Practicing Exuberance
It's easy, lately, to feel like the world is coming apart at the seams. When watching the news or scrolling social media, despair often feels like the only reasonable response.
But then you walk into a room where ten neighbors, many previously strangers, are building a giant papier-mâché H&C Coffee sign, and the levity hits like an energetic force ... so strong in its ability to center you, it's nearly as tangible as the pleasingly slimy cornstarch glue covering your hands. A glue, you realize looking around the room, that holds together more than just paper.
Week after week, for our Daisy Art Parade Open Studio sessions, people show up, forget about their feeds, and make something alongside their neighbors. And in the middle of the 80s new wave playlist, amidst the laughing and the problem solving, the puppetry and the printmaking, you feel something that might be described as ... exuberance.
It's why we decided to revisit our mission recently — to make sure it really spoke to what this building and burgeoning community has been showing us over the past few months. This is where we landed:
Mission:
Art Project Roanoke is a creative lab rooted in community, dedicated to shaping a more vibrant future for our city through the exuberant act of making art together.
That word — exuberant — feels right. And there were a few ways March reminded us why ...
We officially named our third floor Studios @ Art Project Roanoke — and for the first time, the artists who call it home brought their work down to our side gallery where it’s on display. Come see the work and tour the studios for our April Open House & Make Night happening this Friday, the 3rd. We couldn't be more grateful to our founding studio artists: Leslie Santapaul, Diane Patton, Angie Patton Poe, Rachel Uchizono, Sindy Scalfi, and Sarah Parcell.
Mary Bullington wrapped up her 6-week Art of Surprise mixed media workshop, and the results were something to see — an array of colorful, whimsical, completely one-of-a-kind pieces. The bonus was a group of students and their teacher beaming with pride and deservedly so. This is what happens when you give people permission to play:
On March 21, we hosted our first ever Puppetry & Movement Slam thanks to the talents and organizing energy of Mike Moran aka the Iowa Goatsinger. Eight Roanoke artists — spanning theatre, music, spoken word, and visual art — took the stage, and Roanoke got a glimpse of a creative world it didn't know was waiting for it. We're already planning the Summer Slam.
Then there were the kiddos. Through a partnership with a local PTA group, we led a group of 1st through 5th graders on a six-week mask making journey — from first sketch to final product. Humbling and chaotic in the best way. Watching their creations come to life was quite rewarding. And a great reminder to thank the teachers in your life. They sure deserve it.
If March taught us anything, it's that showing up in person — with your neighbors and a willingness to create together — is one of the most necessary things you can do right now. Intentional exuberance, anchored in artistic expression, is defiance in the face of a world determined to distract you with doom.
That's what we're practicing here. We hope you'll join us!