Silver City, NM – The Silver City Museum, in partnership with the New Mexico History Museum and the Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, the Silver City Public Library, the Bayard Public Library, and Western New Mexico University, seeks 10 participants to create digital stories. Formats may include audio, written word, and images. Participants will receive guidance in creating their own projects and are encouraged to follow their own interests and ideas. Craft your own story, conduct interviews, prepare a presentation and create a community event.

Stemming from the New Mexico History Museum and the Palace of the Governors exhibition, Voices of Counterculture in the Southwest (on display until February 11, 2018) is a series of regional workshops and community presentations relating to the ethos and reverberations of the late 1960s/early 1970s signature movements.

By happy concurrence, the Silver City Museum is also focusing attention on the era around 1967, the year of the Museum's founding and the Summer of Love. The Silver City Museum is marking its 50th anniversary with an exhibition 50 Years Ago in Silver City (on display until December 31, 2017) and series of community panel discussions. "The Storytelling Workshop will give individuals a way to explore their creativity and preserve stories important to themselves personally and to our community as part of our shared history," according to Silver City Museum Director, Carmen Vendelin.

Silver City is one of five communities chosen to participate in New Mexico History Museum's sponsored program. Starting with a Friday night public presentation about the exhibition, Voices of Counterculture in the Southwest, on September 29th, at the Silver City Museum Annex. The Museum and partners will then host a two-day weekend intensive writing and story-making workshop September 30 - October 1. Later a public performance by the workshop participants, with potluck and music will occur at the Silver City Museum Courtyard on October 14. Local residents are encouraged to apply and turn their personal histories into a legacy that will broaden our understanding of the impact of these times. The stories will be recorded for radio broadcast and will be on display at the Silver City Museum.

"In today's complicated political and social environment, it is a powerful thing to look back at some of the movements and efforts from the 1960s that laid the groundwork for today's understanding of equal rights, awareness of our environment and what it means to be an engaged citizen," said Meredith Davidson, curator of the New Mexico History Museum exhibition and co-facilitator of the upcoming workshops. "We want to make public the poignancy of this time period by honoring those who built that history and by recognizing what parts of that history we carry into our actions today," echoed Judy Goldberg, independent radio producer/educator and the other co-facilitator of the workshops.

People who lived through the 1960s and younger participants encouraged to participate. To apply for the Silver City weekend storytelling workshop, occurring September 29 - Oct 1, download the application at: www.nmhistorymuseum.org/storytelling or email: turnontuneinNMHM@gmail.com Deadline is first come, first served, provided the application is in accordance with the area of focus. Anyone 19 or older is encouraged to apply. The intent is to represent a diversity of voices, experiences, backgrounds and ages.

This program is developed in collaboration with the Silver City Museum, Silver City Public Library, Bayard Public Library and Western New Mexico University. As part of the Silver City Museum's 50th Anniversary exhibition and series of supporting community events, support for the public presentation provided in part by the New Mexico Humanities Council.

The Silver City Museum is located at 312 West Broadway, Silver City, NM. Phone: 575-538-5921; website: www.silvercitymuseum.org.