• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
      Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
    • CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
      CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
    • WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
      WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
      Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
    • It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
      It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
    • What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
      What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • No image
      Pentimento’s Open Mic is Like an Old Patchwork Quilt–Worn, Yet Cozy
    • No image
      Kanye’s Antisemitism Steps on his Shoe Brand
    • Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
      Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Sports and Wellness
    • Student-Athlete of October
      Student-Athlete of October
    • Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
      Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
    • The Case for Body Neutrality
      The Case for Body Neutrality
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
      Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
    • Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
      Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
    • The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
      The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Aurora Daniel ArtsDecember 7, 2022

Pentimento’s Open Mic is Like an Old Patchwork Quilt–Worn, Yet Cozy

On Saturday Dec. 4 Pentimento, Wellesley’s Visual Art Magazine, hosted a coming-of-age themed open mic in Pendleton West. Regina Gallardo ’23, editor-in-chief of Pentimento, wanted to host a live performance event in order to capture the spirit of the Modernist movement, where the visual and performing arts often coincided with one another, whether that was through shared spaces, events where both would take place, or collaboration between artists of both disciplines. There were both music performances and poetry readings, as well as the closing comedy sketch which was a slow drip dry of the veins of the show. 

It opened with a cover of Andrew Bird’s “Left Handed Kisses” by Quinn Etoll ’23 (vocals), Julien Barriere ’24 (guitar, vocals), and Madeliene Speagle ’23 (violin). This was a great opener as many coming-of-age experiences involve heartbreak and the messiness of romance, which continued to appear throughout the night. Both Etoll and Barriere’s solo acts featured songs they wrote about love, with Etoll’s sobering “After You’re Gone,” written for someone she met at an open mic, balancing Barriere’s saccharine “Calico,” about a love confession to his now girlfriend. On the poetry side, Anneliese Peerbolte ’26 “Love Letter to a Taurus,” a heartwarming rendition of butch love, was read because although they “keep writing poems about people and then breaking up with them” it’s still a good poem in their eyes. Although not necessarily about her own coming of age, Carolina de la Vega ’26 read “Lobster Song,” a playful poem about the separation of two queer lobster soulmates that she wrote after eating lobster with friends in Boston. Love isn’t just that shared between people (or lobsters), but also with oneself. Ayelet Kaminer’s ’25 “Prayer Upon Buying a Vibrator,” read in both Hebrew and English, rejected shame about self-pleasure and instead held reverence for it. 

In addition to struggles with romantic love were those with societal expectations. Jacqueline Roderick ’23 read “Reimbursement,” a poem they wrote during sophomore fall that dealt with some of the classism that they had experienced during their time at Wellesley. As someone from a low-income background myself, I choked up a little at the line “your food was for thought, mine was for eating,” because it gets at the fact that those with financial privilege are able to experience more because they don’t have to just focus on survival. The second song Dan Lu ’26 performed expressed the pressure she felt to perform femininity and her declaring that she was “not going to be who my daddy wants [her] to be.” Finally Phoenix Endicott ’25 read “A House Called Tomorrow” by Alberto Ríos and explained that, alongside the motto “Make your ancestors proud” and a Hawaiian saying, these were the things they kept in mind when things got difficult or they needed motivation to keep going.

To close things out Barriere and Speagle gave an impromptu comedy sketch, mostly focusing on building off of strange responses to questions for the audience. One such response led to a few different theme park anecdotes, such as taking photos with alligators at Gatorland in Florida or near-lawsuit worthy injuries from Wild Waves in Washington. The audience streamed out as the bit dragged on, as Barriere had forecasted before launching into the opening song at the beginning of the event. Yet, those who did arrive stayed throughout the entire open mic, not just to see their friends perform. While a small group, it created an intimate space, one that held the complexities of the subject matter at hand. To explore coming of age is to celebrate the joys, laugh at the awkwardness and also to sit in hushed silence at the pains that come with entering adulthood. The performers captured that in their work, and the audience responded to it accordingly. Despite the differences in identities that made up both, it seems none of us can escape the growing pains of adolescence and there’s comfort in that.

Tags

arts

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleKanye’s Antisemitism Steps on his Shoe Brand

You may also like

Kanye’s Antisemitism Steps on his Shoe Brand

Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)

Phoebe Bridgers’ Somber, Uneasy Cover of “So Much Wine” for the Holiday Season

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2023 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top