We all face this at one time or another: what to do with our “stuff.”
Today, my friend closed a major life chapter by emptying her storage unit. Now in her 80s, she has let go of a lifetime of art supplies that once supported her career in interior and graphic design. Each piece of vellum paper tells a story, from fashion show posters to the recreational area she designed for a new apartment building in the heyday of Californian swank.
A mysterious cigar box full of tiny shells used for jewelry making are curated by color in glass vials. She tells me she started collecting these shells along the beach when she was 8 years old. We unearth boxes of art and architecture books full of bookmarked pages that were revisited often as her work progressed. The pleats in the skirts of her fashion designs are still crisp, though the paper is beginning to yellow, and the huge sheets of transparent graph paper on the drafting board speak of a day when these were the premier tools of the trade. We find a box of river driftwood pieces. She has a hundred creative uses for these. A bag of marbles, several portfolios, woven baskets, a box of Carnival masks, carved wooden fish from her trip to Thailand. Quilt batting, custom stained glass, picture frames, some with family photos still in them.
Such are the bric-a-brack of a lifetime of being an artist. I keep looking at her to see if it’s OK that we are loading up my car. She is donating all of this to the DAC today, and she brightens at the idea of children using the materials in class. I’m a little worried she might still be attached. “No,” she says, smiling. “I’ve used it and I’m done paying for storage.” Though she doesn’t need reassuring, I offer to her that we are only babysitting her things, and that she can come play with them any time at the Durango Arts Center. She hands me a box of macrame yarn and dowels, and says she might like to come teach a class sometime. I make a mental note that someday I’ll be in the same spot – and I hope I am as gracious, as accomplished and as at peace with the things I’ve made, and the things I will let go – as she was today. Norma, this one’s for you. To her and to all of the givers of such gifts of the heart, on behalf of the students learning your past lessons for the first time, the DAC thanks you. We promise to pay it forward.
- Silent Swanson, silent films on the big screen accompanied on live piano by Adam Swanson, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $15.
- “Bye Bye Birdie,” 7:30 p.m. Aug. 18-19, 25-26 and Sept. 1-2; 2 p.m. Aug. 20, 27 and Sept. 3. Tickets $25/$15.
- A Night of Improv with Cindy, Mary & Friends, 7 p.m. Sept. 8. $10/$15.
- “The Odd Couple,” (the Female Version), 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15-16, 22-23 and 29-30; 2 p.m. Sept. 17, 24 and Oct. 1. Tickets $20/$10.
- Call to Artists for the “That’s So Durango!” art exhibit. Deadline Aug. 11, submit online.
- Artisan’s Market, open noon-6 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday.
- Adult and youth art and theater classes offered year round, see website for catalog and registration.
- 29th Annual Durango Autumn Arts Festival, Sept. 16 and 17, along East Second Ave.
Email info@durangoarts.org. Buy tickets, donate, become a member, register for classes and keep in touch at DurangoArts.org.
Brenda Macon has been executive director of Durango Arts Center since 2018.
