Your Community Matters began as a low-power FM radio show last June. The intention then was to also release it as a parallel podcast, so the audience could enjoy uncut conversations at a time convenient for them.
However, as I had no experience in audio production before I started the radio show, it took some time to learn it well enough so that I could move on to podcasting. Now that the podcast has launched, I have several interviews that aired last year that I’ll be posting in between newer show content.
I’m starting with today’s conversation with mosaic glass artist, Gail Christofferson, because Gail’s story is one that beautifully illustrates comments shared by our previous week’s guest, Mark Folk, about how funding for art is competitive, and that artists should not become discouraged when they don’t win hoped-for grants or awards.
In fact, if Gail had lost hope because of obstacles like that, she’d never have gone from teaching craft classes in local retail outlets to creating major public art installations in locations across the United States. Her remarkable path included an inventive community engagement approach that helped her establish a reputation and win projects. But also importantly, it instilled participants in those projects with a sense of accomplishment and connection to their community’s public spaces.
Gail’s success came after many years spent in other directions — but once she discovered the art form she loved, those experiences helped her leverage every aspect of her personality to achieve the success she has today. In large part, Gail’s patient pursuit of her vision inspired me to start my own project here and has sustained me when the effort was sometimes overwhelming. I hope it may offer you the same inspiration.
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