After a two-month hiatus The Coloma Hotel will again be the site of
Original Voice’s series of presentations by musicians and poets at 7
pm on February 13 with Tom Farley of Spring Lake reading his poems.

Tom, who grew up in Neenah, took his BFA at the Layton school of Art
in Milwaukee. He went on to earn an MFA in sculpture at Cranbrook.
But Tom wore two hats. He presented his master’s thesis as a poem.
Tom was a restoration artist at three folk art sites in Wisconsin:
The Painted Forest in Valton, The Paul and Matilda Wegner Grotto in
Cataract, and assisted as sculptor at the Fred Smith Concrete Park in
Phillips. For 25 years he taught sculpture at UW-Oshkosh, and served
as Gallery Director and Art Department Chair. His sculpture in cast
bronze, fiberglas, taxidermy, and found objects has been exhibited
regionally, nationally and internationally. He takes pleasure in
holding up a mirror to our culture by satirizing and lampooning its
various sacred cows. Tom’s poems frequently relate to his sculpture
not as sisters but rather as cousins. Seasonally affected, he often
narrates a cast of characters as they stumble through life. The
crows at his cabin may seem to take on human attitudes or act out our
fears and superstitions.

The Original Voice is a free event held at the Coloma Hotel, 132 Main
Street, Coloma the second Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. The
evening starts with a featured guest artist who shares ideas and
inspirations and presents a half hour or so of his/her own work. This
is an opportunity for creative people to introduce poems, books,
chapbooks, or CDs or to try out some new work on an audience.
Following the featured guest, the microphone is available to anyone
who wants to take part. Both unseasoned and experienced performers
are urged to make brief presentations––two or three of their own
poems or songs, a short essay, or a couple of pages of prose. For
more information or to sign up as a featured presenter, contact Barb
Cranford at (608) 564-7701 or Julie Eger at (920) 787-7663. No need
to sign up to take part in the open mic, just come.