dear wizards... colorers...
castle dwellers... cloud chasers...
readers... resisters... friends...
It's been a long year. Sometimes it can be a struggle to find meaning in such a chaotic world. I have been taking note of all the ways, small and large, people around me are tuning in and waking up, reaching out, resisting bullies and thieves, and providing comfort and relief to neighbors who are persecuted or who have less. I recently attended a performance of Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day put on by my niece's theater group at Sarah Lawrence College and was moved to tears at the relevance of this monologue by her character Annabella. The play was set in the years leading up to the Nazi Occupation, which is why they chose to perform this play right now.
"Listen, Agnes. I am working-class.
And that really does make a difference.
I know what’s useful, and what isn’t.
I know the price of things,
and I know how to give things up.
I know what it is to struggle –
these tough little lessons
I don't think you people ever learned.
I hold tight, and I do my work.
I make posters for good causes.
Even if they get torn up, I make them,
even though we live in a country
where theory falls silent in the face of fact,
where progress can be reversed overnight,
where the enemy has stolen everything,
our own words from us,
I hold tight, and not to my painting . . . not only to that.
Pick any era in history, Agnes.
What is really beautiful about that era?
The way the rich lived?
No.
The way the poor lived?
No.
The dreams of the Left
are always beautiful.
The imagining of a better world,
the damnation of the present one.
This faith, this luminescent anger,
these alone are worthy of being called human.
These are the Beautiful
that an age produces.
As an artist I am struck to the heart by these dreams.
These visions.
We progress. But at great cost.
How can anyone stand to live
without understanding that much?”
May your dreams be filled with beauty and luminescent anger. XO.
--Jacinta
P.S. Merriam-Webster's word of the year is FEMINISM.
new paintings
When I was but a wee child, on my bedroom wall was a purple unicorn kite I bought at Faneuil Hall while visiting my half sister. It was my prized possession. I also sat in front of the woodstove latch-hooking a rainbow rug to match my treasured rainbow sheets and comforter. I have begun documenting some new work on instagram, which is mostly rainbows and unicorns, because who doesn't need a little hope? If you are interested in purchasing any of these paintings, just ask and I can give you more info!
• art sale • art sale • art sale •
memento
Jacinta Bunnell, Cindy Hoose, Erica Hauser,
Stevan Jennis, and Jennifer Maher Coleman
through February 7, 2018
Albany International Airport Concourse Gallery
Cindy Hoose and I have an art show at the Albany Airport! This exhibition features five artists whose work reflects a pictorial affection for unplugged play, relics of American identity, iconic childhood toys, and remnants of the pre-internet classroom. The exhibit is beyond TSA security in the airport's concourse, so you can only see it if you are flying in or out of Albany! Book that flight!
i luv planned parenthood
When people of all incomes, sexual orientations, and genders have access to medical care and information that can directly alter the course of their lives, our communities thrive. Planned Parenthood has always been at the forefront of the movement for reproductive justice. For many people, Planned Parenthood is their first entryway to receiving any kind of health care at all. Why the hell would anyone want these services to be restricted?
Jacinta Bunnell and Rafael Perez, former health educators for Planned Parenthood, organized a grassroots media campaign this year where community members (mostly teens!) created hand-painted signs celebrating the contributions Planned Parenthood has made to their lives. You can view the collection of signs on instagram. Create your own sign and tag it #iluvplannedparenthood.
