25@25- Marwen

This year is Marwen's 25th annniversary  and as a way to celebrate, they chose 25 people from the Marwen community (students, alumni, teaching artists, staff, board members, etc.) to highlight in a series of short videos. Mine was released this week, as embarrassing as it is to see myself on screen, I'm happy that I was able to talk about an organization that's very important to me!

Inspiring words from Coach Lyons

On the last day of one of Marwen's summer programs, called Art at Work, my colleague and the teaching artist for the program put these words from Joseph Campbell on the board to share with his students, many of whom were on their way to college. As a teacher, I come across words of wisdom fairly often but this resonated with me so I thought I'd share it here.
In case you can't read the photo, here's what it says:

1. Have more questions than answers
2. The most important questions are "What if?" and "Why not?"
3. Learn not by speaking but by listening and trying
4. Enjoy the process as much as the act of finishing
5. You are more than what you make for a living/You are more than what you do for a living
6. Use your talents for good
7. Embrace challenge

Joseph Campbell- The Power of Myth

On the Road...again

It feels like I've been on the road a lot lately. It started with visiting old friends in central Illinois, then over Labor Day we drove south through Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina and this weekend we're on our way to northern Wisconsin for another long weekend. The mountains in West Virginia were really spectacular and it felt good to get away from the city for a bit and just be outside. Our first stop was Louisville which I am excited to return to! We stayed with some friends at the 21C Museum Hotel which I had heard about for years. I highly recommend it! The atmosphere is filled with contemporary art (not just in the galleries they have). But there was no sense of pretension, it was just really fun. Since I'm still editing most of my photos, here are a few from the hotel and from the road.

On the way to Farmer City, IL

The bar at 21C where I got tasty house made sodas while everyone else drank bourbon:)

The view from our window, ha!

These red penguins were all over the place, apparently this one had been naughty

Excuse the crappy iPhone photo, this was way cooler in person

Heading to West Virginia