photo by Jatin Baghel courtesy Pexels
The creative arts spoke to and through us in many and varied ways over the course of this year:
“Note to those considering beekeeping: don’t decide to stop at Clinton Crossings on your way back from picking up your bees and leave them in the backseat. If so, you’ll learn that package bees take “relieving flights” …essentially bathroom breaks. After an hour, you’ll come back to pinpoints of mustardy yellow bee poop all over the interior. And lots of package escapees buzzing around, inside the closed car, as you drive home…” –Jen Aniskovich (Cohort 10), Beekeeping, the Two-Party System and Getting Stung
“That’s the power of art. We all go to museums, we all feel inspired by these images of dignity and grace. It means something when young African-Americans, kids, can go into a museum and see someone who looks like themselves. It gives a sense of ‘I belong to the conversation around power, who has it, who’s allowed to inherit that dignity.’” –Kehinde Wiley in Seeing (and Painting) Anew
“…And though you may not be able to touch across the empty square, Sing.” –Richard Hendrick, Lockdown
“I pull from a sacred geometry oracle card deck every day. Because I love math, colors, the symmetry and artistry of geometry. It gives me a bit of a lens to view the day. Today’s card was Coherence – It’s one of my favorites – when the energies of your head and heart are aligned. When what you think and what you feel connect, you’re able to speak your truth.” –Shefau Dabre – Educator, Yogi, and Owner of Zen Zilla Yoga and Wellness (Cohort 12) Interview
“Stop. Just stop. It is no longer a request. It is a mandate. We will help you…” -Kristin Flyntz, An Imagined Letter From Covid-19 To Humans, in COVID-19 Coping, Tenderness, and Listening, by Jerry Silbert (Cohort 1)
“If you’re finding your creativity and productivity are suffering as a result of your routine being flipped on its head, that’s ok! Let me repeat: that’s ok…” –Kyisha Velazquez, MS, LPC (Cohort 16), Working from Home During COVID-19: How to Keep Your Cool
“I would love to see a major shift in the arts too. In theaters, museums, dance companies – in 3 weeks, the pandemic has shown us a system that was thriving because it relied on freelancers who were not compensated adequately for their labor. The response from a lot of places has just been to issue massive layoffs and furloughs, instead of asking how we can create a model that works for the future…” –Lucy Gellman (Cohort 24) Interview
“I stopped short when I saw this colorful child’s drawing zip-tied to a tree; the Earth wearing a face mask, and the message: ‘We are in this fight together so we must remember to be kind to each other.’” –Mercedes Soto (Cohort 5), Collectively Grieving What We Have Lost
“I realize, bittersweetly, that without COVID-19 and our isolation, these rekindled connections probably wouldn’t have happened. Everybody was (and is) home and doing what I was doing. We could take our time, reflect about a seemingly simple man who, through music, opened windows to our minds and helped us laugh and cry all at once.” –Robert Francis (Cohort 3), Sequestering and Music
“As I felt my heart open, I witnessed that when pain takes our breath away, poetry resuscitates us. Poetry seemed to heal. Her song proved that poetry could break down barriers between beleaguered doctors and stigmatized patients. Poetry sparks empathy, and empathy is essential for our survival… without empathy, how would we heal?” –Rafael Campo, in Bridges post Medicine and the Soul
“I find writing helpful during these difficult days… Usually, I like my poems to speak for themselves, no explanation. But the one above – Our Lady of the Daffodils – is an exception.” –Laura Altshul (Cohort 6), A COVID-19 Heroine’s Daffodils
“Is there herd immunity from hatred and racism?… I wrote this poem after three straight days of holding sacred space for black sisters to write… Students asked, why do they hate us so? So, myself and others feel the pressure ever the more to continue to do anti-racism work.” –Marian A. Evans (Cohort 19), Ode to Breathe
“I’m inspired by the courage of artists to tell the difficult stories of our lives. Their work observing the human experience reminds me of the difficult work I must also do here with my community and family to recognize, discuss, and take action against institutional racism that persists against people of color, especially Black lives.” –Annie Lin (Cohort 19), Asian American Art, Activism, and Allyship
“I intend to create stories and plays that speak to the many ways in which my people, African American people show resilience, resourcefulness and power in this society.” –IfeMichelle Gardin (Cohort 2) Interview
“I felt like a poetry workshop might allow me to get outside of my comfort zone in more ways than just writing new things.” –Lee Lee McKnight (Cohort 17), How to Knock Down a Neighborhood
“…it’s not just my true story, I hope it will resonate with the many families who also had trauma in their life. I want to help debunk the myths, stereotypes and talk about all the things we’re told not to talk about. The dark side of grief and trauma.” –Odell Montgomery Cooper (Cohort 15) Interview
“I am reminded that my time on earth may be short but it can be powerful if I dedicate it to love and fairness.” –Cleo Wade, in “how to breathe when you want to give up”
“…perhaps a huge silence might interrupt this sadness of never understanding ourselves…” –Pablo Neruda, A callerse (Keeping quiet)
“…during a pandemic, with the alienation of not having social contact, music is also that physical force. It’s energy… We need music to make us feel at equilibrium through hard times and good times.” –The Comfort & Connection of Music, with Yo-Yo Ma
Curated by The Circle’s creative director & editor Lara Herscovitch (Cohort 10). To reach Lara directly: thecircle@clpnewhaven.org or Lara@LaraHerscovitch.com