ArtBender: Past, Present & Future
Written by Danni Michaeli
In 2014, my husband was diagnosed with ALS. For the next two years, the people of our town came together in unimaginable ways to love and support my family, so much so that my husband and I discussed that ironically, those two years, while paralyzed, mute and connected to a breathing machine and a feeding tube were the most magical years of his life. This was the truest experience of community one could ever hope to experience, and while community was what we were seeking when we moved to South Orange, we never imagined it would be so boundless as it came to be. While this was all unfolding, I really wanted to give back but had no idea what would be as profound as what we had received. I learned of an event that Arts Unbound, an organization supporting artists with disabilities was trying to develop, and in partnership with them and many good friends, ArtBender was conceived.
ArtBender captures the creative spirit that lives within all of us and very much so in our town. Unfortunately, most of us are so busy and overextended that we often don't get to that creative project that's been on our minds, that thing we saw on YouTube, TikTok Instagram or HGTV. Furniture reclaiming, painting, food preparation, garden design, writing, music. There are so many ways we want to be creative, and we just thought, if we could have one day each year where we're all creative together, if we make it one big party, we'll finish the day with a big smile of accomplishment (or a hefty laugh of folly) and share our achievement with our friends and neighbors, all with the knowledge that we'll have a day next year to create more new things. That's ArtBender. In past years, people have done projects in their homes and on their streets, publicly and privately. I'm proud that in previous years, we painted two murals and planted The Celebration Garden. We had writers workshops and street drawing projects. And we had lots of live music. This past year was equally as magical, with events around town in public spaces and private homes.
For this years ArtBender, in collaboration with friends and new friends, I felt compelled to head up a prject called "Say Gay!" in defiance of the "no promo homo" laws that have been cropping up all over the country, now numbering 250 new bills all over the nation. I am blessed to live in a place which strongly embraces my sexuality and freedom of expression and I wanted to create a monument to celebrate that spirit. For this, we installed a pink tetrahedron, reclaiming the pink triangles which the Nazi's forced homosexuals to wear during the holocaust. The tetrahedron was adorned in stories, words and pictures by members of the queer community and our allies. Entering the triangle is a dark ray with text from the anti-gay and anti-trans legislation, and emerging is a rainbow of images from the childrens books that are now banned in many states. In this way, our pride has to filter the hatred being thrown at us and which wonderful creative people have turned it into something beautiful and magical. For me this captured the spirit of ArtBender and what it means to be queer in America today. The installation will be up throughout the month at the intersection on Valley and Village Plaza.
I'm looking forward to many more years of ArtBenders keeping me creative, helping me celebrate my home and teaching my son what a community can create together.
www.dannimichaelimd.com
