08.22
Even in a time of economic struggle, I was recently reminded that while fighting for survival, what we really hope for is the chance to thrive. How, as a city of limited financial resources, do we reach for fulfillment when we are losing our homes, our employment, our sense of safety and our access to services? I believe the answer comes from that often stifled place within that calls out, “Do what you love.”
I am a person who rarely rests: always on the go and trying to make ends meet, I have found my very few moments of peace in worship, in following my creative passions and in guiding others in how to follow theirs. Access to the creative parts of us gets lost in what feels more urgent… in crisis. Yet it is here that we need creative expression the most. It is vital that we fight for what we need, and our belief in “hope” demands that we attend to our passions.
Whether or not you would call yourself an artist, each of us has the capacity to be creative. My partner makes delectable meals from generic foods, opening our almost empty cupboards and balancing the palette of tastes to define a rich and vibrant supper. This is a creative process. Life is a creative process. Always changing and reshaping, we creatively cope and pray for the day when our lives feel more secure.
I invite you to see how creative you really are!
Pigeon Arts’ team guides a wide variety of audiences in discerning what creative pursuits will help us to achieve that sense of thriving. As the Director of Pigeon Arts, I am proud to say that since our inception in January 2008, our 230+ participants of creative programs have expressed that we are making an impact. We are in the business of restoring “hope” through the arts.
We are not alone in this work. Transformative artists and arts organizations are collaborating to bring art-making to those who need it most. Pigeon Arts has worked in collaboration with BuildaBridge, bringing the arts to families living in the shelter system and seniors living in nursing facilities. We have collaborated with the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia, to create programs for children who have either been victims or witnesses to domestic violence or have lost family members to homicide. Pigeon Arts has worked with the Temple Writing Academy, and with a group of transgender artists (through funding by the Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grant) in recreating and altering books to make their stories of identity tangible. Loretta Graham, writer and artist, who we met through the BuildaBridge Institute, came to Pigeon Arts to learn how expand upon her work with teens, with seniors, and with men living in the shelter system. Her programs have made a real difference in the lives of her participants.
We are hungry to continue these collaborations and to expand others’ knowledge of how to guide their communities to their creative dreams. Art-making, in whatever form, is something that each of us can do, if we push past our fears and dive into our hearts. These days, we need it more than ever.
In Peace,
Jesse White
