Join us at the American Folk Art Museum for a special bilingual Family Story Hour (in Portuguese and English) and artmaking workshop, in collaboration with Tapioca Stories. First, we will listen to a reading of The Collector of Heads, by Ana Matsusaki. Then, participants will explore select works from the exhibition Madalena Santos Reinbolt: A Head Full of Planets and create otherworldly textile collages inspired by both the book and exhibition—drawing from Brazilian culture embodied in Madalena’s artwork, and themes of curiosity, identity, and the joyful process of “collecting”.
Note: A calm down area with sensory activities will be available. Families can read together quietly from various books available through Tapioca Stories, and also purchase titles from the press to take home and add to your own library!
Tapioca Stories, a New York-based publishing house with Latin American soul, introduces young English readers to the finest Latin American children’s books, originally written in Spanish and Portuguese.
Senior Educator Nicole Haroutunian has been with the American Folk Art Museum since 2008. Also a member of the education department at the Noguchi Museum, she leads family, access, adult, baby, toddler, and school programs. Nicole is the author of the novel-in-stories Choose This Now (Noemi Press, 2024), which was named one of the best short story collections of the year by Electric Literature, and the short story collection Speed Dreaming (Little a, 2015). She programs and hosts the reading series “Story Time” for Caregivers at the Astoria Bookshop, holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and lives with her family in Woodside, Queens
Regina McCarthy has a degree in Languages (Portuguese and English) from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and is a certified language teacher. She also has a Law degree and a license to practice Law in Brazil. Regina taught English and Portuguese in several schools in Rio de Janeiro. When she moved to the USA in 1986, she worked as a private tutor. In 2010, Regina was selected to attend the Graduate Language Training Program at The Ohio State University, where she worked as a lecturer of Portuguese for three years. In addition, Regina has worked as a translator and conference interpreter since 1988. One of her specialties as an interpreter is the simultaneous translation of TV awards shows, such as the Emmys and the Oscars. She currently works for the Consulate General of Brazil in New York as a Portuguese teacher at the United Nations International School as well as a promoter of Portuguese-language activities in the Consulate’s district.
Ana Matsusaki, Illustration for The Collector of Heads by Ana Matsusaki, translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato (Tapioca Stories). © 2023 Ana Matsusaki.
