of the words, euphemisms and remnants of Old English. I often tell Jack Tales, stories that originated on the British Isles 800+ years ago.

 

 

 

 


Performance History
I grew up with the oral tradition of storytelling and became a full time performing artist over 20 years ago. I perform folktales, ghost ‘haint’ tales, personal and original stories. I have produced eight CDs and hosted a health related story radio program for 7 years. I am a teaching artist and have been working in schools for 25 years using story to teach across the curriculum. My most popular workshop is in writing Jack Tales.

In 2000, I co-founded SpoonWood Productions, an educational performing arts company with storytelling, drama, music, writing, and substance abuse prevention programs. With over 20 years experience in the teaching field I have designed my arts programs to be educational as well as entertaining.
My son, Ellis Dale Sexton, is a singer/musician and often presents along with me in many programs. 
Touring History/Affiliations
I have a touring history that covers 10 states and includes hundreds of performances and presentations including The Lehigh Valley Storytelling Festival, Kentucky Storyteller at NSA 2009 Conference, Alabama Storytelling Festival, featured storyteller/presenter at the 2010 Kentucky Storytelling Association Conference, Presenter at O.O.P.S (Ohio Order for the Preservation of Storytelling) Conference 2011. I am a teaching artist with the Kentucky Arts Council and VSA Arts of KY and Indiana. My work was also selected for Kentucky on Stage, the juried performing arts directory of the Kentucky Arts Council. I belong to the Kentucky Storytelling Association, O.O.P.S. and NSN.