Practically Pikasso: Creating Wellness & Fostering Community

by Jenuine Poetess

tables and floorI recently purchased a couple of plain end tables to use in my new office. I got them for a great (read: cheap) price at a local discount home goods store but they lacked a certain…something. As I was looking at them, the thought occurred to me, “These would look awesome with mosaic tops.” My second thought was how daunting it might be to try to find all the supplies to accomplish my creative goal myself. Happily, my third thought was, “I wonder if I could take these to Practically Pikasso and mosaic them there?” So I called, and they said, “Sure, come on over!”

I was thrilled! For a mere $6.00 studio fee I began my project to turn these somewhat drab tables into something delightful.

shelves with dishesBefore I continue, let me rewind and share a little back story. Practically Pikasso is, “an eclectic art studio” located in the shopping plaza at the intersection of Waco Drive and New Road. I have been there a few times before to paint pottery—which is one of their main offerings: a grand array of blank, white, ceramics in so many shapes and sizes ready for color and design. Their selection ranges from practical dishware, to specialty holiday décor, to character figurines, and intricate sculptures. There is no need to have any prior art experience, the knowledgeable and patient staff at Practically Pikasso will provide all the instructions, recommendations, and guidance needed to create your masterpiece! There is a vibrant array of ceramic glazes from which to choose including textured/flecked, smooth, and glass glazes in a rainbow of hues.

My mosaic project was divided into two segments over two days. Step one was to select my materials and create my desired design. There was a wide selection of materials to choose from including ceramic tiles of various shapes and sizes, glass beads, stained glass pieces, glass tiles, and mirror pieces. Once I determined my design—which took some time on my part to make sure that all the materials I was using would go together, had the same thickness so my finished table tops would be smooth and flat, and fit my design—then I needed to secure all the pieces onto my table top which I did with regular white craft glue (which dries clear). I also needed to be sure I left little channels between all my pieces where the grout would go in the second half of my project. The staff on duty during my first phase was helpful and patient with all my questions; he gave me excellent direction and assistance.

tables with mosaicI was excited to find the stained glass pieces among my options for mosaic. I have a special fondness for glass art as my grandmother was a stained glass artist. I also love how the pieces were swirled with a bit of white which yielded a lovely ocean and sky feel to me. I selected iridescent blue glass tiles for the outer border and then alternated iridescent glass with streaked stained glass in concentric squares. I was definitely channeling a beach vibe! With that, phase one was complete and I took the tables home to dry overnight.

glass fusingIn addition to the pre-made ceramics to paint, Practically Pikasso also offers glass fusing, mosaic, and hand thrown pottery projects and classes. This unique art space is the perfect place to unwind after a stressful day, catch up with friends, enjoy a date night out, or relish some adult/child bonding time for parents, mentors, and relatives alike! No reservations are needed for individuals and small groups (2-4 people) but larger parties may want to call ahead to be sure there is enough space. Large groups may also reserve the special party space for after work art happy hours, birthdays, parties, showers, and other special occasions. Practically Pikasso hosts a number of group events such as Girl & Boy Scout troops, School art classes, Greek gatherings, Corporate Team Building/Staff Retreats and more—groups may reserve a spot on location or Practically Pikasso will come to you!

PlateI was able to complete phase 2 of my project the next day after work. I brought my tables back to finish them with grout. I was able to choose from white, black, or grey grout. I went with the white to bring out the bright blues and mimic an island beach look. While I was grouting, I had the pleasure of meeting the owners, Marie and Russ. They hadn’t ever seen anyone bring in their own objects to mosaic so they were curious about my project. While I applied the grout across my project working it into every space and crevice, I asked Marie and Russ about how they came to own and run Practically Pikasso. Russ shared that as a medical practitioner he would often come to the studio to relax, unwind, and restore calm after particularly strenuous work days. He loved the atmosphere and ability to just sit down and begin working on a project. When the previous owner, Sam shared that she would be closing up shop, Russ began to consider the possibility of taking over the business. Both he and his niece shared a love for the place and didn’t want to risk losing such a treasure. After many conversations between Russ and Marie and Sam, they took the plunge and bought the business. They laughed as they shared the story with me—neither of them considered themselves artists or business owners both coming from medical professions. But they knew they wanted to preserve this space for the community and had the resources to do so.

Since they have taken over the business, they have added many shelves of ceramic selections to choose from as well as the other kinds of projects. Russ noted that one of the things he loves best is seeing people engage with each other,

“They come in and all the phones and devices stay put away. Here they talk together, laugh, share an experience with each other and in the end, have an art object they made to remember the occasion. I love seeing people slow down and reconnect here.”

Marie shared how after a long career in nursing, she loves the positive atmosphere and creating that happens. While she enjoyed the work she did as a nurse, she reflected that there are far fewer dangers and much more joy in this work adding, “and it really is relaxing—a kind of therapeutic or meditative activity.”

tables with groutThe exciting thing about mosaic work is the dramatic reveal. After all the grout has been filled my pieces looked quite the mess. Basically as though I had just smeared frosting all over my tables. My favorite part came next: cleaning off the tiles and smoothing the grout to reveal the sparkling finished project!

Pikasso logoPractically Pikasso is the only art space of its kind here in Waco and offers a much wider selection of items than many other studios in cities around Central Texas. Whether you’re looking for a fresh option to get together with friends, or you need a creative place to refresh on your own, check out what Practically Pikasso has to offer. They have a selection of Valentine’s Day themed pieces available this month just for you!

Specials!

  • Summer Kamp Classes for ages 6 and older: consider sending your creative ones to Kamp at Practically Pikasso this summer! With 8 sessions to choose from with different themes, there is sure to be something for everyone.
  • Mosaic Mondays: enjoy 10% off all mosaic projects every Monday
  • Tuesday Fuseday: enjoy 10% off all glass fusing projects every Tuesday
  • Wednesday Ladies Night: ladies enjoy $2 off regular studio fees all Wednesday night
  • Open Weekends! not free during the weekday? Come hang out on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Enjoy the music, and create something wonderful!

Jenuine Poetess August 2014Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW)an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon.  Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective.    She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities.  She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city.  You can contact her at: j[email protected].

The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.

 

Resolutions, Intentions, and Creating Wellness in 2016

by Jenuine Poetess

We’re almost two weeks into the New Year and for some, just hearing the word “resolutions” can cause eyes to roll and groans to emit. I know. It has become rather cliché. Even so, there is value in a ritual of reflection—gazing back on what we’ve accomplished and how far we’ve come, and there is an important humility in recognizing ways we have yet to stretch, grow, and become. A new year, new week, new month, new day are all great times to reflect, recalibrate, and resume our movements toward what it is that makes us come alive.

SCribblesAs an artist, fresh starts can look like raw clay, blank canvas, empty pages, a quiet studio, an open stage, a fresh roll of film (er…uh…or an empty memory card), a furnace of molten glass, a beautiful blank wall, skeins of untouched yarn, newly tilled soil, or folds of new fabric. Just the thought of any of these sends my heart trilling with the aroma of possibility.

Whether or not you are an artist (and not-so-secretly, I believe everyone can accomplish their work with artistry from mechanics to accountants, from care-givers to morticians) I challenge you to consider your creative health and how you will intentionally nourish this part of you throughout 2016.

art tablesWill you take in a night at the Waco Symphony or maybe attend or even participate in a Waco Community Band concert? Maybe you’ll spend some time at the Martin Museum of Art, or the Art Center of Waco, or the Anthem Studios—maybe you’ll attend an opening, or maybe you’ll head over on your lunch break, just an intimate rendezvous between you and art. Will you visit the theater, taking a play by Waco Civic Theater or a concert by the Central Texas Choral Society or enjoy a dose of laughter medicine at an improve show with the Brazos Theatre Group, maybe you’ll support emerging artists and see a show at Baylor or MCC or at Waco High, University High or Midway ISD?

Maybe you’ll hit the streets and meet new neighbors at Art on Elm Ave. or Waco Cultural Arts Fest enjoying all the fullness of free arts programming in Waco and maybe you’ll purchase a print, or a set of earrings, or a new mug, or an original art piece.  Maybe you’ll buy a Creative Waco tote hand-painted by a local artist, maybe you’ll by two—one for you and one for a friend. Maybe you’ll take a flower-arranging workshop at the World Hunger Relief Farm, or help out with the Urban Gardening Coalition.

art bagsstory tellerMaybe you’ll knit or crochet tiny hats for new babies, scarves for refugees, or blankets for an elder with the Waco Knitters & Crocheters. Maybe you’ll listen to some stories, even try your hand at your own at the Heart of Texas Storytelling Guild. Will you check out Maker’s Edge and laser cut, 3D print, or wood burn a fascinating piece for your home? Maybe you’ll stop by Central Texas Artist Collective’s painting in the park station one breezy day in the spring, or finally work up the courage to exhibit your work at Tea2Go or Rufi’s Cocina.

Maybe you’ll make your own ornament and learn a bit about blowing glass next December at Stanton Glass Studio. Maybe you’ll decide it’s time to finally get serious about that book you’ve always wanted to write and you’ll join In the Words of Womyn writing circle or maybe you’ll tackle NaNoWriMo with the Central Texas Writers’ League or take a workshop with the Heart of Texas Romance Writer’s. Maybe you’ve been quiet long enough and you’re ready to get up and perform at Waco Poets Society monthly open mics and maybe you’ll take in some world renown poets at the Beall Poetry Festival this spring.

glass ballMaybe you’ll volunteer at any number of community arts events or make a financial contribution so that we can all keep creating. Maybe you’ll help share events on social media, telling your friends and neighbors about arts and cultural opportunities nearby. Maybe you’ll make it a regular outing with a partner, some friends, or co-workers at Painting with a Twist or Practically Pikasso. Maybe you’ll bookmark this post so when you have a day with no particular plans, you’ll have some ideas for how to paint the town!

waco poetsMy goodness the arts are blooming in Waco! Even with all these options, I’m sure I didn’t capture them all. But that’s okay, this way you can do some exploring with an art adventure of your own—whatever you find, please be sure to share it with us so we can enjoy it too! I hope whatever your goals for 2016, that they include the arts, in any way, shape, form, or expression.

Thrive on!


Jenuine Poetess August 2014Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW)an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon.  Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective.    She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities.  She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city.  You can contact her at: j[email protected].

The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.

 

Art as Action: Creating Responses to Current Events

by Jenuine Poetess

conscience

(photo curtesy: JenuineArtworks. Salerno, Italy :: 100Thousand Artists for Change Global Conference, June 2015)

One of the oldest motivations of creativity is as a response to political circumstances and social justice issues. It is not the only inspiration, by any means, and not all artists engage their discipline in this way. Within the context of the mission and vision of Act Locally Waco the Arts & Culture blog seeks to present artists, events, and organizations which are practicing the intersectionality of creative expression, meaningful message, and local action.

heritage square

(photo courtesy: WacoPoetsSociety; People for Peace Open Mic Vigil, December 4, 2015)

On December 4, 2015, over 65 people showed up to offer poems, prayers, statements, songs, sacred texts, and calls to action. Waco gathered in response to global and domestic terrorism and violence; speaking out against hate, racism, discrimination of every kind, ignorance, and intolerance — with the intention of co-authoring an alternative narrative to our current dire situation.

That evening, our community co-created an exquisite artwork with Hopi prayers and Gospel songs, Athiest Holiday carols and passages of the Qur’an, original poetry and Bible verses, impromptu words from the heart and spoken-words of others not with us. One thing brought us together: the earnest desire to build a better city, a better community, a better world, for one another, in peace, in love, in truth, for justice.

we gather, because there are people rallying for hate, acting in violence, speaking out with ignorance.

we gather, because we must co-author an alternative narrative for our community, our society, our humanity.

we gather, because to remain unmoved, silent, disconnected, is to surrender to everything that threatens our thriving.

we gather, because anything less is a hypocrisy of love.

What an honor it is to hold such a sacred space.

speakerIn times when the world seems swirling and chaotic around us, it helps to know we can gather with others to express the spectrum of emotions that such profound events can elicit.   When words fail us we can turn to paint, music, dance, photography, sculpture, and any other medium that calls to us. We can work out our questions, knowing full well that there are often no answers. But with defiant resilience, we can make beautiful out of broken, and when we share what we have created, we remind ourselves and each other that we are not alone. Poem by poem, song by song, painting by painting we create the change we so deeply long for.

Get Involved:

Shop local and support artists living and creating in Central Texas

create rev

(Artist: Caroline Kelso, www.madevibrant.com; Quote: Elizabeth Gilbert)

Volunteer with an arts organization or collective


Jenuine Poetess August 2014Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW)an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon.  Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective.    She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities.  She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city.  You can contact her at: j[email protected].

The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.

 

Creative Waco: An Interview with Fiona Bond

by Jenuine Poetess

Creative Waco logoRecently, I had a chance to engage Creative Waco’s Director, Fiona Bond, to learn more about the project, its mission, and movements in Waco toward building and sustaining a thriving Cultural Arts District. I’m pleased to share the interview with you! More. Art. Now!

Jenuine Poetess: Please share a bit about yourself and how you became interested and involved in the arts in Waco.

Fiona Bond:   I’m in this because I love the arts and this city and have huge respect and
admiration for those who work so hard to enrich its artistic and cultural life. In the UK, I ran festivals, cultural projects and arts organizations. I guess no one goes into this kind of work for the money or an easy life! However, when you see first-hand the difference that the arts make to places and people – no matter who they are or where they come from, it’s humbling and powerful.

I love Waco for so many reasons. I think it’s one of the most authentic places I’ve ever lived. It’s a wonderful location full of great people doing great things and I think we get to live here at a particularly exciting time in its history.

JP: What is Creative Waco?

FB: We are a Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Corporation established to be Waco’s “Arts Agency.” Cities that have arts agencies have a proven toolkit for growing the arts that combines access to funding (that Waco has not historically received) with growing the arts as part of the overall strategy for our community. Our mission is “to Grow and support the artistic and cultural life of Waco.”

JP: How does Creative Waco serve artists, arts & cultural organizations, and grass-roots efforts in Waco?

FB: I hope we will be able to do this in a number of ways. Firstly, I think we have a role making sure that our wider community, businesses and civic organizations know the power of the arts and cultural sector as an engine for growing Waco. We want to bring new resources to our artists and arts organizations in the form of practical support and also funding and infrastructure that have not historically been available to grow Waco as a Cultural Hub.

artists creativesOf course, we are not the only organization that is working to serve our artists and cultural organizations. Each part of the cultural “ecosystem” has an important role to play – individual artists are connecting with one another through CTAC. Four Columns Marketing has a monthly “potluck” for creative professionals and Waco Arts Alliance (which we help to co-ordinate) provides opportunities for people who run arts organizations, cultural events and activities. These all do the important work of building community, supporting professional development, and creating opportunities for connecting on all kinds of great ideas.

JP: What are the main functions of CW?

FB: Right now, we are working on setting up the infrastructure that will allow Waco to be successful at creating some of the opportunities that have benefitted peer cities (like Fort Worth, Abilene, Amarillo and Round Rock…even Clifton!). For example, we are coordinating an application for Waco to be designated a Texas Commission on the Arts Cultural District. It also means working with our city and other agencies to start making bids for funding and other opportunities at state and national level. Here in Waco, we are beginning the work of coordinating resources, information and ideas so that we can grow Waco as a cultural hub…and tell the world.

JP: What are some projects CW is working on?

 FB: Here are a few…

  • Joint funding bids (e.g. with City for NEA funding towards artistic wayfinding that would join East and West Waco);
  • Cultural District Application–the work of establishing a robust organization that can act as Waco’s Arts Agency and co-ordinate the Cultural District.
  • We won the opportunity for Waco to be a feature city in Americans for the Arts’ national survey about economic impact of the Arts (funded jointly by our City, Chamber, BRC and CVB)
  • Making Waco a hub for professional development opportunities for arts leadership (Texans for the Arts Day on Feb 24th at Waco Hippodrome).
  • We are also working on making it easier for people in Waco to hear about the arts and artists through a variety of media outlets

JP: What is the place of arts & culture in community development? How important is arts & culture in comparison to work around poverty, education, employment, housing, and commerce?

FB: The arts do community development by their very nature because they are physical, experiential and creative. One of my past roles was to oversee a project that worked with generations of unemployed former mineworkers in Co Durham, England. The arts input gave hope and developed skills in a way that nothing else could. You see this over and over again. Issue-based drama and role-play do a better job of reaching vulnerable teens than telling them what to do, for example. The arts give us language and tools for asking questions, experimenting with complexity and outcomes, and opening up our humanity in ways that are completely unique. There is a lot of research that shows communities with a vibrant arts and cultural life thrive in all the ways we consider vital for “liveability”: Educational outcomes, revitalization, economic development, tourism, community cohesion and pride and even crime reduction. I have yet to see a community in the Western world that managed to “move the needle” on those issues without engaging its artistic and cultural “superpowers.”

JP: What do you hope to see come to life in Waco/Central Texas with regard to the arts?

FB: I would like Waco’s cultural gems to be better known and better supported. We have World-class artists, composers, performers, writers, and experts…right here in Waco and yet there is still a perception that because something is happening in Waco, it’s not quite as good as something presented in a larger or better known city.

I would like to see people who don’t think they care about the arts speak proudly about the vibrant cultural life of our city and relish investing in that and seeing the results, recognizing that it’s an essential part of the healthy growth of our community (just as even non-sports players invest in the important role that sport has in our community).

I would like Waco, with it’s perfect “crossing of the Brazos,” central Texas location to become a flourishing cultural hub for the 21st century – supporting thriving, sustainable, top notch venues and programming across many art forms. Our economic opportunity is not that we are conveniently close to Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and other cultural centers…it is that they are close to us!

Get Involved!

  •  ToteConnect on Facebook and Online to get the latest details, information, and event postings!
  • If you are an artist interested in being featured on the Creative Waco site, connect here!
  • Support arts in Waco and purchase a blank, painted, or fully customized Creative Waco tote!

Be involved with local arts events: attend, bring friends, buy local artwork & publications, share events with others, help promote what is happening, donate to fund-raising initiatives, visit exhibits, make art, inspire others, create community!


Jenuine Poetess August 2014Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW)an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon.  Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective.    She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities.  She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city.  You can contact her at: [email protected].

The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.

 

Art and Community : on Creating Sustainable Community Through Relationships

By Jenuine Poetess

This past Saturday a collection of seven very diverse individuals—some strangers, who had never met each other before—gathered together and shared a meal, poetry, artwork, dialogue, and selves. Why did they meet up? What compelled them to circle around several tables pushed together in the back room of a local family restaurant, Rufi’s Cocina?

Art.

It was art that called us together this weekend. Waco Poets Society Nuestra Voz open mic to be more precise. We gathered around a shared interest in creative expression—both the needing to create and the needing to share. Over home-made nachos and panbazos, we exchanged verses. We also engaged in conversation enriching our expressions with narratives and backstories about grief, struggle, names, hopes, dreams, losses, disabilities, mental health, identities, and much more. Our sharing unified us in resounding, “me toos” of recognition and validation.

You see when we choose to be vulnerable in sharing our stories—in whatever medium they are manifest: word, image, movement, sound, object—we invite others in to our experiences. We are mirrors–where we can see our own radiant reflections in one another. We extend a hand to assist another to cross over, for a moment, into our own shoes. More often than not, what we discover, is a familiar story.

These moments cultivate relationships. We gathered on Saturday as strangers and we departed with hugs and warmth and calling each other by name. We were known by one another. What a remarkably transformative art-work!

ash craig leg kick

(photo credit: JenuineArtworks, at Nuestra Voz open mic, Rufi’s Cocina, October 10, 2015)

When I came to Waco, TX, in 2012 there was not much that I could find in the way of community open mics and arts opportunities. As a result of conversations I had with a handful of writers I met, it became clear that there was a need and desire for regular written and spoken-word arts programming. Because of a relationship I had with someone, they recommended I contact Katie Croft, of the then, Croft Art Gallery on Austin Avenue about the possibility of holding events there. In 2013 I founded Waco Poets Society and began holding open mic and ITWOW writing circle at the gallery weekly. At the end of the year it was time to find a new venue as the gallery was making transitions of it’s own. Through my relationship with Brook Hampton, owner and visionary of Enchanted Cedar, we collaborated to bring open mic to Lorena, Texas, at this most magical tea house. I met and became friends with community organizer, Fernando Arroyo who introduced me to the Art Forum of Waco and later, to Eric Gama, owner of Rufi’s Cocina where we now have monthly open mics. During my monthly Word Around Waco booth at Waco Downtown Farmers’ Market one Saturday I met artists, Angie Veracruz and Steve Veracruz. As we began to talk we formed the beginnings of an inspiring friendship that bloomed into the founding of Central Texas Artist Collective and all the subsequent projects, exhibits, pop-up painting in the park events, and empowering of artists to thrive into their creativity that have transpired since its founding in February 2015. Steve reached out to a new business, Tea 2 Go and we collectively began to collaborate as Angie and Steve curate visual art exhibits in the tea shop and I hold monthly open mic events.

Many of the people who are my creative colleagues are people I read about in the paper and cold called/emailed asking if I could buy them a cup of coffee. I asked if I could sit with them to learn more about the work that they are doing here in Waco and how I could get involved and serve alongside them. Seriously.

We have a lot of conversations and meetings and summits and strategy sessions and consultants around the questions of ushering our city and surrounding areas into prosperity. As long as we couple all of that with seeking out and building up of authentic and intentional relationships—especially with those who have different stories and creative expressions that are unique from ours—then we, as a community, will indeed be on a path toward thriving.

I have such pride and joy looking over the years since I arrived in Texas. I am deeply grateful for the relationships that make so many rich programs possible. It is our collective visioning and volunteering, it is our friendships and conversations, it is our willingness to literally sit down and listen to one another share stories, which is transforming the landscape of our community.

Get Involved:

Jenuine Poetess August 2014Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW)an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon.  Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective.    She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities.  She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city.  You can contact her at: [email protected].

The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.

 

Waco Cultural Arts Festival: Be inspired. Create community.

by Jenuine Poetess

Every year, on the last weekend of September, artists across every genre and medium gather in an expression of creativity the likes of which is rarely beheld in one time and place. 2015 marks the 11th Annual Waco Cultural Arts Festival (WCAF) which encompasses six, yes six, complete festivals in one: MusicFest, {254}DanceFest, WordFest, ScienceFest, Celebration Africa FilmFest, and the original ArtsFest  —  a juried visual arts compendium of high caliber artists from across Texas and beyond!

Each year, the WCAF adds new and exciting featured artists, interactive opportunities, and thrilling installations to the veritable feast of the senses that is each festival. Here I’ll note some of this year’s highlights in the hopes that Waco, McLennan County, and Central Texas will take advantage of this free public festival welcoming all ages to imagine, inspire, and create together!

MusicFest

guitarThe 2015 WCAF MusicFest will feature both locally loved and nationally known musicians on the mainstage Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! Local favorites include, Never Native, The Union Revival, Venus Envy, and MOJO Assassins. Central Texas String Academy and Choral Society will take to the stage Saturday and Sunday. Saturday evening showcases appearances by Joel Laviolette and Rattletree Marimba, Encore!, and Tequila Rock Revolution and Sunday closes out the festival with headliner, Joel McCray Jazz Group. What a diverse musical menu!

{254}DanceFest

dancersEach year the Out on a Limb Dance Company selects outstanding, unique, and “off the grid” dancers from across the country to perform on Waco’s stage. One favorite feature is the {254} Choreography Dance Exchange, a program connecting dancers and choreographers from around Texas and Oklahoma. {254}DanceFest includes free performances, lecture/workshops, dance jams, and classes (for only $5).

WordFest

word festFor the first time ever, WordFest will feature a Texas Commission on the Arts poet, Sarah Cortez. Hailing from Houston, TX this police-officer-turned-poet will present workshops for children and adults alike and will feature a solo reading followed by a Q & A. Other highlights of this year’s event include a 2015 WordFest Anthology reading to kick off the weekend Friday evening, 100Thousand Artists for Change Open Mic on Saturday evening, and a special Her Texas reading and Q & A on Sunday Afternoon. With workshops, panel discussions, Ink Café, community open mics, and local authors selling and signing their works, WordFest is sure to offer something for writers of every age and every genre from poetry to fiction to memoir to post-apocalyptic mayhem!

ScienceFest

science festA recent addition to the WCAF line-up, ScienceFest seeks to reinforce the wisdom that placing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) at the core of learning, cultivates critically and creatively thinking students ready to address the concerns of our community, our environment, and our world! This year’s theme is Robots, Rockets, Critters, & Chemistry and the ScienceFest featured Artist is Steve Veracruz presenting an exhibit on Fibonacci.

Celebration Africa FilmFest

film fest“Designed to showcase the beauty, diversity, and majesty of Africa,” the Celebration Africa FilmFest provides festival attendees the opportunity to not only screen important films, but to engage in community dialogue and conversation around the various issues, concerns, and celebrations portrayed in each film. Together with a number of community organizations FilmFest presents a rich experience of African culture through film and discussion. Friday’s opening reception will be followed by a screening of The First Grader. Among Saturday’s screenings will include, The Forgotten Kingdom.

ArtFest

art festAmong the juried artists who have been carefully selected to exhibit and sell their work throughout the three days of WCAF, there will be a number of artists doing live, interactive, demonstrations of their work. Additionally, there will be a variety of booths where artists of all ages can create a project souvenir to bring home with them. Many surprises and visual delights are in store at the 2015 Waco Cultural Arts Fest.

Details:

When: September 25-27, 2015
Time: Friday 5p – midnight; Saturday 10am-midnight; Sunday 11a-5p
Where: Indian Spring Park & Waco Convention Center
Who: Everyone, all ages
Cost: FREE! (all events, unless noted are FREE. Food and artwork are additional fees per vendor.)
Website: www.wacoartsfest.org


Jenuine Poetess August 2014Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW), an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon.  Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective.    She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities.  She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city.  You can contact her at: j[email protected].

The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.

 

An Interview with the Founder of “The Yellow Chair Review”

By Jenuine Poetess

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Frances Moran, founder & editor Yellow Chair Review, Waco’s own Art & Literary Journal.

Jenuine Poetess (JP): Tell me about yourself and how you got into writing.

sara m

(Sarah Frances Moran; photo courtesy SFM)

Sarah Frances Moran (SFM): I’m a native Houstonian. I began seriously writing around the age of fifteen. I always had a love for reading and for song lyrics, and my writing came out of a desire to replicate what I enjoyed and also out of desire to express my feelings. You know fifteen-year-olds have lots of feelings.

Without writing I’d probably be in a bad place. Some people sometimes say that it’s therapy and they’re not completely off base. If I didn’t have this outlet I’d have a stockpile of crazy things stored up in my head.

I always kept my writing to myself or to those closest to me. It never occurred to me to put it out there for the public. I have always attended open mic readings and always sat in the back quietly listening. This past September I attended Waco’s Wordfest and most specifically the 100thousand Artists for Change readings. I met ITWOW ([In The Words of Women) Founder Jenuine [Poetess] at that reading and began attending the ITWOW writing group on Monday nights. That outlet opened the door for me to become comfortable sharing my work. I began participating in open mic readings and also began sending out my work for publication. It’s been a crazy year. I’ve had 57 poems (and counting) published in 34 publications. I’ve even dabbled in some memoir writing and have had a few stories published. It’s been a rollercoaster. This venture into the publishing world fueled my desire to start my own literary arts magazine and that’s how Yellow Chair Review came to be.

I could go on for days about setbacks, but they aren’t important. I think it’s important to be resilient, to look ahead and to focus on goals however small or large they are.

JP: How did you get interested in publishing? Tell us about the journey from idea to where you are now?

SFM: I ran a little literary journal when I was in High School that I would send out via email. It was at the dawn of the internet (giving away my age a bit) before blogs and the boom of the online literary world. It was a small email compiled of writing by friends and acquaintances I’d met online. I was also the editor of the school literary magazine. I’ve always had the desire to do that again, and after sending out my own work to a myriad of places I began seeing patterns of things I wanted to do better. I’m certainly under no illusions that I’ve done anything revolutionary with Yellow Chair Review. I simply wanted to create a space for writers and artists that is diverse and approachable. There’s elitism everywhere, and there’s a ton of elitism in the literary world. I don’t want YCR to ever be that.

So I sat down and wrote the pros and cons of doing this (I’m a serious list maker) and determined the pros outweighed the cons. I wanted to make sure this was something I do properly and do in a way that made folks proud to have their work be a part of it.

JP: Where did the name Yellow Chair Review come from?

yellow chair bannerSFM: A poem of course! I wrote a poem in high school titled Yellow Chair. It’s a strange poem dealing with some heavy stuff I was going through at the time. I had this long list of name options. It was almost the Olive Ridley Review. I love sea turtles. Iva, my partner in life and with the review, preferred Yellow Chair.

JP: How is it going compared to your hopes/expectations?

SFM: It is vastly blasting away my hopes/expectations. I thought I’d have to beg for submissions. I thought it would be a slow progression. It has taken off like a rocket. The submissions have been pouring in, and I’ve had to add staff! I never thought I’d have to ask for help. I could definitely be the one to read all of the submissions and do all the work, but I’ve always wanted YCR to be a space that is prompt. One of the things I hate the most about submitting work is the waiting and waiting and waiting. I don’t want submitters to wait long to hear from us. So I’ve enlisted help so that you get that 1-2 day turn around.

JP: What are some future projects/plans you have for YCR?

SFM: We’ve just added two new features to YCR. We’re going to start accepting submissions of Reviews and we’ll start conducting interviews with contributors. The biggest project I’m planning is a Chapbook contest. I don’t have the details etched out 100% yet. I know for sure I want to do a Poetry Chapbook contest. I’d considered also doing a fiction Chapbook contest too, but I don’t know about it yet. More information about that will hopefully be available by September.

JP: Why is it important to you to create an arts & literary journal? What role does it play in the arts community at large and in Waco?

collage

(visual art by Debangana Banerjee; used with permission here and published in YCR, Issue 3)

SFM: I think it’s important to create space. I’ve read a lot of essays and articles about how there are too many literary journals out there and you shouldn’t add to the pile unless you have something extremely unique to bring to the table. I disagree. I think if you’re staying true to the work, to the contributors and doing your best to promote their writing/art you’re doing a huge service to the literary arts community. So many voices go unheard for so many reasons. So create space that helps voices be heard, and do all you can to get those voices out there.

I don’t know that it’s fully doing this yet, but I want YCR to be a space that can say it harbors voices from all over the world, from all walks of life, from all sorts of ideologies, philosophies, races, sexes, orientations, languages etc. Waco itself is more than the majority we see everywhere. I want those underrepresented voices to give YCR the chance to showcase them. Waco has a rich variety of people. YCR can work as a catalyst for those voices.

JP: How can Waco support your work?

SFM: Submitting! I know there are so many poets, writers, and artists in our community, and I would truly love to see their works in YCR. I would love to be able to say that YCR is supportive of the community it’s created in. I can’t say that though if folks don’t give it the chance! So please submit your writings and visual artwork.

Donating! I hate asking for money, but if anyone out there wants to throw donations our way it would be a huge help. Right now YCR is costing my household money, and I don’t mind but it limits what I can do for our contributors. With donations the Chapbook contests can get kickstarted sooner, and we’ll be able to give more in terms of contest winnings. That’s the hugest monetary goal right now. Getting the funds to publish Chapbooks. (You can donate by visiting YCR’s GoFundMe campaign here!)

Reading! Check out the latest issue of YCR via Issuu here.

JP: What else would you like us to know about your work as a poet and as a publisher?

SFM: That I’m here.   That I plan to keep myself immersed in this community on a local level and on an international level. That all of our words, our creations, our feelings and thoughts are worthy of having space. That I want to do all that I can to offer that space.

Get Involved!

  • yellow chair woodenTo learn more about the submission guidelines and schedule, please click here.   To learn more about Sarah and her poetry, please visit her website here. Two blogs to follow are the YCR blog and the Rock the Chair blog, check them out! In September, Sarah will be hosting a workshop on Publishing and Editing at the 2015 WCAF WordFest; join us!
  • WordFest Anthology Call for Submissions – accepting entries of poetry and prose now through August 31, 2015. Please visit here for complete details, entry fees, and submission guidelines.
  • Central Texas Artist Collective is inviting a statement of intent to participate in the 100 Thousand Artists for Change visual exhibit on Saturday September 26, 2015. Details here.

Waco has a rich array of museums, symphony, theater, community band, arts, and cultural activities. To check out the options, please visit Creative Waco!


Jenuine Poetess August 2014Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW), an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon.  Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective.    She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities.  She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city.  You can contact her at: j[email protected].

The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

Creating: getting started & moving through dry spells

By Jenuine Poetess

Here at the Act Locally Waco Arts & Culture blog we muse often about events, programs, the value of arts and cultural activities and the inclusion of creative health as a matter of justice along side employment, education, hunger initiatives, and other aspects of cultivating a sustainable community.   Hopefully, something here has inspired some of you to pick up your own instrument, pen, brush, or tool-of-choice to begin making your own art works. For some of us though, it can be difficult to know where to begin, even when we are inspired. And even people who create on a regular basis sometimes find themselves in a dry spell.

In this month’s post I share some of the resources I have turned to through the years to get started or to get through a creative block. I hope you find something here to prime the pump.

Books:

My personal selection of books reflects my primary creative discipline of writing. Recently I’ve started branching out to more visual art mediums as well.

booksThese three books are an excellent starting place for any writer:

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is a witty, candid, exploration of where to begin and how to continue a healthy writing practice. Lamott assures us that whether we are writing a novel, memoir or multi-volume series, it will be accomplished, one sentence at a time.

Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones works by shaping the person who is the writer. By challenging mental blocks and obstacles, she helps us stretch our imaginations to make space for all of our uncensored thoughts.

Just like athletes must move through the paces of pushups, sprints, and weight-lifting to get ready to perform on the field, strong writers engage in exercises to get ready to perform on the page. Naming the World and A Writer’s Book of Days by Judy Reeves (not pictured) are two excellent sources of varied writing exercises. While what you compose in an exercise may not be a masterpiece, hopefully it will move away the clutter so you can access the real writing gems later.

poetry booksFor those who specifically wish to hone their poetic craft and practice, I highly recommend these three books: Poemcrazy by Susan goldsmith Woolridge, Writing the Life Poetic by Sage Cohen, and Poetry as Spiritual Practice by Robert McDowell as well as an on-line resource Writing from the Soul both website and social media site. If you follow the social media site, new writing prompts are posted in the form of photos every week. From taking a walk, to collecting trinkets, to identifying and practicing technical poetry forms, these resources offer commentary, exercises, and invitations to explore one’s inner and outer worlds in order to enrich one’s poetry pages.

bones of seeingFor those like me who dabble in both writing and visual arts, Natalie Goldberg has a new memoir out, Living Color: Painting, Writing, and the Bones of Seeing complete with full color photos of her visual art works! I can’t wait to dive in and learn more about her practice. Memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies of artists whom you admire are also fantastic resources to learn about practice and process!

art journal workshopAnother possibility is art journaling. There are a myriad of resources out there to help a person get started. This Art Journal guide book by Traci Bunkers, complete with DVD, provides step-by-step directions for how to achieve a variety of mixed-media looks throughout a journal book resulting in a creative collaboration between collage, scrap-booking, writing, and painting. The results are vibrant reflections of one’s own life and journey.

enchanted forestFor those who want to get into visual arts there is a new outpouring of “Grown-up Coloring Books” to enjoy. I recently picked up Joanna Basford’s Enchanted Forest from BookWoman; it was a difficult decision between that and her Secret Garden collection of what she calls, “an inky quest and coloring book.” The pages are filled with intricate patterns and designs, complete with hidden images and themes throughout each book. There are many “Grown Up Coloring Books” which include mandalas, templates to make your own designs, starters for doodling, and even something called, Zentangles—a kind of meditative intentional doodling.

I also included in this photo, a sample of a mandala I found online. Coloring, especially mandalas, is an incredible relaxation creativity exercise.

Local Classes/Resources:

Waco has some wonderful classes available to artists of all ages. For one-time experiences try Practically Pikasso where you can form your own fused glass or mosaic creations, or create custom glaze designs on a vast array of blank pottery shapes.

If you’d like to try your hand at a canvas, check out one of these options:

  • Painting with a Twist guides participants (18+) through a specific project while sipping on a favorite adult beverage (BYOB). Each event offers a specific design, so check out their calendar and pick whichever painting you’d like to try!
  • Paint the Town Waco offers painting guidance for artists of all ages. During the summer classes for kiddos are every Tuesday at the Art Center of Waco.       Adult classes are held periodically at the CAST on Austin Avenue or parties and groups can book the founder & teacher, Sarah Weatherly for private events. To learn more, check out this interview she did with the Art Center of Waco!

Speaking of the Art Center of Waco, they offer classes for kiddos throughout the year. Resident ceramics artist, Jonathan Martin offers occasional adult ceramics classes as well. For more information contact the Art Center of Waco.

McLennan Community College offers a wide variety of arts classes through their Community Continuing Education program. Once you get to the site, click on the upcoming season’s program for a listing of available classes. I’ve seen anything from quilting to ceramics to photography to tango listed at quite reasonable prices for multi-session classes. It’s a great way to learn new skills and meet new friends who are learning too!

Finally, another wonderful resource is the Central Texas Artist Collective. Most recently they have been holding a series of pop-up painting in the park sessions—these are impromptu gatherings of artists of every level and ability getting together to paint, enjoy each other’s company, exchange ideas and technique, and build community through art. Supplies are usually provided and donations are always appreciated. Follow them on Facebook and/or Twitter to stay informed about upcoming events.

I hope you have now been both inspired and motivated to get out there…or stay in and create. Please share in the comments classes you’ve taken, books you’ve read, and volumes that are must-have resources on your shelves! I can’t wait to hear about what helps you get started or what gets you through your creative deserts!


Jenuine Poetess August 2014Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW), an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon.  Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective.    She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities.  She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city.  You can contact her at: [email protected]

The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis: Art is Long, Life is Short

By Jenuine Poetess

 Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

I first heard those words in my high school Latin class many…many moons ago. Art is long, life is short. We were translating phrases, classic wisdoms and warnings like, Cave Canem! “Beware of Dog!” or Caveat Emptor! “Let the buyer beware!” At the time, they didn’t hold much water for me; I was just glad for short translations!

poseidon

(the Faun; statue in a private home in Pompeii, Italy)

Earlier this month I gathered with 100 other artists and poets in Salerno, Italy, for the inaugural 100Thousand Artists for Change World Conference. We converged on this glorious Mediterranean city for 8 days to discuss the role, the responsibility, and the resource of art in furthering missions of peace, justice, and sustainability in our communities world-wide. Indeed I learned a great deal from my journey and the relationships forged during that time. More broadly than my own personal process, I’ve come away with an even deeper, more pressing urgency regarding the importance of art.

I had the remarkable opportunity to spend a day in Pompeii. The ruins of this city, more than any other I have experienced, moved me in profound ways. (For those unfamiliar with the history of Pompeii, this site is an excellent resource). What especially struck me was the pristine preservation of art–as a result of the city being buried in volcanic ash and debris–paintings, sculptures, frescos, and mosaics have withstood time in radiant resilience.

pompeii

(frescoes and mosaic altar inside wealthy Pompeii home)

My fingers gingerly traced the still-vibrant work of another’s hands, over two millennia ago. I was scolded, in Italian. But for a moment, a sacred second, across time and space I connected with another artist. I was humbled. Not by the scolding. By the enormity of art. It is so much more vast than you or I or Waco or Texas or the US or even all of the world. Art is both this very moment and all of eternity. A poem, a song, a painting, a photo, a sculpture, a dance, an installation, a mural, a mosaic—all of it is a mere breath of time, one pulsing beat of the heart. What inspires us to document that moment, above so many others? What moved us to immortalize that person, that sentiment, that truth out of the myriad experienced across the span of life? Why capture it at all?

Ask any artist why art matters and for as many people you interview, you may have that many answers. We create art to make statements, to make movements, to make emotions, to make changes, to make revolution, to make beauty, to make love.

Kiss poem

(poetry by Italian poet, Alfonso Gatto, installed by Salerno Artist, Pino Green)

Singular individuals create, sometimes collaborate. What we make is personal, intimately, privately, personal. And often so very public and political. It is said, what a skillful artist creates is both personal and universal; all at once. That creation is a signature of a specific person and yet, accessible from every angle, age, belief, generation, language, culture, identity, and experience. That is the grail after which we—sometimes obsessively—strive: universality.

But why? What does it matter if someone creates or does not? If it is personal or universal? Wouldn’t we be just fine without art?

(An exquisitely delicious and stunning butter cookie from Compañía de Café in San Fernando, CA)

(An exquisitely delicious and stunning butter cookie from Compañía de Café in San Fernando, CA)

Consider music, the way it moves the body, the soul. Have you ever had a poignant moment connected with music? Have you ever designed a soundtrack to your life or a particular season? Think about the countless photos—yes even selfies—snapped with a camera or phone. Do you realize you are creating art? What about those drawings made by little ones tacked to refrigerator doors and cubical walls? Or the texture and hue of that wool you knitted into a scarf to hold Winter’s winds at bay? Remember that moment, bigger than your being, when words became insufficient to articulate all that needed to be expressed? Or the way the curve and tangle of that gnarled old Oak, caught your breath, in that particular instant. What about that time that you met one who stirred places long dormant within you, and poetry, unexpected, flowed forth from your unassuming pen?

Art is everywhere and in everything. In the magnificence of creation, in the hues of our skin, in the ache of our tragedies.spider web

Art invites us to indulge in sensual pleasures sating taste, touch, sight, sound, scents. Art asks questions we cannot bear to utter. Art shows us what and how the world could be. Art holds up an unapologetic mirror reminding us, teaching us who we are. Art is a timeless narrative, telling our stories long after our echoes have subsided into the earth. Art is a tool to heal, to listen, to understand, to become.

In a magnificent project by Janice Lee, she calls for #finalpoems asking poets for their last words to an ending world.

Why?

Lee writes:

“Because one yet wants to believe that poetry can still be about the catastrophe and beauty of one’s own heart, and the generous giving away of those words to another.

If the world were to end next week, what is the final poem you write, the final poem you give away generously, treacherously, genuinely, fearfully, necessarily, beautifully?

That tomorrow it may very well all end, and we would know to bear the pain as the day rose and broke.

That the present is undying yet death awaits us all.

That words can still connect and touch, that we still know how to offer to others a piece of our soul.

That space yet expands and we know when to keep breathing and when to stop.

That poetry can yet be given and received, from one human being to another.”

(detail of a painting I purchased in Istanbul, Turkey, outside the Blue Mosque)

(detail of a painting I purchased in Istanbul, Turkey, outside the Blue Mosque)

I consider the works of art preserved by a volcano that destroyed an entire city in 79 AD. I awe and wonder how inside that moment of agony and death, art endured–audaciously, vibrantly, resiliently.

 

 

 


Jenuine Poetess August 2014Jenuine Poetess is an artist, visionary, and community organizer. In 2010, she founded In the Words of Womyn (ITWOW), an international, grass-roots, written and spoken-word arts project with chapters throughout Los Angeles, CA; Waco, TX; and Lebanon.  Jenuine is the founder of Waco Poets Society and co-founder of the Central Texas Artist Collective.    She writes, organizes, and creates rooted in the fierce conviction that holding intentional space, access, and opportunity for all people to foster their creative health is a matter of justice and is a vital asset to the sustainable thriving of communities.  She currently lives and poems in Central Texas where she enjoys finding new ways to disrupt the homeostasis of her city.  You can contact her at: [email protected].

 

The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.

 

Open Mic : On why holding space matters

by Jenuine Poetess

It is easy to feel lost and betrayed in a world of increasing alienation, where greed, injustice, and dull materialism obscure the underlying dream of life. There is a path the soul would have us take and a unique way of seeing the world it would have us awaken to. There is a music and rhythm in the body and a song in the soul; both an inner vitality and an instinctive connection to the divine that is the inborn source of great imagination and creativity,” mythologist Michael Meade writes. Rooted in this very conviction, Waco Poets Society holds space for every voice to share its story, song, poem, rhythm, and truths via regular open mic events throughout the city.

Nuestra voz

(Nuestra Voz open mic @ Art Forum Back Patio, Saturday May 9, 2015)

There is something uniquely transformative, when a collection of people—across so many cultures, beliefs, ages, disabilities, life-practices, genders, abilities, talents, genres, styles, and languages—gather together to share with to one another. Assumptions, prejudices, walls begin to crumble as we listen to each other. We begin hearing pieces of our own stories, nestled within the harmonies and poetics of another. We recognize parts of ourselves in the mirrors our creative expressions are for one another.

don't have to agreeThe extraordinary thing is that regardless of all the things that might divide us, within the space of an open mic, we respect and honor the expression. We don’t all have to agree on the content, but we hold space for one another acknowledging that every person has authority over their own truth. While Waco Poets Society is committed to holding an uncensored space, their one caveat is that hate speech of any kind—toward self or others—is not welcome because it is not a productive part of cultivating authentic community.

Beyond Waco Poets Society, other individuals and grass-roots initiatives are beginning to bloom throughout this city. Organized by Saddiq Granger, a new gathering called Minority Report is an open-to-all talking circle safe space where everyone is invited to share their stories of minority experiences or being marginalized in any setting due to a specific difference…and it’s a potluck!

minority report

(Minority Report talking circle & potluck at the CAST, March 2015)

It is vital to the thriving of our community that such spaces continue and multiply. There is no such thing as too many spaces for creative and authentic expressions of personal truths! These circles and conversations and open mic gatherings and dialogues are what allow us to give one another agency. To affirm that Yes! our stories, our experiences matter. To step for a moment into another’s shoes and feel the challenges of the path they walk daily. To deepen our mindfulness and broaden our compassion. This is how our city will flourish. This is how we will continue growing into the community where everyone is welcome, celebrated, and honored for exactly who they are. Of course we don’t all have to believe or live or practice or speak or dress or express in the same ways. How bland would life be if that were the case!

Open mic and creative talking circles give us the opportunity to practice being curious about the truths of others. We hold space for people to be nourished and inspired by the collective creativity exchanged. Artists are allowed to practice new styles and voices and expressions while sorting out their own true identity. We have grace for the mistakes, stutters, and stumbles because we celebrate the fact that all of us, not just our art works, are rough drafts. We challenge one another as those more experienced nudge those of us just starting out into enriched becoming. Across generations and cultures and languages and beliefs and genders and identities relationships are formed. And those relationships, transform individuals, transform neighborhoods, transform cities, transform nations.

Get Involved:

  • New Open Mic collaboration between Waco Poets Society, Central Texas Artist Collective, & Tea2Go Waco every 3rd Thursday beginning May 21st @ 7pm with a kick-off event featuring singer/song-writer Katie Stewart. CTAC will be curating a monthly visual arts exhibit which will open each month at open mic. FREE ~ please purchase drinks to support this new local business!
  • Nuestra Voz open mic @ Art Forum of Waco May 23, 2015 at 7pm. Theme for this event is Grief & Loss. This will be a safe space for remembering, honoring, reflecting on expressions of who and what has been lost. This is a potluck event; bring a main, side, dessert dish or drink to share. FREE ~ $3 donations appreciated & shared with Art Forum.
  • Keep up with the next Minority Report circle & potluck by visiting & liking their social media page at: facebook.com/MinorityReportWaco