Each year The Ark brings audiences along on a journey to the land of the mind's eye with our February Storytelling Festival, featuring talespinners from far and wide.

Mix together the magic and superstitions of the Hawaiian Islands with the history of Japan and Korea and you get finely spun stories from Alton Chung, a man rooted in a unique culture and a one-of-a-kind perspective. Not only does he breathe life into traditional Asian folktales with sensitivity and deep connection, but he can also touch into the fire of ancient Hawaiian legends and tell them with passion and respect.

Detroit's Rev. Robert B. Jones Sr. says: "I am a musician, a storyteller, a teacher, an artist, and a preacher. Over the past 30 years I have been blessed to make a significant portion of my living through music, storytelling and art, and I look forward to continuing to do so. ... As an artist I am inspired to create and pass on what I know about African American Roots music and the culture that produced it." Rev. Jones is a wonderful storyteller whose repertoire includes the stories of the great folk bluesman Leadbelly.

Lansing's Jennifer Pahl Otto creates whimsical stories for adults and children. A member of the Lansing Storytellers and the Ann Arbor Storytelling Guild, she says she grew up in a house where every room, every hallway, every staircase was lined from floor to ceiling with books. My love of stories began there as a child, most especially while listening to my mother read Winnie the Pooh to me—again and again. I have never stopped reading children’s literature and have spent the last 20 years handling children’s books on a daily basis as the director of the Lansing School District Reading Is Fundamental program.