Many years ago, a friend made me a mixedtape. On it was a song that really touched my heart. We did not have Shazam or other ways to identify songs and artists back then, nor was it easy to look up lyrics.
So I enjoyed my ignorance in thinking I knew what the lyrics said. I thought the lyrics stated, “They could be telling us cows don’t fly! But the children teach and there’s a wisdom by the wonder in their eyes.”
I loved that lyric. It spoke to me, because it showed how imagination and childhood fascination had a spiritual purity that was superior to all adult knowledge.
Funny thing is, I had the lyric all wrong.
Here are the correct lyrics for the song: “There could be singing beneath the sky! There could be joy that does not fly! With the children teaching us wisdom, By the wonder in their eyes.”
I feel a childlike wonder in realizing that the meaning is the same.
Songs Of The Quendi II Wampum Song – by Sally Oldfield
Whenever she got bored with her life, which seems to have happened on a regular basis, she would take up a new hobby, and move the furniture.
I inherited this tendency from her. I too like to refresh and recreate things in my life.
As the director of the Creative Ohio Gallery in Canton, OH, I have the opportunity to change things around often in a creative way. The gallery has new art and new displays changing all the time.
We are in the process of going from two storefront spaces to one, so the gallery is getting a complete redesign. Not only are we reducing space, we are also changing our focus to becoming a place to create, as opposed to simply an exhibition space. We will still exhibit art and craft items, but we will also have a studio area for artists to create.
So we will be doing more with less space, and become a more creative and interactive space.And it will be fun!
At the moment it looks like the photo above. But I have the resilience and tenacity genes from my mother, so by Friday, it will be totally transformed. I have a big project planed for this coming First Friday. If you are in town, come join me.
When I moved to the Canton Arts District in 2007, it was an adventure. A formerly blighted downtown was being redeveloped into a creative paradise for artists. There was an energy that was exciting and inspiring.
For five years, I have been a big part of shaping and developing the district. I have lived here, worked here and helped to create and promote a variety of activities. Other artists and I, with the help of ArtsinStark, the Canton Special Improvement District and King Properties, can take pride in what we have built.
There is a wave of interest in developing declining downtowns across the country through the arts. Canton, honestly was on the forefront of that. It is not by accident.
Robb Hankins, the charismatic and inspiring leader of ArtsinStark, has led the city to redevelop and reshape itself through public art, live music and theater, and artists’ galleries and studios.
Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, has made such efforts a cornerstone of his agency’s purposes. Consultants like Rebecca Ryan actively encourage cities to capitalize on the arts as a way to bring young professionals to their cities.
Artists can benefit greatly from such an influx of interest in the arts. I have. But artist beware. It is not the end-all-be-all for launching an art career.
In Canton, we have had numerous challenges. Egos and lack of business acumen have impeded the progress of many creative people with high and sometimes unrealistic expectations. Canton is a football town, and although its people have embraced the new arts focus, it is not a community where enough people buy art to support a number of self employed artists.
And although the business community has embraced the arts in a very surprising way, the mayor and other elected officials have not. In a future post, I will share about how decisions made by city officials have totally altered my experience of the city.
The present day movement of building cities around the arts harkens back to the New York City SoHo District’s regeneration as an artists’ haven. Once a low cost area for creative people to live and work, it now is an upscale area where only the most successful artists can afford to live.
Most cities are hoping that the world that the artists create in their communities are not necessarily going to remain a place where starving artists can survive.
Cities are fluid organisms that change and adapt to the circumstances around them. Artists have to adapt as well, and recognize that change is inevitable.
How have the arts changed and contributed to the development of your city? How have artists had to adapt to the changing circumstances around that development? Are the arts an important and embraced part of your community?
Are you an arts supporter who wants to see artists and their cities succeed? What suggestions do you have for them?
