By Debbie Denise Reese, Guest Columnist
The Blue Ridge Mountains framing the confluence valley of the Hiwassee and Valley River beneath the May 3 stormy sky was poetry for the Murphy First Friday Art Walk attendees: the air we breathed, the landscape we viewed, and the breezes that caressed our skin. Enough to uplift and enrich the community of attendees. But there was more.
The arts are a means of individual expression, fulfillment, and engagement for the artist. Artistic products evidence mastery of skills, technique, knowledge – even the sublime. The arts, at their finest, enlighten and inspire. And above this – performance and visual arts at their highest can forge a spiritual connection between artist and viewer/participant. They may even create that transcendence of connection beyond any individual or human boundaries. Examples from my May 3 First Friday:
- George & Andy (rhythm guitar/vocal and electric mandolin, joined by guest musician Tom on the cajon): As their set reached “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” I was already connecting with time, space, music, and movement – embraced by the sky, standing on the MAC lawn, and practicing Qigong’s Eight Brocades and 18 other forms. I am a trained classical singer – and melody is typically my focus. But during this performance, Andy’s clear fills gave me a new clarity for appreciating countermelody.
- “Mommy” (photographer Jim Clayton): Viewing the stone statue of a young girl sitting on a bench in a graveyard, along with the title, provoked the idea of a modern-day myth or folk tale. Perhaps a goddess/woman who, knowing her destiny might require her to leave all behind, fell in love, and then birthed and began to raise the love child. The child watched from the bench as the mother transfigured. The child watched so long, so faithfully, she turned to stone.
When I left the MAC, a man stopped to speak with me: “I saw you doing tai chi on the lawn.” I described my experience to him, and he left me with, “Everything’s connected.” The man, well, he was Tom the cajon player from George & Andy, returning from break.
My first experience of Murphy was in 2015 at the River Walk. This is an enlightened, wholesome, and giving community, I’d concluded. The May 3 First Friday reinforced this impression: a blessing for residents and visitors in western North Carolina.
As a flow scholar, researcher and instructional technologist, I am an expert in peak experience. As a human being, I cherish, venerate and thrive on it. The May 3 First Friday Art Walk created peak experience for me. And I thank our hosts, the Art Walk Committee and other volunteers.
The writer is a resident of Cherokee County.