The Roanoker Sept/October 2023 - 29

Arts & Culture
I
t's difficult to think of a more
explosively productive season in
Roanoke's arts scene. In the last
12 months, giant, handmade puppets
have bobbed down parade
routes, and big, bold murals have
been splashed across buildings.
Meanwhile, crowds thronged performance
venues for the first time since COVID. But
while it's easy to track Roanoke's splashiest arts
moments, perhaps some of the most important
work has happened in quieter - and perhaps
less quantifiable - ways.
Neighbors met together to build those big
papier-mâché puppets ... and learned they had
more in common than they thought.
Communities tackled tough conversations,
using art to acknowledge painful histories ...
and to trace a path forward.
Perhaps Roanoke's arts scene is becoming
a place not just for sparkle and splash, but a
nexus for connecting people.
" We're really trying to look at that intersection
between the artist and the community, "
says Doug Jackson, Roanoke City's arts and
culture coordinator. " We're looking for a space
where everybody can make a difference, where
you can have an idea - you can want to improve
the area around you, your organization, your
community, you name it - and your neighbors
are going to cheer you on ... But how do we
create that? "
In the past year, creatives across the valley
have been working to answer that question.
FOSTERING CREATIVE
COLLABORATION & BUILDING
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
In May, under deep-blue lights at Mill
Mountain Theatre, two dancers skim across the
stage, then round their arms and reach toward
each other, joining their bodies like links in
a chain. To some, these motions might look
like simple balletic gestures, but for audience
members from the Deaf community, they mean
something more - they're visually resonant of
the American Sign Language sign for " linked "
or " connected. "
This innovative ballet, " The Lark Ascending "
- created by Will Smith, who recently retired
from Roanoke Ballet Theatre as a principal
TheRoanoker.com
dancer - was just one piece of a night of arts
performances specifically geared toward the
local Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community.
There was poetry, song and even a film preview,
all thoughtfully interpreted, and funded by an
Art Matters grant from the City of Roanoke's
Arts Commission, with support from the
National Endowment for the Arts.
" I didn't know there were so many artists,
let alone local, hearing artists, that cared
about reaching the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
community, " admitted Betsy Quillen, a passionate
advocate who served as the evening's
ASL coordinator, and who worked alongside
Smith to choreograph the ballet step-by-step.
" Sometimes it feels like you're an island trying
to reach this community, or trying to convince
others that it's important to reach this community.
But to collaborate with others who also
had this vision ... it was inspiring. "
Quillen, who experienced significant hearing
loss as a teenager, remembers how excited
she was when Smith first reached out to her
about his idea: could he create a ballet that
incorporated the language of ASL into the
shapes the dancers made with their bodies?
Absolutely, answered Quillen: " I could already
see it. "
The collaboration that resulted was just one
example of many creative connections sparked
in Roanoke in recent months - something
encouraged by the Arts Commission's meetups
and workshops in its " Year of the Artist "
initiative.
" The cross-pollination we've gotten through
YOTA ... we've learned about so many events
and artists we wouldn't have known about otherwise, "
agrees Julie Kinn of Kinnfolk, a local
Celtic-music duo who also won an Art Matters
grant.
And that kind of cross-pollination is critical,
because art can be lonely work.
Eva Lynch-Comer, a newcomer to the valley
and Roanoke's 2023 Writer by Bus, agrees.
Prior to receiving her grant - a project funded
by Ride Solutions, Valley Metro and the City
of Roanoke Arts Commission - the New York
native and Hollins student labored over her
work alone, often writing about trauma or her
personal thoughts.
" Usually I write poetry and send it to lit
mags, and that's it, " she says. " I write it in a
vacuum and send it out into the void... I don't
have much engagement. "
But this project - which gave Lynch-Comer
a stipend to ride the bus and compile her notes
into a poetry chapbook to release this fall -
forced her to chat with other riders, scribble
her ideas on the fly and engage with her community
face to face.
" It's real. It's tangible ... It's out [for] the
world to see, which comes with its fears, but
also with its moments of connection, " she
explains. " This is pushing me to take more
risks, to write about brighter things and different
things ... I'm finding new entry points
into writing. "
NURTURING
EMERGING ARTISTS
On a balmy Friday night in midsummer,
gallery-goers crowd into Art on 1st - one of
Roanoke's newest art spaces, tucked into the
shady corner of First and Kirk.
In many ways, this looks like any ordinary
art opening. Artists hover near their works,
shifting foot-to-foot. There's a little of that
first-night frisson crackling through the air,
with passersby pressing faces to the plateglass
windows. But in an important way, this
opening is different, because many of the artists
are relatively new to the art scene, with some
showing work for the very first time. And that,
says gallery co-owner Rick Sheridan, is perfectly
fine by him.
" It's very satisfying when you find an artist
who's finding their voice and finding a way to
express themselves, " says Sheridan. " You help
them along that journey. "
Sheridan founded the gallery last December
with his partner, painter Annie Schultz.
Together, the pair introduced a business model
that's relatively unique in the Valley. In contrast
to galleries that show work by member artists,
or by special invitation, Art on 1st frequently
posts open calls for work that responds to a
theme - " Transparency, " for instance - with
anyone invited to submit. The model has made
space for a diverse group of artists at a wide
variety of experience levels.
" We've had someone show the very first
piece of art they ever made, " says Schultz. " It's
exciting. "
Meanwhile, the Arts Commission
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 29
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The Roanoker Sept/October 2023

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