“Though we do not wholly believe it yet, the interior life is a real life, and the intangible dreams of people have a tangible effect on the world.” – James Baldwin.
I’ve learned to start every day in this way: where is the light? Where is the light taking me to today? First, it took outside at dawn, naked as usual with my camera held high, a sight even the donkeys and the sheep seem to enjoy.
The light is taking me to Albany, to the Bishop Maginn High School for my regular Wednesday trek there to meet with the members of the Silverstein Art Brigade. I’ll see Issachar and Asher, and Blue and maybe Paw Lway Shee, and maybe the Christer twins.
Today, Maria is coming with me, she loves working with young artists. Red will come too, they have a water bowl for him and a mat for him to lie on. He will be coddled and cooed over every minute he is there.
My new and cherished friend Sue Silverstein will be there, watching over her artists, encouraging and loving them, desperately needed fuel for their sometimes battered souls. They go through a lot, they cling to their class like the lifeboat it is.
I’m bringing things – Marvel Comics for Issachar, poetry and books for Asher, money for Blue and Paw Lway Shee (they each sold two paintings this weekend) and a wonderufl book of poems by the young poet Jason Reynolds.
His poems are about the dreams and feelings of teenagers, and I’m ordering a bunch of books for the class.
“Dear Dreamer,” he writes, “this is being written,
from a place of raw honesty and love,
but not at all
a place of expertise
on how to make
your dreams come true.”
And this:
“I haven’t cone through it all,
and come out the other side with a blue ribbon,
draped in a victor’s sash, or dollar bills,
or even unshakeable happiness.”
Assichar has a joke for me, and Asher and Blue and Paw Lway Shee all have new paintings to sell.
I’ll report back on this remarkable group of young people, who I have been privileged to meet. They are honest, creative, strong and brave.
Please check out the Bishop Maginn Amazon Wish List. There are some very inexpensive gift cards – $10, $25 (a few of these cards can add up to a laptop)m there are three laptops left on this list, and about a dozen microscopes.
We are bringing the gifts of music, art, computing and science to the school, which has been retrenching until now. They are moving forward again, thanks to you. The goal is to get 26 computers into the school by September and about 20 microscopes. We are about halfway there.
You can also make a tax-deductible contribution directly to the school, c/o Principal Mike Tolan, Bishop Maginn High School, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202.
Soon, we will be launching a School Supplies Campaign. About half of the students at Bishop Maginn arrive in September with no school supplies of any kind. I said we would try to help. The supplies will show up on the wish list.
