Brave One

I feel like I need to preface this by saying, “I don’t know her.”  And it is true, until yesterday she was a stranger.  I’d never heard her voice or seen her face. 

Maybe she doesn’t feel so much like a stranger today.  Today she seems like who I should have been if I’d had more balls.  And by balls, I mean courage.  I am vicariously living through her courage.

Let me step back.  “She” is Karen.  She’s starting an art center.  Pretty much single-handedly she’s researched, found a location, is funding, and is building (or her husband is building) an art center.  I’m from a small town.  She’s from the small town across the river.  She’s not “from money.”  In fact, her dad is much of the reason this is happening, I think.  He worked at one of the mills on the river for years, but he had the gift of making things.  He worked in wood and hoped to retire and be an artist.  He died young.  Never retired.  This art center is his legacy.  His daughter is a teacher.  His son-in-law is a teacher.  Or they were, until they quit to make this art center.

Her dream is to make a place where her dad could have been an artist -- before he had the money and the time.  She wants to provide affordable studio space to people from both sides of the river and both sides of the tracks.  It’s not huge, but it is big.  It’s important. 

Why do I care?  I don’t even live in this town anymore.  I live in Atlanta.  We have the Goat Farm, Tannery Row, the Artist Resource Center, MINT and MET, the B Complex, etc., etc.

I care because I’m pretty risk-adverse.  I understand the fear that leads people away from a life of art.  I didn’t really pursue it until I could afford to do so.  I didn’t consider making art on a big scale until I had a space in the house where I could really make a mess.  I’m super lucky.  I have a house.  I had an unfinished room with electricity.  What if I didn’t? 

When I’m working on a piece of art and some areas of it are working and some parts aren’t, I often tell myself “Be brave.”  For me, that means, get the big brush back out, paint over some of the parts you think you love.  See how the painting changes.  Allow it to become something else than what you had in mind. 

I’m getting better about doing that with a painting, but let’s be honest, that’s because you can redo a painting.  I’m still learning how to do that in life.

 

That is why I have an art crush on Karen.  She’s being brave in life.  She’s putting her inheritance on the line.  She found a cool, old brick building with old walls and huge, curved steel supports.  Somebody donated the electrical work and they’re barely gonna make ends meet, even with help.  They’ve planned the studios, the bathrooms, the office.  She’s working with the city for all the parking.  She’s setting up phase two and three: a shared space for a classroom that will be non-profit.  She’s gotten darkroom equipment and a kiln.  She’s not doing this thing half-assed.

It took me until 40 to consider art as a possibility.  I don’t know how old she is, but Karen isn’t waiting.  She’s doing this thing now.  She’s taking a big old swan dive into this possibility.  It’s risky, but it is also amazing.  She’s acting on her dream -- making the dream possible for other artsy folks around this town. 

I don’t know her.  I didn’t know her dad.  But damn, I bet he’s proud.

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If you’d like to see the art center, it is The Heritage Art Center in Columbus, GA.  She’s not asking for money, but she is ready for people to reserve studio space.  If you’ve been wanting a place to make art, if you’ve been scared to make the leap, consider this jumping-off-point.  If you are an art patron, this place will eventually be filled with artists; remember when you’ve got a project.  If you aren’t ready to rent a studio, but would be interested in having a place to come work on bigger projects, there will be a shared space for you, too.  If you have ties in the Columbus non-profit arena, then she might be able to use you on the classroom phase. 

I think this is a great opportunity to help someone help others.  Support the Arts.  Support people who support the arts. 

If you don’t go see Karen, go see Dee Dee at Highland Galerie.  Or Fiddleheads.  Or visit the Bartlett center.  Or go to a student show at CSU.  Or support the Columbus Collective.  This little town by the river is experiencing a bit of a renaissance.  Couldn’t be happier.  Go, Columbus, go!