Everything I could squeeze out of my head onto the page was awful. No matter how hard I tried, the sentences were stiff, not interesting and even I had to run out of the room screaming, “Boring!”
And the most upsetting thing of all was the fear. I am terrified that I will not have anything to post on Ghostmistress when Sunday rolls around. For those of you who are new to Ghostmistress, it is a writing blog I have created where thirteen year old readers and writers can find their inner ghost. If you sign up, you become part of the Boo Crew. You can follow my serial ghost story, you can also post original writing of your own for the Boo Crew to comment, critique and review each week.
So, here I am, without an original thought in my head, frantically trying to come up with next week’s story because I don’t want to disappoint my sixty plus Boo Crew members. I absolutely love reading their comments and I am amazed by the writing they are capable of.
This is what I am going to do
Nothing works like putting my butt in a chair and a pen in my hand. Add a little fear and guilt and voila!
I am also going to take a deep breath, calm down and go for a run on the beach. While I am out there, I am going to think about Dashiell Loong Rubinstein, the main character of my story, and talk to him. This is what I do whenever I want to get to know someone – I talk to them.
Remember what Agatha Christie said,
“Conversation reveals all.”
Then I am going to do the same thing with the rest of my characters so that I really know them, how they think, what they listen to, what they love and hate. I am actually getting excited thinking about it. Just as if I was going to hang out with a bunch of my friends!
This way, I can really understand their world and create a story that I am happy to share with the Boo Crew and with you.
Here’s what you should do
Are you interested in what thirteen year olds like to read? If you want to write young adult fiction, you should be. I suggest the following:
When your soul is lifted by the musical sounds of a symphony orchestra, do you ever think about what it takes to house a performance?
When you see dancers leap across the stage, do you wonder how many steps it takes to bring that moment alive?
I joined a group of concerned grantmakers to talk about that all too rare commodity in New York City – space.
Many thanks to Rohit Burman and Karen Rosa, Co-Chairs of the New York Grantmakers in the Arts and to Susan Feder and Kerry McCarthy for organizing and hosting this gathering at the New York Community Trust.
Some say, that the “sharp downturn in New York City’s real estate market presents a unique opportunity to address the serious space needs of the city’s artists, arts groups and creative entrepreneurs” (Time to be Creative, a report from the Center for an Urban Future funded by the Rockefeller Foundation).
Some noteworthy case studies:
Eugenie Cowan
Eugenie Cowan and David Johnston of Exploring the Metropolis, Inc. suggested that there are many existing spaces throughout the city in schools, universities, community and senior centers precluding the need to build more spaces. Of particular interest to me, being a Queens girl, was their residency program for composers – one at Flushing Town Hall and one at a senior center in Corona.
Leah Krauss from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation described a project at Fourth Arts Block run by the amazing Tamara Greenfield where they identified 21 spaces that, with a little TLC and spot grants, could become suitable dance spaces. And funders could really contribute to the success of a project like this by creating a rent subsidy fund.
I always loved listening to classical music on the radio as a kid but now that I know Graham Parker actually pairs Emmanuel Ax with live chickens in the Greene Space over at WQXR, I am tuning in for good. I am intrigued by the image of “terrestrial signals” shrinkwrapping the globe, especially in China where he says there are thousands of children studying classical music but without music to listen to.
Katy Clark of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, spoke of the construction of the DiMenna Center, a place for many of the City’s music groups to rehearse. Eugenie pointed out that this achievement was an outcome of many factors, a strong money raising board, a capital reserve, careful research and deep community collaborations.
Which, in a tidy little trio, sums up the direction of the morning’s conversation.
Capitalization, collaboration and community.
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Everytime I allow myself the sinful luxury of feeling sorry for myself because of a hard day putting out fires, putting up with an endless stream of problems and feeling fat,
- the universe chuckles knowingly and slips me a cookie.
It is a great thrill to be able to share with you the video, Spindle 7, created as part of my project of the same name that took me back and forth on the #7 train with my spindles and wool in 2008, meeting people and teaching spinning between Main Street in Flushing (Queens) and Times Square in Manhattan.
While the project itself lasted most of a year, the video was made over the course of three intense days of filming and riding the train with intrepid cameraperson, Marcia Connolly. She did not allow oncoming trains, urine puddles or irate commuters get in the way of the perfect shot. It was edited into a cogent whole by the sensitive and deft hand of Susan Forste. She also conducted the interview that provided the voice over you hear for much of the film.
Spindle 7 was made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the Queens Council on the Arts.
Many thanks to both Marcia and Susan for their efforts, as well as to the all the spinners who participated in the project and talked to me about their lives, and to the riders of the #7 train who put up with that crazy lady and her spindle.
Click on the link above to see the 7 minute film.
With warmest regards,
Robyn
I am proud to say Robyn is a Queens artist and her project was supported by a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts. My mother-in-law, Mildred Phyllis Krakauer, would have added,
Geh verdreh zich dein kopf (Yiddish for “go spin your own head”)
Go ahead, take a bite!
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The next time someone tells me there is a breakfast roundtable discussion scheduled I will calmly take my coffee cup and spill its contents on that person’s shoes.
How do you best capitalize an artform with human concerns?
We talked about the model of Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor. A founder/choreographer based company that produces work, presents and tours and if this model is one that can work or if it ever really worked at all. Suzanne reminded us that the dance boom of the 80′s produced many artists who received fellowships and that generation of dancers have become part of university departments who are now presenters. Younger dancers are not interested in the 501 (c) 3 model and do not share the aspirations of older dancers in their career goals. However, touring and presenting space is limited and, according to Suzanne and Rebecca, can sustain at most, 5 – 10 companies operating at the level of Merce Cunningham or Trisha Brown.
Kerry spoke of the need of choreographers to develop skills and fluency in technical theater. This calls for increased interdisciplinary partnerships.
Debra and Rebecca
What kinds of conversations need to take place among dance supporters and funders?
Money to pay dancers will always be a top priority. Support for development of work, ample time for theater prep prior to touring and performance is vital. Moments of opportunity and strategic introductions, networking, collaborative coalitions of support – these are all components loosely strung together that form a network of support for dancers.
I feel that the missing and extremely tabu topic of quality needs to be present in the mix. In a for profit model, a product that fails in the market is yanked off the production line in the interest of the bottom line. Is it me or is there a tendency among us, grantmakers in the arts, to promote a little too much self indulgency in choreography as well as in other disciplines? Where is the reality pill?
This is really tough love talk and needs to happen a lot more often. Way after breakfast.
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She lives eternally through her ability to confer favors upon those seeking to escape from the sordid realities of slightly questionable to ruthlessly illegal gains. Endow a museum wing, award a literary prize (don’t ask!), commission a work of art and suddenly Rockefeller, the robber baron, becomes Rockefeller, the philanthropist. Phillip Morris, aka Altria, silently stoked their cigarette empire behind an impressive smoke screen of nonprofit arts groups.
Can a BP Ballet be far away?
With a practiced smile, she looks at her newest suitors with interest. Cannabis czars, marijuana Medicis, toking tycoons tripping over themselves in an attempt “to put pot to work for the arts”.
Consider the short story contest sponsored by Artists Collective, a medical marijuana service in Los Angeles whose project was inspired by Paul Newman’s food based charity, Newman’s Own. Or the upcoming exhibition of over twenty visiting artists being presented by Life is Art, a foundation in Sonoma County that that imagines itself as a new model of art philanthropy. You can read the New York Times article here. My own brush with dark money happened a few years ago when we worked with members of the Madoff family to set up the Roger Madoff Literary Fellowship to be given to a promising Queens writer.
Art is unapologetically promiscuous.
Art knows it feels good to look good, to be a patron of the arts. To be surrounded by artists and their creative energy.
No wonder marijuana farmers want art in their fields and in their lives. So much better than dealing with the less attractive aspects of marijuana farming, the inconvenient illegality, potential crime related life threatening circumstances, bugs, rot, who needs it? Growers in California seem optimistic that voters will support a ballot initiative legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Many are already assuming the role of patron and donors hoping the arts can preserve the sunsplashed wow-isn’t-this-awesome-dudeness of these early years.
Poppies
Picture Dorothy running towards the Emerald City in a field of red poppies and falling asleep under their intoxicating influence. Then Glinda, ever the Good Witch, sends snow to break the spell.
Metaphorically, I ask you. Can cocaine be far behind?
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I write about the art of happiness with style notes for creative people who want to make life their everyday passion. What's yours? 
