Thoughts about art and community.
Back in September, I left Oxford, Mississippi, to drive to the Delta to rendezvous with some Chinese American friends for their small family homecoming. Kelly and Norman Seid had been classmates of mine, and more so than with any other friends, we had kept up with one another, some years better than others. Norman had been a year ahead of Kelly and me, the class of 1971, and Norman had been student body president.
Read MoreThis is little embarrassing to admit, but anytime I read, watch, or hear something that really resonates with me, I get an immediate and short-lived lump in my throat. In and out. Like my body’s way of saying “Yo, you need to pay attention to this.” The weirdo throat response has happened so often and for so long and in such unexpected ways that I’ve really learned to trust it. All that to say, each of these projects, organizations, and episodes elicited the two-second throat lump in 2020.
Read MoreIn 2015-16, I organized and coordinated Intertwine, a collaborative, large-scale yarn-bombing project on the two-story façade of ISU Design on Main community gallery (RIP Design on Main) in the Main Street Cultural District in Ames, Iowa.
Read MoreIn 2019, I spent some good quality time learning about the ins and outs of Pine Lake State Park, thanks to Park Ranger Andy Place and my stint in the Iowa Art’s Council 20 Artists/20 Parks project. Here are a few more recommendations when planning a visit to Pine Lake. Special thanks to Andy for his input to this list!
Read MoreToday’s a very special day. Today is the day that my lovely friend and inspiring artist, Catherine Reinhart, is in the For the Common Good hot seat. Catherine and I have been friends and artist pals for years. We worked together at Iowa State University’s Design on Main Community Gallery while Catherine was the Artist-in-Residence and Gallery Director, and I taught a class for the gallery interns; she’s generously been a part of lots of weird community art projects I’ve instigated over the years (including this one), and best of all, she’s always up for talking shop about what artists can do with folks, and what art can do for folks.
Read MoreFollowing is a list of some handy facts to use when people make, shall we say, uninformed comments about art and the economy, plus the cited sources of said facts.
***Disclaimer: The economic contribution is only a sliver of why art matters to our local and national communities. However, sometimes it helps to speak the language of the folks you are trying to persuade. And many folks like $ talk, particularly now.
Read MoreArt is small-p political.
It always has been. Thank God for that. And by political, I mean Merriam Webster’s definition. Art is “the total complex of relations between people living in society.”
Artists and art-experiencers know this intuitively. This is for the people in the back.
I credit the following three perspectives with wise artists and thinkers that I very much admire. They put to words the feelings that I have had for decades, and way more eloquently than I ever could.
Read MoreIn that spirit, I’m beginning For the Common Good, a new series of community artist interviews. Each month, you’ll learn how and why these artists work in communities, how their creative practice informs their lives, and tips for communities to better collaborate with artists.
Read MoreToday is a brief checklist on how to prepare for a potential disaster situation. This is a very general overview aimed to touch on topics that young, emerging, and/or procrastinating artists may not have considered or gotten around to. Next week, we’ll dive into what to do when you find yourself in catastrophe.
Read MoreI wanted to write a quick post about ways you can support artists experiencing catastrophic situations. Since COVID began, there have been many, many emergency grant opportunities for artists and creatives. Natural disasters require different navigation, and natural disasters + pandemic is overwhelming.
Read MoreArt in your home or office should reflect your values, not necessarily your sofa fabric. Knowing who you are and what you’re about can be an easy way to begin, and define, your collection.
Read MoreAccording to David L. Cohn, the Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg, MS. The geographically isolated “Delta”, as called by locals, is an alluvial plain used historically for cotton plantations in northwestern Mississippi along the Mississippi River.
Read MoreAs an artist, I love artist-in-residence (AIR) programs because they combine two favorite pastimes: making art and travel….As a community arts nerd, I believe AIRs can benefit communities even more than they artists they serve.
Read MoreGuest post by is Naomi Friend, a professional artist in central Iowa. Naomi explores the prairies of the Midwest through art-making. She is inspired by the ecosystems, plants, and animals that make up the texture of our landscape. She seeks to investigate the role of humans as caretakers of creation.
Read MoreBelow are some helpful categories to consider when planning a creative community engagement event, project, or program. Take what works, leave the rest. Add more.
Read MoreI’m late to the party in reading the Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. (Pro tip: get thyself a copy of this and read immediately. I don’t care your backstory. It applies to you too.)
Read MoreIn 2010, I started hanging around with some theatre-makers. Outside of performing in elementary school plays, seeing the occasional production as a grown person, and watching Waiting for Guffman, my theatre knowledge was scant, at best.
Read MoreI don’t often like to speak in generalities, but I would venture to guess that we all have that pull to some place, and that those emotional ties give us inklings about what we value.
Read MoreI am an artist/teacher turned artist/teacher/community art investigator who grew up in Mississippi and has found herself in Iowa for the last 12 years. (I thought I’d be in Iowa for a year. So it goes.)
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