Inspiration Week 21 - 4 Days Away From 1,000,000

Okay folks, this Saturday is my last day. June 30th at the stroke of midnight, my penny campaign is over.  Where do we stand?

Well, this week was a big week and we stand at 900,000 or $9,000.  I could not have gotten this close without all of the penny philanthropists and penny partners. Thank you, thank you.  Also this week, a donor pledged to contribute $500, if I could come up with $500 by Saturday! That would put me at my goal of 1,000,000 pennies.  So, with $500 to go, if you haven't called me about a penny pick up or made a drop off, time is ticking.  Now is the time to contribute those pennies! Help me make the match! But first, your weekly inspiration

"Don't just do something, stand there.  That was one of the best pices of advice that I was ever given by one of my acting teachers at NYU.  Don't just do something, stand there.  Its a little counter intuitive I know.  Especially in an age where our days seem to fill up quickly and our Iphone is our trusty sidekick, always within arms reach.  But there is something about what my acting teacher said that resonates with me as I come closer and closer to the end of what I hope to be a successful conclusion to my 1,000,000 campaign. My acting teacher used the phrase one day while I was working on a scene.  "Jose, your too busy, slow down, stop, don't just do something, stand there, he said." I did and I actually started to listen to what the other actor had to say, became present and truly engaged in the scene. I started listening (which is a great thing to do when you're acting) and stopped acting (which is also a great thing to do when you're acting).  I started listening to the other actor AND (hope this makes sense) listening to myself as well.  I stopped trying so hard and found that by not "doing something," but standing there, I became more alive.

This campaign has been a time of doing, but also a time of standing there.  I have written many emails, but once I send them out, they are out of my hands.  I have to just stand there (or sit there, because I sit when I write the emails) and wait for them to land and resonate.  Its scary to stand there. I don't know if the emails will make sense or resonate with anyone, that's not something I can control.  I can control sharing with you the things that I feel hold me back and simultaneously propel me forward.  I can control the feeling of relief I experience once I have sent my email out and know that even if the email does not bring my campaign a contribution, the act of sending it out does bring me peace of mind.  The peace that comes from realizing that all the "doing" is not what life is really about.  Its really about standing there and listening.  Listening to others and listening to ourselves as a way of becoming more alive.  I am fortunate that everyday at Pyramid I listen to some of the most creative people share with me their ideas, hopes, dreams, fears, their funny stories and their heartbreaks.  I am really lucky to be part of such a vibrant and visceral community.  It makes standing there a very fulfilling thing to do."


I hope you are still inspired!

Your contributions support art classes and workshops, internships, studios for artists and events for people of all ages at Pyramid.  Together, we are a small army of philanthropists who do amazing things at Pyramid.

Its easy to join:

• Contact me to pick up your pennies I will pick them up, count them and give you a tax receipt for your charitable contribution!
• Make a Penny drop. Drop your pennies off at Pyramid. I will count them and give you a tax receipt.
• Visit a Penny Partner and drop your pennies. Go to Fillmore Silver Spring, Kefa Cafe, Velatis Caramels, ArtSpring,Plaza Artist Materials, The Pennyworth Shop on Bonifant, Zipcar, Firestation 1 , The Toole Design Group, and Statland & Katz.

If all this penny stuff is too complicated and you just want to make a contribution, you can donate in any form of currency to Pyramid Atlantic by clicking here. I will add up your donation in pennies and include it in my campaign. I will take them to my friends at Eagle Bank

Join me this Saturday, June 30 from 6 pm to 9 pm for a night of Local Beer, Wine, Film, Music and Artmaking Night at Pyramid Atlantic. The cost is $10 (or $5 if you bring a 6 pack of craft beer)  which will help us reach our 1,000,000 penny goal.

Inspiration for Week 20

What do you do with 10 days to go and 300,000 (or $3,000) more pennies to raise? You dig down deep and keep moving forward. 

You don't stop.  We have raised 700,000 pennies (or $7,000) to date.  In 19 weeks, so $3,000 more in 10 days, while a challenge is not impossible  People like you and me like a challenge.  We like the challenge of making arts education, artist studios and arts events possible for people of all ages and all abilities. We are a small group of people who care a whole lot.  So, here is your inspiration for this week:

"So last week on Father's Day, I did something that I had never done before in my life:  I took a golf lesson.  I have wanted to for about two years now, but there was one thing holding me back.  I was not prepared to be as bad as I knew I was going to be during that first lesson because that's what happens when you are trying to learn something new. You are really bad for a while.   I mean really bad because you are so conscious about what you are doing.  You are thinking about it every step of the way and it just sucks.  It almost takes all of the joy out of that thing that you are trying to get better at.  I always hated being bad at something as a kid. I would get so angry and that would make me try harder and harder and I would still suck.  I remember playing football in the front yard with my Dad and my cousin Pablo.  My Dad was quarterback for both teams and every time my Dad threw the ball, my cousin would score.  Everytime he threw it to me, I would either drop it or he would overthrow me or he would tackle me before I could score.  I was furious and eventually, I just walked off not wanting to play anymore.  I remember my Dad trying to talk to me, telling me to calm down, that it was just a game, but I couldn't listen.  It wasn't a game to me.  The irony, of course, is that my older son is that same way  He is a real athletic kid and can pick most things up rather quickly, but when he doesn't he just gets angrier and angrier and I talk to him and try to call him down and he doesn't listen.  Ironic, I know. 

Forme this scene of me trying something new and not being good at it right away and getting angry played it itself out over and over again in my life for years.  The setting changed (it wasn't always my front yard) and he characters changed (it wasn't always my Dad and my cousin), but the rest remained the same. It was me, mad at myself, because my expectations and my reality were at odds. I just could not slow down.  I could not enjoy the moment.  I think maybe that's why I like playing golf.  I find that the harder I try, the harder it is to to make contact with the darn ball, so it is really pointless to try harder. It would make for an incredibly miserable 3 hours and who has that kind of time.  So I just have to surrender and "embrace the suck,"


I think that's why I waited for as long as I did, I wanted to make sure that I was really into the game of golf first.  I went out and did a golf tournament and was terrible. I went to the driving range a few times.  I played 18 holes with a friend.  I was terrible. I don't think you could call what I was doing golf, but I loved it.  So I took the plunge and took a lesson.  As expected, I sucked.  The instructor worked with me on my swing and following through always reminding me to "not think too much."  (That's never as helpful as it sounds when its being told to you.)  I reminded myself to relax.  I thought about all the kids I coach in rookie baseball and how hard it is for those seven year olds to swing a bat for the first time and make contact with a little ball coming right at them.  It sure seems easy to me 34 years later.  I forget what it was like to be seven and seeing that ball headed right for me and freezing up.  I had a coach when I played little league baseball in Miami for the Latin All Starts named Coach Roberto.  He was the nicest guy. I was a terrible baseball player.  One day he saw me struggling with my hitting and took me aside and said "look, I am going to throw the ball and you just swing the bat.  That's it, don't worry if the pitch look good or bad, just swing that bat everytime the ball is headed your way." So I did and I tell you what, I hit the ball.  I hit the ball more than I ever had working with Coach Roberto.  My expectations and my reality were simpatico.

So, there was one thing my instructor said on Sunday that has stayed with me.  He said, "Listen,guys go out and say, hey, let's hit some golf balls, when actually what they should be saying is let's swing the clubs.  You need to think about swinging your golf club and that golf ball, well, it just happens to be in the way." I like that. The ball just happens to be on the tee when I am swinging my club.  It was liberating to think that way, for me anyway, and it gave me something to focus on during the lesson rather than continuing to notice that my ball was going very far when I was making contact.  I got through it.  My first step into being really bad and being alright with that and working at it still, hoping that one day, I get a little better, and enjoying the journey regardless of how long it takes for that day to arrive.  I have my next lesson this Sunday."

I hope you are still inspired!

Your contributions support art classes and workshops, internships, studios for artists and events for people of all ages at Pyramid.

Together, we do amazing things at Pyramid.

Its easy to join:

• Contact me to pick up your pennies I will pick them up, count them and give you a tax receipt for your charitable contribution!
• Make a Penny drop. Drop your pennies off at Pyramid. I will count them and give you a tax receipt.
• Visit a Penny Partner and drop your pennies. Go to Fillmore Silver Spring, Kefa Cafe, Velatis Caramels, ArtSpring,Plaza Artist Materials, The Pennyworth Shop on Bonifant, Zipcar, Firestation 1 , The Toole Design Group, and Statland & Katz.

If all this penny stuff is too complicated and you just want to make a contribution, you can donate in any form of currency to Pyramid Atlantic by clicking here. I will add up your donation in pennies and include it in my campaign. I will take them to my friends at Eagle Bank

Join me this Saturday, June 23 from 6 pm to 9 pm for a Tiki Party and Artmaking Night at Pyramid Atlantic. We will have "Tiki Party" themed hands-on arts activities and fancy fruity cocktails for all. The cost is $10  which will help us reach our 1,000,000 penny goal.

Spread The Word, Pyramid's 2012 Book Arts Fair Is Here!

Calling All Artists!  The preeminent book arts event on the east coast wants you!

 Apply today to have your art at the  2012 Biennial Book Arts Fair presented by Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center.  A weekend for artists, scholars, collectors, and art lovers!

Deadline: July 30, 2012"

http://www.zapplication.org/public_fair_preview.php?fair_id=2137

Inspiration For Week 19: 17 Days To Go

17 days to go and 300,000 (or $3,000) more pennies to raise.  It might seem a little daunting, but can you believe that we raised 700,000 pennies (or $7,000) to date.  In 18 weeks.  All from people like you who want to make arts education, artist studios and arts events possible for people of all ages and all abilities. We are a group of people who care a whole lot. 

So, if you haven't joined the penny campaign, now is the time to do it as we see the finish line from here. But wait, almost forgot about the inspiration:

"So, I don't believe that you change as you get older. I think that the older you get, the more you become the person that you have always been.  I think that is because there are fewer people to try to impress, fewer things to lie about and less time to pretend to be someone that you will never be. 

As I have gotten older, I have observed a few things about myself.  I am a fan of the underdog, the quiet kid, and the outsider.  I am bored by routine and predictability.  I believe in a healthy disrespect for authority.  I believe that things work out.  I admit I may not always like how they work out, but I believe that in the end, they always do.  I believe that showing up + sticking with it =success.  I believe that you have to embrace the suck.

I didn't always feel like this.  For the longest time, I believed that following the rules and being liked was the road to success regardless of how I really felt.  I dared not speak up and ask for more because someone might take from me the little that I had.  This all changed for me my last year in graduate school at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.  I came in to my 2nd year critique in May of 1995 and was told by my professors what a horrible actor I was and how I would never work professionally. I left the room that day, devastated.  I had worked so hard my whole life for this and in one afternoon I was thrown for a personal and professional loop.  The next day I cried, screamed, and thought about dropping out.  I felt that I had lost my way and didn't know what I was going to do next, but a great thing happened to me that summer while I lost my way, I discovered myself.  I discovered that as devastating and disappointing this was, I was not going to let anyone tell me what I was and was not capable of and I still wanted to pursue a career as an actor. I still felt that I had something to offer and I realized that the road was just not going to be as easy as I had once imagined it.  So, that summer, I "embraced the suck."  I felt terrible, felt exposed, felt like a hack and a phony, but I was not going to let these feelings get in the way.  I found a great coach and worked everyday.  The next year was my best year ever in graduate school.  I made friends, found colleagues and supporters where I had once before only seen an adversaries. I took risks my last ,year and I failed, believe me, many times. They were my failures, though and I was able to own them and move on.  At the end of the 3rd year, all of the students at NYU do a showcase for agents in New York City.  I can tell you quite happily that I had about 35 agents interested in working with me after my showcase, but that's not the point. 

The point is don't give up.  As hard as things get sometimes, I think back to that summer and what would have happened if I had given up and quit.  I believe that I am on this earth to encourage the underdogs, the quiet kids and the outsider to not quit and find a place for themselves.  The point is that regardless of where we are today, at this moment, there has been a time in our life when we have felt like that person and it has nothing to do with the amount of money you make, where you live or what you do. We all know what its like to be and we all know what it took to overcome.  So "embrace the suck" and keep plugging along because it will all work out in the end and as the saying goes, "if doesn't work out, it's not the end."

I hope I inspired you to join my ever growing community of penny philanthropists.  Your contributions support art classes and workshops, internships, studios for artists and events for people of all ages at Pyramid. We are an amazing place. Its easy to join:

• Contact me to pick up your pennies I will pick them up, count them and give you a tax receipt for your charitable contribution!
• Make a Penny drop. Drop your pennies off at Pyramid. I will count them and give you a tax receipt.
• Visit a Penny Partner and drop your pennies. Go to Fillmore Silver Spring, Kefa Cafe, Velatis Caramels, ArtSpring,Plaza Artist Materials, The Pennyworth Shop on Bonifant, Zipcar, Firestation 1 , The Toole Design Group, and Statland & Katz.

If all this penny stuff is too complicated and you just want to make a contribution, you can donate in any form of currency to Pyramid Atlantic by clicking here. I will add up your donation in pennies and include it in my campaign. I will take them to my friends at Eagle Bank

Join me this Saturday, June 16th from 2 pm to 6 pm for Artmaking & Cupcakes in Downtown Hyattsville at 5200 Baltimore Avenue. We will do paper making, screen printing, and bookmaking, along with cookie decorating, and other hands-on activities. The cost is $10  which will help us reach our 1,000,000 penny goal.

Week 18 - What It Means To Me

We are at 670,000 pennies today (or $6,700.).  We have 3 weeks to go and 330,000 pennies to raise.  That's a good goal to have 3 weeks out.


Thanks for all your support.  Every time I see someone out on the street, they ask me how its going and encourage me to keep writing.  Thank you, thank you.  Here is your inspiration:
 
"What is Pyramid Atlantic? You know, when I got this job 4 and 1/2 years ago, one of the things  I wanted was for Pyramid to be a place that my dad or mom or brother could come to and feel uncomfortable. I did not want them to have that "is it alright if I'm here" feeling because they weren't artists.  My dad was a salesman and my mom worked as a receptionist at a Doctor's office. So, if they were to come in tomorrow, I would want them to come in and feel comfortable. One of the reasons I write these weekly inspirational emails, other than to raise money for Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, the 501c3 of which I am the Executive Director, is to help others feel comfortable. 

I think from these emails you might have an idea of the kind of place Pyramid Atlantic is  Well, I want share with you what Pyramid is to me.  I want to start with our mission statement, because we worked on it for about 2 years, so I need to use it.  At Pyramid Atlantic our mission to build communities that give life to papermaking, printmaking and artist books.  Nice mission statement, but you still might be saying "huh"?.  Let's start at the top, our mission is to build communities.  Not community, but communities.  That's important, because there is not one be all, end all community.  There are communities and one person may be a member of many different communities.  So we say communities because we want to build communities of artists who value this work and also young people, seniors, business people, etc.  I think you get the idea. Now why is building communities important, couldn't we just make art and call it a day.  Well, every human being, regardless of age, gender, socio economic status or profession wants to belong to something or someone.  Right after food, shelter and safety is belonging.  We all hunger for it and we look for it our whole lives until we find it, it is a key to being happy.  It's not just something that is necessary for artistic development, it is essential for human development. The next part is "that give life."  Why is that important?  Its important because life is about never ending possibility. Being alive gives you the opportunity to make decisions, change your mind, try something new, apologize, fail and try again.  Life = possibility and Pyramid Atlantic is a place that is full of possibilities.  Papermaking, printmaking and artist books.  Why these mediums?  Why not sculpture or painting or dance or music? In my opinion, these art froms are the most accessible.  If you walked in to Pyramid tomorrow and had never made a sheet of paper before, you could walk into the papermaking studio and make one 5 minutes later.  There is power in that accessibility.  These art forms are also the most democratic.  Most of the time when you make prints, you make multiples or editions.  Rather than having the art work be exclusive, (there is only one of these in the world) its inclusive and affordable.  Its about putting art into the hands of people and building love and appreciation.  Artist Books are magical.  The endless folds and hidden pockets.  The assembling by hand.  One minute, its just sheets of paper, book board, a needle and thread and the next minute you have a book in your hands.  A book you can take anywhere, share with anyone and fill with your hearts desire.  Who doesn't love magic.  It's powerful stuff. So that's Pyramid to me and that's why I'm here."

I hope I inspired you to join my ever growing community of penny philanthropists who help support art classes and workshops, internships, studios for artists and events for people of all ages at Pyramid. It is an amazing group of individuals.  It's fun and easy:

• Contact me to pick up your pennies I will pick them up, count them and give you a tax receipt for your charitable contribution!
• Make a Penny drop. Drop your pennies off at Pyramid. I will count them and give you a tax receipt.
• Visit a Penny Partner and drop your pennies. Go to Fillmore Silver Spring, Kefa Cafe, Velatis Caramels, ArtSpring,Plaza Artist Materials, The Pennyworth Shop on Bonifant, Zipcar, Firestation 1 , The Toole Design Group, and Statland & Katz.

If all this penny stuff is too complicated and you just want to make a contribution, you can donate in any form of currency to Pyramid Atlantic by clicking here. I will add up your donation in pennies and include it in my campaign.

Join me on Friday, June 8 at Noon for lunch at Pyramid.  I am grilling burgers, veggie burgers and hotdogs.  Its a great way to end the work week. Bring a side dish and your pennies and I will take them to my friends at Eagle Bank.

VISITING ARTIST REBECCA HUTCHINSON

Hutchinson pigment painting in Pyramid's papermaking studio

Last week Pyramid Atlantic's papermaking studio was graced by visiting artist Rebecca Hutchinson, an installation artist known for large scale installations of paper and clay sculptures. The organic forms in her environments are both familiar and otherworldly, evocative of plants and cocoons but also showing the human hand in their rich, often woven textures. Hutchinson is inspired by growth patterns in nature which she sees as metaphors for human issues. Her work begins with a concept, and though her research takes place in her garden and in plant textbooks, for Rebecca "humans come first." Her current works deal with the idea of fluorishing, which she defines as health and vibrant growth.


Rebecca studied ceramics in undergraduate school and completed a four year papermaking training program at the University of Georgia. Her until then separate practices of ceramics and papermaking came together for her in graduate school, when she realized that combining clay and paper would give her an opportunity to work large but maintain a lightweight and translucent quality important to her work. She poetically describes the material as “delicate but incredibly strong.” 


Rebecca Hutchinson spent her week here working on paper clay sculptures and flat wall pieces (something new for Hutchinson) for the Linda Darke gallery in Houston, Texas. Over the weekend she taught an intensive two-day workshop in our studio about making paper clay sculptures. To view Rebecca's work click here.

Rebecca's class was messy and fun!