An Unexpected Gift

It is no secret that North East Ohio has millions of dollars worth of natural resources just under its surface. It is a largely unmined reservoir of the arts. Recently, the "funding community" (that is rich families, foundations and corporations who give 5% or more of their income & assets to services for poor people) has shown an increased interest in non-profits who incorporate arts and art therapy into their services for people of all ages and stages of life. It is widely acknowledged, especially since the announcement of Cleveland as the Poorest City in the U.S. in 2004, that the area is full of possibilities for new and non-traditional industry. Our challenge now: how to making the arts profitable enough to make it a viable employment option, especially for these talented young people we're serving.

Since I moved here in August 2004, I've slowly begun to tap into this incredibly gifted (and largely poor) arts community. I've been trying to connect particularly with poets, but because I work evenings, I haven't been available for most of the readings and signings and conferences where I'd form those relationships. I'm out of the loop. The joy and the trial of networking with writers is that we're all writing. We're all entering the same contests, trying for the same publications, and the pool of talent is larger than the conventional pool of publishing.

It's hard not to be discouraged. But I got interested in independent publishing and printed a short chapbook (out my house) for friends and maybe to sell a couple as a fundraiser for Seeds of Literacy. One day, Jeff Miller came to play at Oberlin and we decided to check out West Fest, a local arts festival in my neighborhood. Because we were heading to Oberlin that night, I had a couple chapbooks in my purse. One of the booths was for the Lake Erie Artists, and on a whim I gave them a chapbook and got some info on their organization.

They're artists. They do jewelry and painting, sculpture and clothing. I didn't hink they would be into it, but a couple weeks later I got an email, inviting me to a meeting. I was out of town, but kept it in mind. A couple weeks ago I got another email:

"We are going to have a temporary store at Tower City Center from Nov 25 until Jan 14. This might be a good time to become a member. We will have demos and you could read poetry for one of them."

Sweetness!!! So I got my stuff together, got it down to the store this weekend, only to discover...they have the spot permanently! And I can do demos as much as I want! This could be a monthly venue! And the don't like duplicate artists in mediums, so...I'll be the only poet. Wild and crazy stuff. A totally unexpected Christmas present, straight from the Giver of All Good Gifts. My prayer is that I'll be made worthy, that my work will be desirable for its audience. And that glory be to our Creator, our Sustainer and our Redeemer, the God who was, who is, and is to come at the end of the ages. Amen