Since this column runs every other week, I didn't have the opportunity to alert you to the performances of "The Dining Room" at the McArdle Theater at Michigan Tech. The arts DO survive. It was an excellent production.
At Tech, later this month, Annie Morgan visits for a Guest Artist Residency. She presents four free public lecture-demonstrations in addition to a weekend workshop. Go to vpa.mtu.edu for details. These annual visiting artists, coordinated by and thanks to Mary Ann Beckwith, have nurtured many of our local artists over the years.
In last week's "Happenings," the entertainment poll question was: "How often do you visit local art galleries?" Well, how often do you? They are here. They are open. They have special exhibits that change every month.
Are you a regular at the First Friday events in Calumet when you can wend your way around the village's very walkable streets? While we wait impatiently for the snow to melt, stop in at an area gallery, indulge in an experience of color, shape and form. Take some time to simply look. See the variety of media, the vast range of subject matter, the many ways the local artists, who are your friends and neighbors, have visualized their life experience and the Keweenaw in their artwork.
Do you have a child whose work is exhibited for Youth Arts Month? A word about how to talk with kids (and adults) about their artwork. Tell them what you like about it ... their sense of line, their use of color, the way they have expressed themselves. But let them do the defining. Ask. Say "Tell me about this," and then listen.
Patrick Overton said that we adults are "art scared and art scarred." We are so afraid to do it wrong or not well enough. Children don't have that fear ... yet.
With the right kind of arts education, they are fearless in their expression. Our responsibility is to give them the tools and techniques and preserve their imagination, which, according to Einstein, is more important than intellect.
Somewhere, in an old notebook, there is a quotation from Rilke, I believe, about how brutal education can be, destroying the wonder and joy of childhood in order to inure children to society's needs, making everyone the same.
Visit a local gallery and rejoice in the arts. There is no dearth of them in the Copper Country.