Hi from Barbara Hauck-Mah, a new ArtSphere volunteer who also is newly relocated to Philadelphia after living and working too many years in northern NJ. I grew up in Queens NY, went to college in California and Michigan and lived briefly in Minneapolis and Connecticut. So far, I’ve helped proofread and do a glossary for the “Creating Legacies through Art” lesson plan book developed thanks to the Knight Foundation grant. I’m looking forward to helping with publicity, grant writing, teaching or wherever I’m needed. My artistic talent is as appreciator, supporter and intellectual explorer.
Sarah Gregory asked new volunteers to answer her thoughtful questions: My favorite advice about art is best expressed by Neil Gaiman’s Make Good Art speech. I agree that art is about breaking rules, making mistakes and changing the world by expressing your point of view.
The earliest artistic experience I vividly remember was an 8 year old attempt to recreate the NY World’s Fair in our basement. I grabbed and repurposed stuff from the kitchen, bathroom, dollhouse, toy chest and china cabinet to create fair pavilions. I was pretty pleased with myself for using a miniglobe coin bank for the Fair Unisphere and commandeering white plastic tumblers and saucers to create the NY State pavillion towers. There was a performance element too. My parents were not amused and insisted I put everything back. What did I learn? I got more fair visits plus an appreciation of the challenges of making good art. For fun, I like to post on my Phillyfanblog, sightsee and do virtual speedwalks through New Zealand on the LifeCourse machine at the Y. I’d be unable to live without coffee, news from the Skimm and cats (ours in particular, but cats in general too).