Today!!! I am joined by Jessica Meyer, a leadership consultant and executive coach who co-created The Idea Garden with her husband, Matt Taylor, a space for socially engaged art and community events. She is active in the community, a member of Women’s History Month Kingston the steering committee and the mom of Maggie, a certified therapy dog who is battling cancer. Today we learn more about Jess, her work, the current exhibit at the idea garden and some of the happendings of Women’s History Month! She shares how they came up with the name for the idea garden inspired by John Boswell’s, Mr. Roger’s remix, one of her favorite exhibits, The Grace Project, featuring the works of Charise Isis, and what she’s learned along the way of starting a new business: accepting support along the way, looking for resources in the community, being open to new information and learning, having patience, and looking for opportunities for collaboration opportunities. I found it fascinating hearing about her work in leadership consulting and executive coaching including her own process around getting clear on her own values and priorities via the assistance of Strategy Professor Paul Ingram.
She shares about her involvement with Women’s History Month Kingston (WHMK), established in March 2019 as a community collaboration, where different organizers hosted a series of events to highlight women’s history through a diversity of perspectives. Now with a steering committee comprised of volunteers from Kingston businesses and arts and cultural organizations, the current schedule is up and growing. You can follow their Facebook page for the most up to date info on the events.
Here are some of the upcoming events at the idea garden; April: HV Seed Company, the Art of Seed, May: Breaking Free from Trauma featuring works by Rita Bolla, Benny Benard, and Kat Howard, and June: Kids Collaboration, Senior Thesis show from Kingston HS and Middle School.
Halfway through the show we are joined by returning guest, FreedomWalker, a certified creative art therapist, accredited practitioner of the healing arts, fine artist, writer and co-host of The Black Meta on Radio Kingston ⚡️ She co-hosts the current exhibit at “The Source of Self Regard,” a multi-disciplinary arts exhibition. Named after a collection of essays, speeches, and meditations by the late Toni Morrison, the show’s intention is to hold space for and highlight the voices of women, femme, and nonbinary people of color. The show will feature both visual and performing artists and will run for 2 months at the idea garden in Kingston NY to coincide with both Black History Month Kingston and Women’s History Month Kingston.
Artists exhibiting include: AJ Aremu, Sadee Brathwaite, Dorothy Brodhead, Cassandra D. Clarke, K.C. Clarke, Nile ‘River’ Clarke, Andie Clarkson, Freedom Walker, Courtney Haeick, IONE, Dahlia Jarrett, Naira Luke-Aleman, Mumba, Yvonne Rojas-Cowan, Toni Thomas, and Cynthia Timms . The exhibit will be open the following dates in March, 3.7 4-7pm, 3.14 4-7pm and Closing Celebration 3.21 4-7pm stay tuned for the Closing details.
Freedomwalker shares a passage from Toni Morrison’s “A Source of Self-Regard” about the struggling artist and not enfranchising the struggling artist imagery. She talks about the importance of her art, how she works through the challenges of financially supporting her art and her work by diversifying all she does, how she doesn’t hold on to past things, connecting with her heart, and healing the ancestral line through her artwork.
Her last exhibit at the idea garden was titled, “Last Night for Dinner.”
And yes, we get in some sharing about Self Care!
Today’s show was engineered by Maddy Bogner of Radio Kingston, http://www.radiokingston.org.
We heard music from our fave, Shana Falana, http://www.shanafalana.com/
Feel free to email me, say hello: she@iwantwhatshehas.org
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