Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Here is Judy Smallwood in her yard, another wonderful US Servas Host whom I had the opportunity to stay with in Chapel Hill for a few nights. I am writing this while I am in Asheville at the Warren Wilson College Library. The blog is sort of backwards that way. As I move forward, I write about what has just past. Judy lives in a very active retirement community. The people at the community are in charge of all the activities that take place there. They arrange to have and host music concerts, art shows, and special guest speakers. They also participate in garden projects, trips, writing and game groups. They have their own library where all the books are donated from the people that live there. The community is surrounded by trees, ponds, and beautifully tended gardens. You can see Judy and I in her garden in the picture above, I helped her mulch some of her plants. When I first arrived we went swimming in the lap pool near by. It is such a treat to take time off from the road, and be able to experience someone else’s daily activities. Judy eats her dinners in a common dining room where she took me to and both nights. I met many of Judy's friends, all wonderful older woman actively involved in the community. One woman, named Janice, is a great artist and we went to see her work in her apartment. Her place is filled with bright colorful paintings, playful painted sculptures, all portraying a large variety of styles and work, with an experimental, and playful approach. She has instigated and started a call for artist works to be shown around the buildings community halls and living rooms. It was fun to talk about her experience as an artist and share work.

SUCHI
While in Chapel Hill, I met an old family friend, Suchi. It had been over 10 years since I last saw her, she lived with my family when I was younger and I remembered I looked up to her like a big sister. We met in town at a great coop market for coffee outside under the shade of the trees. I was not sure I would recognize her but sure enough, Suchi still looks like Suchi with her glasses on, and long black hair. We had a wonderful time catching up and sharing stories of what we have been doing. I learned that Public Health encompasses so much about community living, networking, and well being. It was really interesting to hear about what Suchi was doing with her Public Health work and there seems to be some similarities and possibilities of cross over in how I approach my artwork. I want to think about this more. I am interested in the sociology of artists amongst non-artist in a community and how they network, interact and influence each other, towards ultimately a stronger sense of community, well being and health. I am interested in emphasizing the research and exploration in my artwork. This would be really different for me sense I often work very intuitively.