Letter to the Editor: My camera roll is filled with the imagined

I’m capturing what five-year-olds saw behind their eyes and transferred to paper. I’m chronicling curiosity made solid in the hands of a resourceful elementary student with collections transformed to a rainbow. I’m storing what one teen crocheted into reality and another molded into being.

My phone is filled with treasures - with art.

In 2020, I asked if I could take a space owned by the school district and turn it into the art gallery I knew it could become. I wanted to showcase the talents of the students in my home community and underscore the importance of supporting our educators who invest in unlocking worlds via the arts.

With the help of a few committed souls we hung over 300 pieces and when the spotlight was dimmed at the end of the evening, my boss (and friend) said, “Whatever it takes, we have to do this again next year.”

That intention proved challenging in 2021 when health precautions kept us six feet apart but creatives are … well, creative. Outdoors, under the tent and promotional umbrella of a university-sponsored music event, the art show grew to more of a festival feel as classes showed their prowess with buckets-turned-drums, actors took to a parking lot stage, and musicians and voices moved us with melodies - all while enjoying student-produced visual art on student-produced exhibit stands.

I had one more festival before I hit the road on my current nomadic adventure. But the celebrations continued.

This year, due to personnel shifts at the time when planning needed to be underway, I was asked to return and serve as a coordinator for the sixth installment of the festival.

I agreed. And now my phone (and my heart) is full.

On April 5, we will reveal the results of judging by art school heads in London and Houston, a former director of one of the largest art festivals in the U.S., award-winning photo journalists, and professionals who have made careers of their passionate pursuits either with their own studios or in collective educational spaces. The array of talented individuals have at least two things in common - they all said an immediate “yes” when asked, and they all have the adventure/misadventure of knowing me. Many, too, also added a “sounds like fun!” to their response.

So, today I take the photos that my genius colleague will then load to the lovely little judging space she’s built in the cloud(s). Within a week, we will know the imaginations of Weakley County have been witnessed by great talents on the national and international scenes. We will have the results of their insights, and we will gift 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes on Saturday, April 5 at Gleason School.

My phone can attest: for all who join us, you are guaranteed to leave with a smile.

And for those who see me in the next couple of weeks you can know the beaming coming from my face originates in gratitude: for the teachers of the arts who rise above limited budgets and too little time, administrators who advocate and appeal for more, community businesses who doubled sponsorships, friends who understand their votes for excellence will help continue to raise the bar, volunteers who can “fairy godmother” a gym into a wonderland of artistic expression, and, of course, the students who dared to IMAGINE.