Hard Conversations

That girl to the left is me - age 20 or so. I was sitting on the front campus of Georgia College & State University, already a junior in college, studying to be a journalist.

I wanted to change the world. I wanted to complete my degree in Broadcast Journalism and travel the world, exposing injustice and highlighting life's little miracles.

I'm 41 now, a whole other lifetime later - and I still want to change the world, at least my little corner of the world. Try as I might, I can't quite seem to walk away from exposing my community's injustices and little miracles.

I did achieve that journalist's dream, and later I transitioned to work in nonprofits. At 39, I was able to mix two worlds I loved - art + nonprofit. As many of you know, I am the Director of Sales & Marketing for the Tubman African American Museum.

Aside from that title, I am still just a girl who wants to make a difference. I am incredibly lucky that I get to not only make an impact on my community, I get paid to do it. 

Unfortunately, I find myself backed into a corner. My museum was hit with some very hard information and it could potentially cause serious problems.

We've seen it time and time again - government and corporate spending/donations dwindling away. I understand that. You can't work in nonprofit as long as I have and not fall victim to this. I've also experienced life unemployed - both are absolute dark times, for certain. 

My museum just found out that the Mayor has proposed cutting all money to the museum. That means $250,000 would be eliminated in about 6 weeks. That's 40% of our operating budget. (that's what helps keep the doors open.) Let me repeat - this decision will be voted on in 6 weeks. As wonderful as we are, we are 99.9% not likely to raise a quarter of million dollars in just 6 weeks.... unless our commissioners vote in favor of reinstating this money.

Not only is it terrifying for me personally - it's terrible for our community. It's such a short sighted move. I'll tell you why - this community NEEDS the museum to not only contribute to the quality of life, but there is a definite need to promote the art, history and culture of the African American community.

How many African American museums can you name? How many serve as broad an audience as we do? How many are located in the thick of where the Civil War - Civil Rights - Integration - and a whole slew of activities took place? If we don't tell the story... who will? 

So many people do not value the arts, and it all goes back to education and exposure. I can assure you, if you took music, art, theater, dance, and a list of other amazing activities, there would be absolutely no reason to live. When I say music - I mean even the music you listen to on the radio. When I say art, I even mean the clothes you wear, to the jewelry you buy, to the very design of your car. When I say theater - I mean the movies you watch, the tv shows you are addicted to, and when I say dance - I mean the most exhilarating movement you can possibly use to express. Of course I mean the classics (art/live theater/orchestra/etc,) but I want to drive home that message that you are SURROUNDED by art. It's all a part of the creative process, and if my museum does not survive this, a piece of that creative process dies.

Our museum was founded by Father Richard Keil. Richard has since left the priesthood, but it was the priesthood that was the catalyst for events he would witness that would create this museum. He was a farm boy from Wisconsin, and eventually was assigned to rural Alabama/Mississippi during the Civil Rights era. He saw atrocities, he witnessed injustice, he made a decision early on that human rights were for all people, regardless of color. When he was moved to Macon, Georgia to work as the priest at St. Peter Claver, he eventually decided to put his money down on an old dilapidated building downtown, and turned it into a museum to celebrate the culture of African Americans. 

Did I mention he was a white man? Yes, he was - but that doesn't matter.

30 some years later, here we face a potential issue. Of course, as with everything, it goes back to money. I can only raise awareness so much - but I can't make you care. You might think, "Hey... we are like 40 years past the Civil Rights era... let's move on." If that is true, why did I receive hate mail at work after a television interview? Don't remember? Let me show you - click HERE.

It still exists - which means we have a looooooong way to go. How better to tell the story of the struggles and triumphs of this issue than with a museum dedicated to it. We have to understand the past so that we don't repeat it. 

Again, I can't make anyone vote a certain way. I can't make you write to your commissioners. I can't make you buy a membership, or organize a rally, or even read this blog - but I can ask. 

Do what you can .... with what you have.... where you are. 

If you want to understand what I am talking about... click HERE. (That's detailed info.)

Personally, I'm trying really hard to fight like hell. I want this museum to succeed, with or without me. I want this community to succeed - but a decision to pass this budget without reinstating the $250,000 would be detrimental.  I will be fine... I always am. But for once, it's time to roll up our sleeves and decide what's important. 

Where do you stand, and are you brave enough to stand up and fight for it? 

PS - though I may work for the museum, this is in no way the reflection or opinion of the museum. This is me - just sharing what I feel is the right thing to do. No one has permission to use anything I have said as a response from the museum, because it is not that. This is simply a Macon-Bibb County, tax paying resident voicing her opinion on a personal blog. 

and... All That Jazz...

I finally got more photos from the 18th Annual All That Jazz to share.
That's the event that contributed to my weakened immune system (still hacking and sneezing..)

Stress will do that to you. (But man... can I throw a good party or what?) lol

Here is why:

Ghosts, Bottlecaps, and Australians

I feel like a kid in a candy store! October is totally making up for the pounding September put on me. I have been super busy at work and super content at home, so much so that it leaves very little time to catch you guys up on what is actually going on in my little world.

For one, we have a phenomenal exhibit opening tonight - "The World of Mr. Imagination." Tonight, the Tubman Museum will celebrate the opening of a very special exhibition. Entitled The World of Mr. Imagination, 1948 – 2012, the exhibit features thirty works by the renowned visionary artist known to the world as Mr. Imagination.

Mr. Imagination was born Gregory Warmack in Chicago, Illinois. As a child Warmack

 rendered religious paintings and signs on pieces of cardboard and rocks.  While in his teens and early twenties he carved wood and stone, and made jewelry from cast off objects, which he sold on the streets.  In 1978 he was mugged, shot and left to die.  During his recovery he had an out of body experience.  In it he saw himself as an inheritor of a lineage of kings and artisans that stretched back to ancient Egypt.  This vision inspired him to dedicate himself to a new regenerative art for the people.  In the late 1970’s he began working on sandstone relief sculptures of the African and Egyptian imagery he had seen during his astral travels.  Around 1980 he took on the name Mr. Imagination.  A self-taught artist, Mr. Imagination was known for his prolific output.  He transformed discarded materials into arresting works of art that could at some times be childlike and playful, and at others serious and ritualistic.  He was perhaps best known for incorporating hammered bottle caps into his works.

Beginning in the 1980’s Mr. Imagination showed his work extensively in the Chicago area, but also participated in group and one-person exhibitions across the U.S., in Europe and West Africa. In 2002, after the death of his brother, Mr. Imagination moved from Chicago to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He turned his dwelling there into a studio and community arts center. A house fire in 2008 destroyed the majority of his art, and took the lives of his beloved pets. After this tragedy, Mr. Imagination moved once again, this time to Atlanta, Georgia seeking a fresh start.

In 2009 Mr. Imagination settled in Atlanta, in the Riverside neighborhood near Vinings. Once again he turned his home into his studio, and set about making new work, incorporating the salvaged remains of his burned works into new sculptures. In 2011 he had his first solo show in Atlanta at the Barbara Archer Gallery. The following year, shortly after committing to show works at the Tubman, Mr. Imagination suddenly fell ill and died. With the support of his surviving family, the works for this exhibition were chosen posthumously from the artist’s Riverside home.

The opening reception for this exhibition will be at the Tubman Museum, from 6:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. The World of Mr. Imagination will remain on exhibit at the Tubman through January 5, 2013. Admission to this event is Free for Museum Members, $8.00 for the General Public. Contact the Museum (478-743-8544, www.tubmanmuseum.com) for more information about this and other programs.

Last night I hung out in a cemetery. Seriously! Check that off my Fall/Halloweenish to-do list. The good news is, it was all for a good cause. I am volunteering for "Spirits in October," it is a wonderful fundraiser for Historic Riverside Cemetery. The cemetery is celebrating 125 years and by doing so recognizing Macon's "Incredible Firsts” such as the first person interred in Riverside Cemetery, Tallulah Belle Woodall, raised at the Methodist Orphanage, who died of consumption at the age of 28 and Clemiel Barto "Pop" Walden, father of R&B barrier breakers and Southern music entrepreneurs Alan and Phil Walden.

Back this year, the tour's final stop will be a visit inside the beautiful and spacious Macon Public Mausoleum, where light refreshments are served among exhibits about featured spirits and local history. I'm working the gift shop - check out my "haunt," if you will:

Finally, I am so EXCITED that my foreign exchange student from Melbourne, Australia (Matt Cook,) is coming to visit. Matt lived with me in 2005 as a high school senior. He lived 1/2 of his year in Macon and spent the other 1/2 in Birmingham. So yes, he experienced the big MOVE. I have not seen him since 2005. He has been hiking the A.T. for the past couple of months and needed a reprieve. He will literally arrive any hour now (by bus!)

I don't want to forget to mention, a dear friend of mine from Birmingham is coming to visit. Christie found out about a church pianist/organist conference being held in Macon (which she is one!) and thought, "Let me kill two birds with one stone!" I can't wait to see her!

Hope you guys plan to have a great weekend. I have a long night ahead of me, then a 7:30am commitment to meet with my fellow Rotarians to clean up the highway. Good times, for certain!