A Different Perspective
31/03/12 05:36
I was at the Black Hills Workshop and Training Center yesterday for several hours preparing for and making a presentation. At one point, while waiting for some other folks I took a few minutes to visit the art gallery of the Suzie Cappa Center. I always find that to be an amazing and wonderful experience. The Suzie Cappa Center was established in 2001 as a memorial to Suzie Cappa who was a person who received services from the Workshop. It is a place where people of all abilities can study and create in many different artistic mediums. The vision of the center is expressed in four basic beliefs:
The Suzie Cappa Center provides support for a lot of artistic expression. In addition to painting and sculpture, there are batik, weaving, photography and collage. The Center has regular opportunities for musical expression and has sponsored plays, musicals and even hosted ballet.
I know that there has been much criticism of the National Endowment for the Arts, but a quick visit to the Suzie Cappa Center will show you that not all of the money from that source is wasted. The Center adds so much to the quality of life for all of us living in the hills.
My time was short yesterday, so I took a look at the work of some of the past recipients of the Artist of the Year award. Back in 2010, the artist of the year was Shad Bebout. His bright oil paintings sport his bold and distinctive signature. They also invite viewers into a deep sense of the spirit of the land. One painting in particular caught my attention yesterday.
The work is titled Devil’s Tower.
President Theodore Roosevelt established Devils Tower as a National Monument in 1906. It is an amazing rock formation in northeastern Wyoming on the outer ring of the Black Hills. Long before settlers discovered this formation, it was recognized as a sacred site by plains people. The Arapaho, Crow, Lakota, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Shoshone all gathered at the site for ceremonies and gatherings. It was also a place for personal vision questing and funerals. The plains tribes did not have the concept of a negative “devil.” The commonly accepted modern name of the rock, Devil’s Tower probably comes from a misinterpretation of the Lakota concept of Spirit. In North Dakota Spirit Lake is know as Devil’s Lake, though, like the tower in Wyoming, the Lakota Stories of the place have no mention of a devil. The Lakota Name for the place, Mato Tipi, means “home of the bear,” and stories link it with Paha Mato, also known as Bear Butte.
Shad has captured the tower in a very different perspective. Most of us, when experiencing the tower see it as a dramatic standout amongst the surrounding landscape. It towers over everything in the vicinity and can be seen from a long way off. Shad’s painting depicts the tower to be sure, but it is not the dominant feature in the painting. What first catches your eye is the dramatic sunset with a fiery sky, the hills and trees, the river running by and the grass in the foreground. The tower is a prominent feature in the center of the painting, but from my point of view it appears much smaller in Shad’s painting than it feels when one visits.
I think that I have a tendency to become so focused on the foreground that I sometimes don’t notice the background. Shad’s painting invites me to think of the background as well and remember that there is more to the world than whatever is closest or biggest. There is truthfulness to Shad’s painting. The sky really is bigger than the tower. The hills are much more than just a single monolith. If you travel from Rapid City to the tower, you pass through a lot of beautiful country. If you were to sit on the edge of the Belle Fourche River, you would notice its vermillion cliffs and its very winding and indirect path as it flows from Keyhole Reservoir.
Artists have a way of getting us to look at things from a different perspective. It is one of the values of art. Somehow Shad has caught the spirit of the place in a way that surprised and delighted me yesterday as I looked at the painting.
We have been working on a special event that will be held April 15 at our church. The “Widen the Welcome” event is designed to open our doors to our community, but it is also an opportunity for those of us in the existing congregation to become better educated about the gifts of persons living with disabilities. Too often we think of those who have particular disabilities as being in need. We think about what we can do for them. We sometimes try to advocate and speak for them. What I am learning is that no one really needs me to speak for him or her. Some persons living with disabilities need me to listen carefully. When they express their hopes and fears, desires and needs, I need to open myself to careful listening, especially when their method of communication is not verbal.
The simple truth is that our community is richer because we have members of many different abilities. The people I have met through my association with the Workshop enrich my life. The Widen the Welcome event is about building a more complete community by eliminating barriers and inviting more of our neighbors to participate in the life of our church.
Who knows? Maybe one day we can add a painting by Shad to the collection of art hanging on the walls of our church.
- Disability is not a boundary. All people can be creative in a supportive environment.
• Creative expression fosters personal growth and self-esteem. Recognition of creative efforts by others gives the artist a feeling of worth that carries over in all areas of his/her life.
• Exhibitions which integrate the work of artists with and without disabilities help others see past preconceived notions of disability and begin to honor the creative spirit of every person.
• Creating art professionally adds value to one’s life. Through the cultivation of their talents, people with disabilities make contributions to the cultural and economic life of our community.
The Suzie Cappa Center provides support for a lot of artistic expression. In addition to painting and sculpture, there are batik, weaving, photography and collage. The Center has regular opportunities for musical expression and has sponsored plays, musicals and even hosted ballet.
I know that there has been much criticism of the National Endowment for the Arts, but a quick visit to the Suzie Cappa Center will show you that not all of the money from that source is wasted. The Center adds so much to the quality of life for all of us living in the hills.
My time was short yesterday, so I took a look at the work of some of the past recipients of the Artist of the Year award. Back in 2010, the artist of the year was Shad Bebout. His bright oil paintings sport his bold and distinctive signature. They also invite viewers into a deep sense of the spirit of the land. One painting in particular caught my attention yesterday.
The work is titled Devil’s Tower.
President Theodore Roosevelt established Devils Tower as a National Monument in 1906. It is an amazing rock formation in northeastern Wyoming on the outer ring of the Black Hills. Long before settlers discovered this formation, it was recognized as a sacred site by plains people. The Arapaho, Crow, Lakota, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Shoshone all gathered at the site for ceremonies and gatherings. It was also a place for personal vision questing and funerals. The plains tribes did not have the concept of a negative “devil.” The commonly accepted modern name of the rock, Devil’s Tower probably comes from a misinterpretation of the Lakota concept of Spirit. In North Dakota Spirit Lake is know as Devil’s Lake, though, like the tower in Wyoming, the Lakota Stories of the place have no mention of a devil. The Lakota Name for the place, Mato Tipi, means “home of the bear,” and stories link it with Paha Mato, also known as Bear Butte.
Shad has captured the tower in a very different perspective. Most of us, when experiencing the tower see it as a dramatic standout amongst the surrounding landscape. It towers over everything in the vicinity and can be seen from a long way off. Shad’s painting depicts the tower to be sure, but it is not the dominant feature in the painting. What first catches your eye is the dramatic sunset with a fiery sky, the hills and trees, the river running by and the grass in the foreground. The tower is a prominent feature in the center of the painting, but from my point of view it appears much smaller in Shad’s painting than it feels when one visits.
I think that I have a tendency to become so focused on the foreground that I sometimes don’t notice the background. Shad’s painting invites me to think of the background as well and remember that there is more to the world than whatever is closest or biggest. There is truthfulness to Shad’s painting. The sky really is bigger than the tower. The hills are much more than just a single monolith. If you travel from Rapid City to the tower, you pass through a lot of beautiful country. If you were to sit on the edge of the Belle Fourche River, you would notice its vermillion cliffs and its very winding and indirect path as it flows from Keyhole Reservoir.
Artists have a way of getting us to look at things from a different perspective. It is one of the values of art. Somehow Shad has caught the spirit of the place in a way that surprised and delighted me yesterday as I looked at the painting.
We have been working on a special event that will be held April 15 at our church. The “Widen the Welcome” event is designed to open our doors to our community, but it is also an opportunity for those of us in the existing congregation to become better educated about the gifts of persons living with disabilities. Too often we think of those who have particular disabilities as being in need. We think about what we can do for them. We sometimes try to advocate and speak for them. What I am learning is that no one really needs me to speak for him or her. Some persons living with disabilities need me to listen carefully. When they express their hopes and fears, desires and needs, I need to open myself to careful listening, especially when their method of communication is not verbal.
The simple truth is that our community is richer because we have members of many different abilities. The people I have met through my association with the Workshop enrich my life. The Widen the Welcome event is about building a more complete community by eliminating barriers and inviting more of our neighbors to participate in the life of our church.
Who knows? Maybe one day we can add a painting by Shad to the collection of art hanging on the walls of our church.