Joe Csicsila: Engagement and Support for BathHouse Events 'Has Been Extraordinary'
With four to six events per year and more than 200 attendees per event, the BathHouse Reading Series is an integral part of EMU's thriving undergraduate and graduate Creative Writing Programs. During a recent fundraiser, the Creative Writing Program received a boost from donors to the tune of $5,825, providing an opportunity for the BathHouse series to continue to showcase innovative approaches to writing, improvised and interactive performances, exhibits, collaborations, and discussions on the role of art in contemporary life.
During the 2019 fundraiser, donors had the opportunity to double the impact of their investments through a 1:1 dollar match from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA).
In a letter to contributors and in a personal video (below), English Language & Literature Department Head Joe Csicsila thanks everyone who made this generous offering possible.
Dear BathHouse supporters,
I want to thank you all for making this year's fundraising project a remarkable success! With your commitment, we were able to make the match for our Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) grant, so our final total came to $5,825!!! Your engagement and support for BathHouse Events has been extraordinary and will sustain an important cultural event here on Eastern Michigan University's campus. Please take a moment to watch a personal thank you video from me.
Warmest regards,
Joe Csicsila
Department Head, English Language & Literature
About BathHouse
Our name, "BathHouse," connotes hybridity and history, recalling the 19th-century sanatoriums, bathhouses, and mineral water wells that flourished in Ypsilanti, Michigan at the turn of the century. The "foul smelling" waters of the Atlantis well—in the vicinity of the current Jones-Goddard dorm on the EMU campus—were bottled and shipped nationwide and touted as a cure for 33 disorders of the blood, until the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. It also shares its name with BathHouse Journal the Creative Writing Program's online journal of hybrid literary art and hypermedia, with a special emphasis on interdisciplinarity and innovation.
For information on the BathHouse Reading Series, contact Ann Esshaki in the EMU English Department 734.487.4220 or [email protected].