My husband and I were watching a TV program in which a young girl’s parents die suddenly, leaving her in the care of a grandmother she has never met. I told Rick I needed to stop watching, then burst into tears. “I was that little girl,” I told him. Not because my circumstances matched hers, …
We watched the three-part documentary Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity on Amazon. I highly recommend it. Shorter, who passed away last spring at 90 years of age, was imagination and creativity personified. The film illustrates a point I’ve made countless times in my writing and speaking, that many people vastly underestimate the degree to which young …
I’m letting my hair go gray. My hair is not the main thing I want to focus on in telling you about my new painting, but as this ever-changing reality presents itself to me every time I pass a mirror, it bears mentioning. Also, if like me, you always got a gratifyingly surprised reaction when …
Pre-order my forthcoming book: In The Camp of Angels of Freedom: What Does It Mean to Be Educated? NOTE: This post is to introduce you to the 24th episode of François Matarasso’s and my monthly podcast, “A Culture of Possibility.” It will be available starting 16 December 2022. You can find it and all episodes …
I have been learning so much from painting since I resumed in earnest three years ago after a very long hiatus. (You can read more about how and why here.) The first lesson isn’t about painting per se, but about planning. When I picked up my brush again, I began painting portraits from life as …
Pre-order my forthcoming book: In The Camp of Angels of Freedom: What Does It Mean to Be Educated? for 20% OFF+ FREE SHIPPING (to addresses in the US). Enter code JUSTICE20–FM at checkout! I talk each month to a good friend who’s centrally involved in community-based arts in another country. She has been scanning the …
This is the text of a talk I gave on 24 October 2022 for the Alliance for Jewish Theatre 2022 Annual Conference. While it contains a number of specifically Jewish references, I hope it will be useful to anyone who has every been challenged about being enough in terms of identity or legitimacy. You can …
“Tikkun” is a Hebrew word usually translated as “repair.” In the phrase “Tikkun Olam,” it has a traditional spiritual meaning associated with Jewish mysticism’s creation story in which the Source of Life shaped the vessels of this world, breathing divine energy into them. The container shattered, unable to hold the infinite light. That left humanity …
Sometimes the memory is so fleeting I can’t quite bring it into focus, but most of the time, memories flow like a river carrying everyone I’ve ever known, everywhere I’ve ever been. It started a few weeks into the pandemic, and it’s been keeping a steady beat ever since. In the space between laying my …
Usually, when I open a new book that touches on the socially aware and community-engaged art which has been the through-line of my life, I feel an anticipatory cringe. So often, the work is tendentious in some reactive way, far from my lived experience—more an artifact of someone’s academic resume than a genuine contribution. Knowing …