FULTON – CNY Arts Center Executive Director Nancy Fox has released the following update.
I just walked the perimeter of my yard – way to the back where I never go. Somethings have to change. I admit I’m fairly – okay totally – neglectful of the things I don’t interact with on a daily basis. I want it to look beautiful and inviting – a place to sit and listen to the birds, smell sweet flowers, maybe hear the soft sound of a waterfall – a mini staycation.
I have a huge yard with the scars of overgrown apple trees growing wild in the midst of crabapple bushes; a 60 year old rhododendron that, until last year, blossomed faithfully every year, and there’s more chaos. It’s a jungle. This is my husband’s boyhood home and generations of relatives have come and gone and made their mark on the landscape over the years.
And now it’s mine. Oh dear. Completely my responsibility. Something has to change. I can’t ignore it this year for sure.
We want to put up a new fence after a new land survey is done so we can get the permit to install the fence we bought last year – on the installment plan. At least our neighbors won’t have to look at the overgrown jungle surrounded by a decrepit fence that won’t keep out weeds much less trespassers. Maybe its real purpose is to keep out prying eyes wondering when I’m going to get around to landscaping the yard. Maybe those prying eyes are mine and I won’t see it every day because I’ll be back to doing what it is I do that keeps me too busy to notice the jungle. If I give the jungle a name, will I come to terms with taking care of it?
I always thought that I could handle change. I’ve faced lots of ups and downs in life just like you. I know firsthand “This too shall pass” and they say “Time heals all wounds.” Not so sure about that last one but change can be scary and sometimes even painful.
I’ve been wondering what changes are in store for the Arts Center after all this crisis is over. Will we go back to business as usual? Will the audience come back or will we be afraid to sit too close? We like our intimate theatre of 80 seats, but right now that’s too intimate. What will change look like for us?
I know that change can stimulate hope for more change; hope that the next change will reveal a better scenario, better circumstance, maybe a little growth. I’ve often said when you do something new in your life – and at the Arts Center we hope that means learning to paint or learning a new instrument or creative skill you didn’t have before – you will discover you have changed your world. You have made that change happen by learning something new, or just doing something different, and with that one instance of change in your life, you are now capable of more change. You have the power to change your life and suddenly new possibilities start to open up.
One of our theatre families says the Arts Center has taught almost every member of the family a new skill and they call the Arts Center their home away from home. They spend a lot of time with us and are happy with how it has changed their family dynamics. Change offers hope.
But change is hard when it’s the pull-up-your-bootstraps-and-get-to-work kind of change that needs to happen in my back yard. I did manage to clean out 2 kitchen cupboards this week and throw away a lot of junk. That changed how I felt about the kitchen and I’ve had a couple days of actually enjoying my kitchen again, baking and trying new recipes. I am inspired to clean out a couple more cabinets and who knows what I might create in the culinary arts? I used to love cake decorating.
So while you’re stuck at home, isolated from the people you love or things you used to do, maybe it’s time for a little change. Start small, start slow. Don’t promise yourself too much. Just a little here, a little there. Guess what you will find? You have created something in your life – you have created change. You are a creator however big or small but changed nonetheless. And because life imitates art, you will find you are creative.
It’s all the same isn’t it? Whatever we do in our lives or someone else’s to make life better, or even just different, takes your creative thought and spirit to create the thing that changes something. And if it feels good, write it down. Someone someday will read and be encouraged by your effort as a writer – even if it’s your future self. Or make a batch of cookies and treat yourself as you realize you are a culinary artist.
Choose the new colors for the bathroom paint job you’ve been promising yourself and find you’re an artist choosing colors in a palette and designing a space that will give you joy every time you think about the change in your living environment. Choosing the colors will make it easier to get up and finally paint the bathroom.
Read to your children. Watch a classic movie. Listen to your favorite music, or make friends with the guitar stuck in the back of your closet somewhere and you’ll remember you have a passion for the arts after all. Your inner artist has been touched and you have contributions to make even if it is just for an audience of one.
The arts touch every part of our lives and change is stimulated every time you engage the arts. Change stimulates hope and hope stimulates us to desire more change – hope to make the world just a little better, a little brighter, and well, changed.
How many folks today are calling for change? I can’t singlehandedly change the crisis we are in, but I can change my world, make good come from the forced isolation and change what I can.
No promises for the jungle but I can change the environment for my family in the kitchen at least.
Change is inevitable these days and the Arts Center has to make some changes to stay relevant to your lives. We’re figuring that out. So when the doors of the Arts Center finally re-open, I invite you to come and see what changes we’ve made. I promise you we’ll have art for everyone, somehow, and you’ll find something or someone you love to hang with or just make art. Your life will change; you will change your world. Can’t wait to see you soon.
It’s still poetry month and we’re having lots of fun on Facebook. Check it out and for more information about CNY Arts Center visit www.CNYArtsCenter.com. Stay well.
missing or outdated ad config