This is one of my favorite weekends in our town, the weekend of the Boone County Art Show. It’s a collaboration between the Columbia Art League and Central Bank, in which anyone who lives in Boone County is eligible to submit a piece of art with no jury and no jury fee! That literally means anyone. The bank is transformed into a gallery for this one weekend only. Best of all, when you walk through the show, you’ll find pieces made by friends and neighbors who don’t normally exhibit art. There is no fee to wander through the show and everyone is encouraged to vote for their favorite piece. Ribbons are awarded in professional and non-professional categories, a People’s Choice ribbon is given to the piece that gets the most votes from attendees, and the bank purchases an artwork to keep on the premises. It’s a true community event, built from the ground up by lots of dedicated people who love art.
The show has become a well-oiled machine. We drop off our artworks between 6:00 and 7:00 on Friday evening. It’s quick and easy and volunteers are ready to whisk away the pieces to hang or place throughout the bank. There’s a festive air at drop-off, and one hour after that, poof! the show is hung and paying customers are welcomed in for the Patrons’ Preview Party, for first look and first shot at purchasing. But the rest of the weekend is free to all.
If I allow myself to ignore, for bits of time, what is happening in the rest of our country and the world, I always have a spring in my step on this special weekend. I volunteer on Sunday afternoon so that I’m there for the announcement of prizes. I see many people I know while I’m there, so there is quite a lot of hugging that happens. As I say, it’s a true community event.
Is it okay to have a spring in my step, despite what is happening elsewhere, for example, in Chicago? I think it might be okay.
I listened to the latest episode of “The Growing Edge” podcast by Carrie Newcomer and writer Parker Palmer. I’ve admired Parker Palmer’s writing for many years and I’ve been getting Carrie Newcomer’s “A Gathering of Spirits” Substack for maybe two. I had not listened to the podcast before but for some reason I listened to this one. That was grace in action. In this particular episode they are interviewing musician and activist David Lamotte. I want everyone to hear it. It’s full of pearls of wisdom about how we can be who we are and, especially, what we can do in these times.
You can listen to it here.
Most importantly for me, David Lamotte said that activism is not the same as protest. Activism has two parts. “There’s standing in the way of what you think is wrong and there’s building what you think is right.” Yes! I wrote that down. “Building what you think is right” is something I believe I can do. Standing in the way of masked ICE agents and soldiers with guns and tear gas and zip ties feels beyond me, but building something that is good and true and helpful feels doable and more in line with who I am. I’d like to think that “builder” is a word that could possibly be included in words that tell who I am, though it’s not a word that I would have considered until right this moment.
The interview is full of inspiring stories, all of which come from leading with love, finding the humanity in people with whom we disagree (a hard one, lately), and building community. Wasn’t there some fun made of Obama years ago, for having been a “community organizer” before he ran for Senate? Yes, there was. But look how important it is now, as ever, to organize communities of all sizes, and especially with love and kindness.
Which brings me back to this weekend’s art show. I love art shows, period, but this one especially because it highlights how lucky we are to live in this caring community full of all kinds of people, celebrating an event that brings us together in an easy, beautiful way—no Us or Them, no politics or religion—just art. As it turns out, my painting was bought by the woman who’s run the show at the bank for many many years and is now getting ready to retire. I’m very happy that she will have my painting to remember all those years by.
Build something. What can you build, wherever you are? What can you help to build? What can we build together, in this difficult time?
“ . . . any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” - John Donne
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” - Mother Teresa
“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.” - H. Jackson Brown Jr.
“They are so ignorant they don’t understand
that my soul and your soul are old friends.
They are so ignorant they don’t understand
that when they cut you I bleed.
They are so ignorant they don’t understand
that we will never be afraid,
we will never hate
and we will never be silent
for life is ours!” - Kamand Kojouri
Check out my Ampersand Cards website for greeting cards with my original writing and art, including paintings and collage.
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Thanks for listening,
Kay
P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”