Spring will arrive
The top piece is a crab apple branch for Hennepin county medical center, post surgery.
5 feet by 18 inches
Bombus Affinis 14 x 17 inches
I just returned from my third weekend in prison, with alternatives to violence program. I am now certified to be a facilitator. What does this mean exactly for me. I am still not completely clear why I am doing this. It has been very helpful to go into the prison and talk and listen to these guys; to see their humanity, their vulnerability, to listen to their stories and struggles. I feel hopeful that they desire change, but I also think I understand the reality of how hard this will be. Once they are released it will be very difficult for them to find work and shelter and very tempting to return to drugs and alcohol. Many will return to prison because it will become their only alternative. This is a very difficult to contemplate and part of where I struggle in what way can I help? I am only an artist, searching for an answer, I suspect the answer will be art.
stellar work as always, Lori. xo
ReplyDeletekeep writing...I want to follow this adventure in art!
ReplyDeleteyou are a brave and giving soul, love the crabapple piece since I discovered one is growing here and I have always loved them. Hopefully your work at the prison and being involved with art will give even one person a reason to be non violent
ReplyDeleteI hope to get to talk with you at some point and share our experiencss about prison. It was for a class I took in college - case management. This is a great blog. Your work - however it comes out of you - is wonderous and inspiring. - Deborah McLaren
ReplyDeleteWow,Lori. Feedback? Not sure who I am to offer any. But the words "benign detachment" come to mind. We put our best forth and know that it is good and useful. That is the part we can control. We can also wish well for others.What does come of it, we can't control and often, we cannot know. It might be more prision. It might be more prison from a new and higher place. Or it might ripple out to something better, something more, something healed and new. Just as with parenting our children. We do what is needed, our best, despite the response they may give to it. One never knows what the effect might be. Sometimes it is just holding the presence of normal, positive, healthy, calm in a world that does not have that example that shines a lamp, makes a difference, gets someone through. I guess the answer is that you will never know the effects of your time. That is where faith and purpose begin. Blessings on your pretty head, my dear Lori.
ReplyDeleteThat's the solution to the last sentence...art with heart. You specialty!
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