visual arts and sacred rituals are the heartbeat of a movement. It is a reminder that what we are fighting for—our human right to dream, create and live in dignity is always stronger than the racism, hate and oppression we are fighting against.
Viktor Frankel, a holocaust survivor once said, “Despair is suffering without meaning.” I believe art has a way of cutting through complexities and revealing the heart of an issue. When it is done in collaboration and in community through an art build it becomes even more powerful because at that moment we are becoming the change we seek. We are
working through our despair and suffering. We are collaborating and bringing forth both our ideas and vulnerability. Together we are creating something of beauty and meaning. And once you start to conceptualize and create a banner or an art prop, it is easier to visualize working together to create a different world.
ART AND SOCIAL CHANGE By Paul Cloud
Can artists effect real change in their communities through connection and education? The folks at the Macoupin Art Collective think they can. The MAC is a nonprofit school of art and crafts located in the small rural community of Staunton, Illinois, and the employees and volunteers there strive to act as agents of change in an area sorely lacking in fine arts education and appreciation. True to their name, the Macoupin Art Collective brings citizens of Macoupin County and beyond together in an effort to make crafts and fine arts in a welcoming, collaborative environment. They opened in March 2017 and have seen thousands of students come through the doors of their gallery and studio since then. The community has been unbelievably generous and supportive, providing volunteer help and financial support in the form of class fees and donations. This attitude of collaboration and community is at the heart of the Macoupin Art Collective, run by only two full-time paid employees.
Brandace Cloud, founder and executive director of The MAC, long dreamed of opening her own art school. She was educated in art curriculum at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended postgraduate studies in the ceramics department at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. After completing her education, Brandace taught ceramics classes through the Edwardsville Arts Center, where she met a student named Brian Markowitz, who was so impressed with Brandace’s vision to open an art school that he purchased a building in Staunton for Brandace to use, helping make that vision a reality. Now Brandace, Marcella Cloud (The MAC’s development coordinator and community outreach director), a host of volunteers, The MAC’s board of directors, and an incredibly supportive network of students, patrons and independent instructors dedicate themselves to promoting the arts in a society that has sadly allowed creativity to languish. Many schools in the small rural towns and villages around Staunton—and all over the
country—face budgetary woes and a lack of enthusiastic support. They often see cuts made to art curricula before other programs. But saving money often comes at the expense of an important aspect of children’s development and education: creative intelligence and artistic expression. In Staunton, for example, students have access to art classes at the high school level but not before. And by the time students reach high school, without a background in the fundamentals of art, the opportunities for learning are severely limited. Brandace, Marcella and all the other members of the collective seek to change that. Providing education in the fundamentals of art theory, experience with a variety of tools and materials and a supportive encouraging community of artists gives kids and adults knowledge and skills to express themselves creatively. And that is sorely needed in our world today.
www.macart.org
ARETHA IN LIVING COLOR
It takes a lot to get my family to agree on anything. Growing up in North St. Louis during the turbulent 1960s was tough on us. Imagine a family that included a Vietnam War veteran, a Black Power activist, a feminist and a budding artist. My siblings and I couldn't agree on anything. Not even a snowstorm in January. But we could agree on Aretha Franklin. We all loved the Queen of Soul.
the age of 76. Singer, pianist, songwriter, civil rights activist and a musical icon. I remember watching her on The Mike Douglas TV Show as a boy in 1967. I would listen to her albums on our old 1960s Sylvania stereo / record player. I marveled at her powerful soul stirring voice. Her ability to weave words into music that would profoundly touch your heart. It seemed like a form of alchemy or divine inspiration.
That was my first reaction to the death of Aretha Louise Franklin on August 16, 2018 at
To honour her, I created a mixed media portrait titled Aretha in Living Color. It focuses COMMENTARY
on her career in the late 1960s through early 1970s, a time when she had overcome early commercial failure to become the unquestioned Queen of Soul. In those days, she wore a large afro and an ever-growing wardrobe collection. It was also in this period that she became close friends with Dr.Martin Luther King (through her father Rev. C.L. Franklin). She marched and sang for the civil rights movement, willing to risk her own life and career for racial equality. WINTER 2018/19 ALLTHEARTSTL.COM 22
COMMENTARY
By Adrian A. Wright
