I love ships. This is the Lady Washington. How about a Path with Art field trip! We can do some painting on the open seas. I can dream, can’t I?
What a beauty!
Category: Community
For the betterment of humanity
BEING COMPASSIONATE AND UNDERSTANDING
This is from a newsletter that hits my inbox from time to time.
Don’t give up.
Over the past 18 months, humanity has been worn down by the pandemic. Life has not been easy and there may be additional challenges ahead. But as Winston Churchill once said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
Compassion is needed now more than ever. We encourage our supporters to be kind, forgive and sacrifice for the betterment of humanity.
We Are All Here
Pallet is a social purpose company on a mission to build equal opportunity access to housing and employment. Elevating the voices of people with lived experience with homelessness, recovery, and incarceration is integral to Pallet’s mission. In addition to telling the personal stories of their team and people living in Pallet shelter villages, they aim to raise the voices of system-impacted and marginalized persons everywhere.
Pallet has teamed up with Path with Art to support and amplify the voices of some of our participant artists with lived experience of homelessness. Check out this beautiful poem from PWA Ambassador Pam Winter, below. You can read the full interview with Pam on Pallet’s blog, and also check out the poetry and interview of PWA Ambassador & Blog Editor Aaron Hill!
We are All Here
by Pam Winter
We live in tent cities behind nylon walls, huddled in wool blankets in doorways of neglect.
We live in secured high-rises casting shadows below, houses flooded with desire, homes gated in fear.
We live with slumlords and in public housing too.
We live alone in our minds, wandering along pathways edged by open chains.
We work for corporate greed,
We dumpster dive for food,
We work for non-profits to build a better world,
We ask for spare change, sometimes shoot-up to heal a gaping wound.
We are honest laborers, the shrunken middle class,
We do not ask for handouts, but will reach for a helping hand.
We race upstairs chasing freedom and we lounge on city streets,
We stand in long lines at food banks, waiting for leftovers we can’t afford,
We walk in parks and shop behind gilded walls.
Sometimes we steal in the night, while white collars take in the light to line their coffers gold.
Sometimes life feels darker than the backside of the moon;
we watch her catch her breath
as she rushes to soften the edges of what we call urban blight.
Sometimes we feel the ecstasy of unity, especially on nights like tonight.
We are a city on shifting tectonic plates, frayed at the edges,
clothed in attitudes of love and dismay.
We are a city of others, separate and near.
We are teachers and students alike, but webs twist around our minds, our lives,
isolating us from those who look and think more different than we’d like.
We are all here, polarized by red and blue fear.
We must break down the walls,
Step out of the shadow of Them, Other, They.
We must hold our sister’s gaze, grasp our brother’s hand.
Link our minds to overcome judgments about what we think is right.
We are all here; the me in them.
The drum beat of our city, the heartbeat of Seattle,
the energy that makes our diversity vibrate with rhythm that unites.
We are All here and we’re not going anywhere.
Tonight! Special Event!
Wednesday, July 21
6pm
Join us for the accompanying discussion to Trimpin’s “Hear and How” – currently being exhibited at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art – where our Participant Artists will share their art forms and what they created during the pandemic. How are we navigating this experience as a community? As individuals? As artists?
This event features PwA Participant Artists, Teaching Artists, and CEO Holly Jacobson. It will be moderated by BIMA.
Tune in tonight from 6-7:30pm.
For more information, click here.
Stories of Transformation: Tu’u Talaga
In the last newsletter of the month, Path with Art is sharing a story from student Tu’u Talaga. Tu’u has been taking the podcast class taught by Gavin Reub. She shares how it took time for her to realize that language can be an art form in and of itself. Watch Tu’u’s story below.
This project was created with support from Historic South Downtown, highlighting the individuals Path with Art serves.
Ninety-degree weather in June?! In Seattle?!
HOW DO YOU BEAT THE HEAT?
This is nuts. I am not looking forward to this. I can handle 75°, but anything above that is too much for me. My body prefers cooler weather. Any ideas to beat the heat? What do you do? I may go wading in Puget Sound or the Sammamish River.
Pride Flags: Many Colors and Meanings
June is Pride month, a time of celebration for the LGBTQIA+ community!
You may be familiar with the traditional rainbow pride flag, but did you know that there are many different flags that represent many different sexualities and gender identities? Here are just a few of them:
How has the Pride flag evolved over time? Here’s a little bit of queer pride flag history, courtesy of The Complete Guide to Queer Pride Flags by Ariel Sobel. Check out the article for even MORE LGBTQIA+ Pride flags!
Gilbert Baker Pride Flag
In 1977, Harvey Milk challenged Gilbert Baker, a veteran who taught himself to sew, to come up with a symbol of pride for the gay community. His response? The original Pride flag. Inspired by Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow,” these colors flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on June 25, 1978. Though some dispute whether Baker was the sole creator of the flag that started it all, its symbolism remains. Each color celebrates an aspect of queer Pride:
Hot pink = Sex
Red = Life
Orange = Healing
Yellow = Sunlight
Green = Nature
Turquoise = Magic/Art
Indigo = Serenity
Violet = Spirit
1978-1999 Pride Flag
After the assassination of Harvey Milk, many wanted the Pride flag he commissioned to commemorate his accomplishments for the community and their personal support. The demand was greater than the available fabric, so the Paramount Flag Company began selling this version of the flag, as did Gilbert Baker, who had trouble getting hot pink fabric.
Traditional Gay Pride Flag
This is the most familiar flag. In 1979, the community landed on this six-color version, which was hung from lampposts in San Francisco. Numerous complications over having an odd-number of colors led to turquoise being dropped, at least according to reports. Read more about the modern flag here.
Philadelphia People Of Color Inclusive Flag
Noting that queer people of color are often not fully included in the LGBT community, the city of Philadelphia added two colors — black and brown — to the Pride flag in their honor. The city had previously faced accusations of racial discrimination in its gay bars, which led 11 queer nightlife venues to take antiracism training. Many white men were outraged by the flag, claiming that rainbow includes all skin colors, but with a star like Lena Waithe donning it at the Met Gala, it seems the design is here to stay.
Progress Pride Flag
This new flag seeks to take Philadelphia’s inclusive approach a step further. Daniel Quasar, who identifies as queer and nonbinary, designed this flag. The white, pink, and light blue reflect the colors of the transgender flag, while the brown and black stripes represent people of color and those lost to AIDS. “When the Pride flag was recreated in the last year to include both black/brown stripes as well as the trans stripes included this year, I wanted to see if there could be more emphasis in the design of the flag to give it more meaning,” Quasar explained on his Kickstarter.
Here’s a great article about the history of Pride month for those interested in learning more about the origins of this month of queer love, resistance, and celebration!
