The Gage Academy of Art challenged me to change. For seven hours every day in this Seattle art school, I studied classical portrait drawing followed by private tutoring in figure drawing each evening. Then one day there, a stranger gave me a gift of words. After I ran into an elderly Chinese gentleman in the…
The cultivation of trees is the cultivation of the good, the beautiful, and the ennobling in man. J. Sterling Morton My dad loved to plant trees. His love for trees inspired my husband and me to plant a tree everywhere we lived from California to Philadelphia to Denver to Germany to Grand Rapids. One of…
The young woman divulged details about her perpetrators. Tragic stories. One man was a community leader. An authority figure in her life. Another was a family member. The sexual abuse lasted for more than a decade during her childhood. At The Scarlet Cord installation, this young woman quietly approached me and asked for a scarlet…
After reading Makoto Fujimura’s book called Culture Care, I have been more intentional about planning adventures for personal renewal and enjoyment. Last week’s trip led me to Chicago. When I stepped into the Impressionism Gallery at the Art Institute of Chicago, my soul found a resting place. Tears welled up from the immense beauty of…
“The same scarlet cord that tethers the children to their pimps can be used to suture their wounds,” said a young student when The Scarlet Cord was on exhibit during the Super Bowl in Phoenix. The student’s insightful words amazed me. Both visitors and supporters weave life and healing into The Scarlet Cord installation as…
For five days beginning next Wednesday, downtown Phoenix will play host to an expected one million visitors, all anxious to be part of the unparalleled hype that surrounds the Super Bowl each year wherever it is played. There will be live music, great food, national sports broadcasts, and even a giant climbing wall reminiscent of…