Posts

Bringing Art to The Highpoint - part 1 of 3

Image
Flight to New Orleans Looking out over the blanket of clouds with nothing but the blueness of atmosphere above, I am hard pressed to recall my last trip on an airplane. Perhaps it was for the Billboard Art Project or to visit family, but most travel these days is done by car and for very short trips to “get away.” But I haven’t been getting away too far or too long. And now here I am traveling down to New Orleans to pick up work for the inaugural show of Highpoint Arts – a series of mixed media pieces by Ana Hernandez to be displayed at the Highpoint along with the work of local artist and long-time friend Chuck Scalin. Ana’s work is both beautiful and politically provocative, with a relevance that will resonate for quite some time. And then there is Chuck. His talents and contributions to the community as artist, teacher, and friend are so well known and extend beyond what I can express in words. To take a moment and speak with him about his art yields an unde
Post a Comment
Read more

The Jeweled Vision of a Life Started Anew

Image
The Jeweled Vision of a Life Started Anew A few days ago, I received an email from our web designer gently reminding me that I hadn’t posted a new entry to our blogger page in almost a year.   The radio silence was not due to a lack of things to say or share - quite the contrary.   So much has happened between these two points that when I go back and think on the chronology of events, it is difficult not to get caught up in the trauma of the struggle that brought me to where things are today.   And while the word “trauma” may sound a bit dramatic to describe the development of a commercial property, I can think of no word more fitting, and in the spirit of recovery there is a narrative that needs to see the light of day.   But not today. New paint and pretty landscaping.... Before it all started “Not today” for a variety of reasons.   Most immediately, I’ve been left both mentally and emotionally exhausted by the construction process and any recollection
Post a Comment
Read more

An Unfortunate Delay of Things to Come...

About a month ago a number of people, most of whom are future tenants of The Highpoint, came over to visit me at home after a long day's work.  Along with Claire and Rob and our neighbor Russell, we sort of had this informal spontaneous gathering of friends that was very much reminiscent of the community that developed at the old building on Moore Street.  We had a great time hanging out and catching up.  It reminded me of why I have spent the past 5 years pushing through the purchase and development of the new building on West Broad street and in many ways it made some personal struggles more bearable just knowing that those people were there. I have a vision for The Highpoint and the people it will serve.  Even though it does not exist yet, this newly renovated construct of brick and mortar is something that is as clear as anything in front of me.   All of the delays and setbacks that keep pushing that vision away have been both exhausting and frustrating and have often left me
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
Loss in the Wake of Something New For me, personal posts on social media platforms have always been fraught with a certain amount of hesitation.   The exhibitionistic and hence voyeuristic nature of a mass exchange of poignant moments hijacked for the purposes of data gathering and segmented mass marketing seems to cheapen genuine communion.   So here I was on the day I had decided to help my dog pass quietly away, pondering as to whether or not I wanted to simply post a picture of him as a cover photo.   That need to connect, to share with people, is so fundamental to assuaging the essential loneliness of the human condition.   Because ultimately, as much as people can empathize, no one really can know what you are going through and how you perceive things. Still, we strive to connect.   And on some levels in this world of digitized, monitored and monetized feelings we do.   This brings me back to community. The past five years I have been struggling to hold together and
Post a Comment
Read more