The spark that ignites the creativity of women writers, artists and thinkers will be celebrated in a national conference in October at West Virginia University.

Women and Creativity 2004: Examining the Past, Composing the Future,will be Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 13-15, with optional additional activities on Saturday, Oct. 16.

Morgantowns Arts Monongahela Inc. and the Monongalia Arts Center will assist with planning during the conference.

Lectures, workshops, concerts, exhibits, poetry readings and a play are included on the bill. Attendees on the Saturday of the conference will have the opportunity to tour local artistsstudios and regional historic sites, or to just take in the states striking fall foliage.

Headlining the conference will be keynote presenter Libby Larsen, an acclaimed composer who has written for major orchestras, and ballet and opera companies. She also holds a seat on the National Endowment for the Arts music panel and most recently served as composer-in-residence with the Colorado Symphony.

Larsen, meanwhile, will be on campus Oct. 11-14 as the Sixth Womens Studies Residency in honor of Judith Gold Stitzel, founding director of the WVU Center for Womens Studies.

Dr. Barbara Howe, the centers director, says the conference will be an exciting, vibrant way to showcase ideas from all walks of WVU s academic world.

We hope that the synergy of sharing ideas across our usual disciplinary boundaries will generate new perspectives for all who attend,Howe said.Everyone is welcome, and were hoping local artists and the general public come outwe really are going to showcase diverse perspectives on creativity. Were also inviting high school students and home scholars to attend.

Morgantowns landmark Radisson Hotel at Waterfront Place is the headquarters for the conference.

Heres a look at some of the major conference events:

• Wednesday, Oct. 13 The day begins with conference registration at the Radisson; tours of local galleries and downtown Morgantowns landmark Metropolitan Theater. Libby Larsens keynote address,The Artists Search for Voice: Synthetic Structure or Organic Utterance,will be at 7:30 p.m. at the WVU Creative Arts Center (CAC). Larsens talk is free and open to the public. A reception follows.

The evening also includes an exhibit by West Virginia-born artist, Blanche Lazzell (1878-1956), a painter and printmaker renowned for her work in the Cubist style.

• Thursday Afternoon: Panels on creative writing and a dramatic portrayal of Emily Dickinson by actress Debra Conner from the West Virginia Humanities CouncilsHistory Alive!program. Evening: WVU Symphony Concert, featuring Libby LarsensStill Life with Violin,with WVU s Laura Kobayashi as soloist, and works by other women composers.

• Friday Afternoon: An exploration of womens creativity in north-central West Virginias historic communities of Pricketts Fort, Arthurdale and Fort New Salem. Evening: A special CAC performance of a play (TBA) chronicling womens issues and concerns.

• Saturday Tours of the above-mentioned communities, plus sight-seeing, visits with local artisans.

Registration is $85; with a single-day fee of $45 for Thursday or Friday only. Students may register for $10.

For more details on conference events, registration and lodging, please call (304)293-2339, ext. 1155; or visit the onference Web site:http://www.as.wvu.edu/wmst/wvuwomenandcreativity.htm.

This project is being presented by WVU s College of Creative Arts, Center for Womens Studies and Council for Womens Concerns. Financial assistance is also being provided by the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.