What’s The Story: Arts & Community, The Power of Collaboration

The Center for Story @ Shenandoah Speaker Series Continues! 

Director of Center for Story @ Shenandoah Sean Murphy will be joined by Katie Mooney Buzby, Executive Director of the Peter Bullough Foundation (PBF) and Robin Ha, cartoonist, PBF board member, and past resident. This wide-ranging discussion will explore the work PBF—a nonprofit located in Winchester—does to provide time and space, via residencies, for emerging artists. PBF, which welcomed its first residents in 2021, is a year-round haven and incubator for arts and community, featuring workshops, lectures, and other events. At a time when funding for the arts is being cut, opportunities are increasingly scarce, and it’s never been more crucial for artists to find support (financial and otherwise) within and outside their networks, PBF’s mission is as critical as ever. Sean, Katie, and Robin will discuss PBF’s mission, how students can get involved, and why collaboration is the super-power of creatives. 

As always, audience Q&A is encouraged!

About Katie Mooney Buzby

Katie (she/her) is the executive director of the non-profit Peter Bullough Foundation, an artist residency and cultural hub in the northern Shenandoah Valley. Prior to her move to the PBF, Katie spent ten years specializing in workplace design and organizational strategies for large global corporations and nonprofits. In her time at the PBF, Katie has worked to establish its artist residency program and calendar of low cost or free workshops and events for the surrounding community. Katie currently serves as Board Chair for Friends of Old Town, a Main Street nonprofit dedicated to preserving the history and economic vitality of downtown Winchester. 

About Robin Ha

Robin Ha (she/her) is the award-winning author/illustrator of the graphic novel memoir Almost American Girl. At fourteen she moved to the United States from Seoul, Korea. Her comics and illustrations have appeared in various publications, including the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, as well as in anthologies highlighting Asian American culture, including Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now, New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei, and Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology (Secret Identities). She is also the author of the best-selling comic recipe book Cook Korean!: A Comic Book With Recipes. Her new graphic novel, The Fox Maidens is published by Balzer and Bray in February 2024.  Robin is currently working on a graphic novel cookbook, Souped-up Ramyeon and Beyond, scheduled to be published in 2026 by Harvest

About Sean Murphy 

Sean Murphy is founder of the non-profit 1455 Lit Arts and serves as Director of the Center for Story @ Shenandoah—an initiative that explores and celebrates the crucial roles story plays in contemporary life. Murphy spent two decades in the tech industry as an analyst and has published widely as a cultural critic in a variety of mediums. He has been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize, twice for Best of Net, and his book Please Talk about Me When I’m Gone was the winner of Memoir Magazine’s 2022 Memoir Prize. His third collection of poetry Kinds of Blue, and first collection of short fiction This Kind of Man, were published in 2024. More at seanmurphy.net