BRADENTON – I’ve lived a life inspired by creators of all types. People in art, people in play, people in writing, people in performance and, most of all, creative people doing what they love – creating.
A community is made up of creative people and many of those ”creatives“ use their talents to enhance an organization and better the lives of those people around them.
”If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him,“ John F. Kennedy said.
I’ve been privileged to have taken the creative journey, as the wife and constant driver to Hungarian artist Csaba Osvath.
We committed ourselves to follow the bumpy road of the arts and some years were paved smooth, while others barely were cleared for a path. But along the way, we stayed true to the gifts meant to share with the community and onward, and met our inspirations while in travel.
I have stood in the shadows of lectures and exhibits locally and abroad and observed people step into a painting and disappear in the moment or touch the surface of textured art glass and stumble upon their reflection.
Just this past weekend a friend, elderly but alive in spirit and wisdom, who supported the art movements in New York from 1955 to the end of the 1990s, sat at our dining room table and remembered the late Jackson Pollock. Pollock died in 1956.
She knew his wife, Lee Krasner, and she remembered visiting them when they lived so far on the outer limits of the South Shore of Long Island that their home was more of a farmhouse than a suburban residence. She shared how poor they both were and how their home was wall-to-wall paintings, mainly because they couldn’t sell them.
It wasn’t until the death of Pollock that Krasner began showing and selling her husband’s work, and his name and reputation was branded into the minds of the greatest intellects and the hearts of the people around the world.
”When I say artist I mean the man who is building things – creating, molding the earth -- whether it be the plains of the West -- or the iron ore of Pennsylvania. It's all a big game of construction -- some with a brush -- some with a shovel -- some choose a pen,“ Jackson Pollock said.
I chose a pen very early on and that is my journey, the path of the creative writer – the storyteller.
I was bitten by publishing early on as a child after placing most years in the Young Author series in Virginia. It was through these handmade books I created each year that I knew I wanted to be a published author one day.
So, as some practical writers do – I studied broadcast and written journalism in undergraduate and graduate school. I found myself working as a TV and radio reporter, weekly news reporter, nonprofit monthly reporter and now as a daily online journalist covering art, culture and community.
But on the side I fiddle in my young reader magical realism books that I have written and tune them to perfection in the wee hours of night, knowing that at daybreak the daily news sounds a bell and another inspiring individual will step up to the stage to tell a story.
Over the past four months, a few inspiring people have entered my life and we have covered their stories. Stories that only through their great passion and creativity can we begin to observe the great work they do in the community.
On Thursday, I will publish a story about 10 individuals I have covered who have and are creating community in Manatee County.
”History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed. Art has remembered the people, because they created,“ William Morris said.
Erica Newport is a daily reporter for The Bradenton Times. She covers art, culture and community. If you have a story that might interest Erica, please e-mail her using erica.newport@thebradentontimes.com address. She also takes your questions related to our weekly theme days and provides advice and opinions for our readers. Please use this e-mail address for Ask Erica: ask.erica@thebradentontimes.com.
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