The Role of the Arts in Pivotal Moments 

Art has always been instrumental in telling the story of the present moment. In historic periods like the one we are living in now, this becomes even more essential.

We turn to works of art and literature as a way to re-enter moments in our collective past and provide context for current events that echo history. 

As we enter 2021, we can begin to reflect on the challenges of 2020  and understand once again how art prevails and illuminates even (or perhaps especially) in times of distress and disaster. How has art been used to heal the rifts of the last year? What art did we rely on to carry us through grief and loss? 

Many artists, inspired by current events, created thought-provoking murals, music, poems, sketches, etc. We saw "BLACK LIVES MATTER" painted across main streets, musicians using their talents to speak out about injustice, hope and what really matters now, photographers capturing shocking images of covid patients waving to loved ones through windows and others risking their lives at the front lines of protests. There are many examples of how the arts expressed what the collective "we" were thinking - as individuals, and as communities. 

In this World Café, we will explore the role, value, and importance of art in these pivotal moments. We'll ask "what are the effects of Covid-19, and what will the arts look like after this pandemic has subsided?" "What is the future of art, not only for artists, but for all of us?"

Please join us and add your voice to this important conversation.

World Cafe Live! is a monthly or bi-monthly event co-hosted by subscribers to the Community Table. The intention is to open an inquiry into a topic of passion between subscribers and the large community. The Community Table is a World Cafe initiative, suppported by the World Cafe Community Foundation & weDialogue. 

This World Cafe Live! is co-hosted by:

MINDY LONDON 
As a child in elementary school once a week a teacher would come to class with an art cart.  Sometimes, it was sculptures, sometimes it was paintings or photographs of famous works.  She would go into detail about each artist and their claims to fame. Those works allowed me to travel in my mind to distant lands.  To see the world as larger than just my small town and expand my horizons beyond what was then imaginable. 

Those weekly art cart visits have put me on a path of engaging in the arts in many forms.  What might have seemed to some to be just another distraction in class became a lifelong curiosity for me to explore and engage.

As an adult, I have followed those daydreams and travelled the world and seen art in various forms in places and countries as a child I could only dream of. I look forward to continuing my involvement and volunteering at some of the finest venues in my City of St Petersburg, Florida.  As a Docent, I can only hope to spark the curiosity in others, as It was once sparked in me!

JENESSA HANSEN-EVANS 
Art intertwines in my life. My grandmother was an artist and my earliest memory was running to her studio to see her latest work. She always had a camera in her hand capturing life's candid moments. She oil painted, transitioning into china painting. Many nights I would fall asleep to the sound of my dad playing the piano.

I have always chased after art. Showing up for friends' open studios, seeing an underground theatre play, attending a local concert. One of my creative spaces is the piano; a piano is a sacred place for me to calm down after an emotional day.

In my twenties, I traveled, making a point to stop in museums, galleries, anywhere I could see the taste of the community. Art and anything creative will always be a force in my life.