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Inspired by Mother's Day!
Mother’s Day provided the impetus for these
creative projects:
Mom-
A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps
is a book collection of moving, mother-related stories, culled from
intense and intimate conversations between parents and children, siblings
and friends. StoryCorps, founded by Dave Isay, supports the sharing of
stories and memories through its podcasts, radio broadcasts, and website
www.storycorps.org.
The other day we had the pleasure of hearing some of the stories in person.
Here are some highlights:
50 years later Diane Gayles still gets teary
when she recalls how Melissa Tousley asked her to play in the school yard.
It was her first day in a new school, and Diane, the only African- American
student in an white suburban school, had been actively ignored by the
other children -- until Melissa approached her and asked "Would you
like to play with me?" This simple act of friendship had so much
impact on Diane that she wanted to name her daughter Melissa.
Hilory
Boucher described how she found the biological
son she gave up for adoption when she was a 19 year old unmarried college
student. Happy in his adopted family, David Mills believed, as a child,
that everyone “just ended up going to somebody else’s family”
to be raised. Their reunion, 42 years after David’s birth, comes
alive in their conversation.
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Inspired
is an art exhibit
at the Culture Center in New York City. Dana DiPrima, who decided to feature
some of the artist mothers she knows from her childrens’ school
says she was "inspired to organize this exhibition because I am so
inspired by the amazing things that women I know do.”
The 4 featured artists, Alexandra Avlonitis,
Jodi Bassi Markoff, Mary Reilly and Jan Testori-Markman all have children
at the Trevor Day School.
Asked about the relationship between being
moms and artists Alexandra Avolonitis said “My children really benefit
from seeing their mother engaged in an artistic pursuit that brings her
joy, some frustration, and a lot of satisfaction.”
Enviably, balancing art and motherhood does
not seem to pose a problem for any of these mothers. Jan Testori-Markman
says “as my kids have gotten older the energy I have for painting
has grown.” Mary Reilly, who has a home studio, likes being able
to work at night after the kids are asleep. She does admit that being
so busy “ the details of life tend to slip through the cracks!”
All of the artists seem energized by being mothers, and find that exhibiting
their work with other artists from their childrens’ school is a
new twist on the parent-school connection.
Tell us your stories -- let
us know what you are doing.
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