Homesick.
Surfing this morning, happened upon this photo from an opening in Miami this past weekend. Generally, things are great here in NC, but seeing this photo made me remember how, after 10 years of living in Miami, I had gotten to know a lot of people in the art scene. I used to put on a cool outfit (one of the ones currently gathering dust in my closet), and my friends and I would load into a car, hit all the openings (which were always packed), and I would see dozens of ex-students, friends, and colleagues, often several times, because they were doing the same rounds as we were. We would greet each other by kissing on one or both cheeks, something that people just don't do here in Burlington. We would finish off the evening by going to a great Peruvian place at 11 or 12 at night, talking about all the art we had seen.
Due to the lack of distractions at my perpetual artist's residency in the middle of NC, I am getting more work done than I ever have in my life, but today, I miss being a part of a large artists' community, and I miss my friends.
Surfing this morning, happened upon this photo from an opening in Miami this past weekend. Generally, things are great here in NC, but seeing this photo made me remember how, after 10 years of living in Miami, I had gotten to know a lot of people in the art scene. I used to put on a cool outfit (one of the ones currently gathering dust in my closet), and my friends and I would load into a car, hit all the openings (which were always packed), and I would see dozens of ex-students, friends, and colleagues, often several times, because they were doing the same rounds as we were. We would greet each other by kissing on one or both cheeks, something that people just don't do here in Burlington. We would finish off the evening by going to a great Peruvian place at 11 or 12 at night, talking about all the art we had seen.
Due to the lack of distractions at my perpetual artist's residency in the middle of NC, I am getting more work done than I ever have in my life, but today, I miss being a part of a large artists' community, and I miss my friends.
posted by Kate at 12:44 PM
1 Comments:
Kate,
I so, so relate to this post. I too miss my former art community and art life. I have been thinking about this during the past year. So this post, nudged my heart. I was lucky in a way. I went to the university, got my art degrees, and then lived near campus for another ten years. I became known as a Detroit artist. I was active in all kinds of art community activities. I became editor of the Detroit Focus Art Quarterly, a local publication. I showed my works at all the galleries in town. I didn’t realize until now that I had created a magical life of art that was thickly insulated to prevent the “real world” from entering. My world was an ART world. The galleries there would have openings on the same night. So artists would make a date of it. We too would move from one gallery to another. We would end up at Alvin’s art bar to listen to blues or Detroit rock. It was a wondrous life.
I moved to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1991. I was so busy trying to survive, raise my daughter, and make art; the lack of an art community wasn’t an issue. However all of a sudden in the past six months, I realized I miss that life so much. St. Petersburg has galleries and openings, but it just isn’t the same.
This isn’t just nostalgia. It is a wishful desire to be able to live a particular kind of lifestyle. I understand what you mean. I too experience these longings.
Post a Comment
<< Home