On being an artist

Last night Ben and I went to a poetry reading followed by dinner at St. Botolph's Club, where his parents are members. The poetry reading was given by two men, Mark Burrows a former professor of Ben's at Andover Newton and a close friend of Burrow's, Robert Cording, creative writing professor at Holy Cross. They each read some of their own poetry and also a few by other poets like Frost, who was also a member of St. B's.

It was nice to hear authors read their own poetry and get some back story on what inspired their verses. Having context for poems sometimes makes them much more accessible. Both men spoke about the intersection of faith and their writing and how the two intertwine. It struck me of how aware they both must be every day of their surroundings to notice such small details and remember them long enough to write them down.

The dinner afterward was also fascinating. To my right were Ben's parents and across from us was a local painter, Peter Lyons and his friend Paulina, Priscilla Deck, VP for Inst. Advancement at Andover Newton and her husband. The conversation grabbed my attention in a good way. Before the reading I chatted for a bit with Paulina who works for the Framingham heart study but also does Spanish voice overs - so when you call a company and someone tells you that if you want Spanish you should 'oprima numero dos' you are likely hearing her voice.

Peter is a painter and photographer who lived in virtual obscurity until his job as a security guard at the MFA brought him in contact with Ted Stebbins, arguably a major figure in the art world. Stebbins agreed to view his art and one thing lead to another and Peter was discovered. After something like 30 years of painting in isolation, this painter with no formal training was deemed to be like the great painters of America - the Hudson River School and the Luminism style of painting (ironically, Lyons is from New Zealand). He talked a lot about what it was like to be self trained and the value of that over art school products as well as his life as a security guard at a local parking garage, despite being a painter who sells his works for 5 figures.

Priscilla is also someone who teaches at Andover Newton and is very interested in the intersection of art and faith. She and I talked about my move away from Opera and into exploring ways to connect my social conscience with performance. She is trained as a violinist and we talked about my someday doing something at their summer program.

The whole night got me to thinking about my own role as an artist. My identity is shifting so much in the coming months and I often wonder where being a singer will fit in to things. It has probably always been an integral part of my identity, but since committing to advanced degrees in it, I've never looked back. Until this past little bit when I began to realize that teaching isn't meeting the needs of my soul the way I want. I want what I do to feel as though it is making a difference. Where I currently am I think I'm helping the grossly overprivledged to have more. A part of me wants to be out in the trenches helping on issues that seem much more pressing like hunger, peace and the environment. Dealing with people for whom there is an immediate impact of my work on the quality of their lives.

I would love a job that combines some one of those social issues with art and helps me see avenues to use my skills to really effect change. I have experienced that impact of change when performing at my grandmother's assisted living facility. I could see from the audience that what I offered them in my concert didn't just make for a nice 45 minutes, it brought light and life in a way that was going to carry far beyond the moment. I also felt that way about my recital last year where I was able to find connections in art to the issue I wanted to illuminate and was able to get attendees to open their wallets in support of a cause I believed in. Together we donated thousands of dollars to an organization where $20 buys a girl's school supplies for a year and $600 pays a teacher's salary.

Surely there is a way for me to continue this and also have it trickle over into my professional, paid life. As with some other things I've learned recently, I'm throwing it out to the Universe and hope it responds in kind.