Thursday
Mourning
"Blessed are those who mourn for
they shall be comforted."
- Matthew 5:4
These words from the Beatitudes
of Jesus have taken on new meaning
for me after a sermon I heard last
Sunday in church. When I had read
this verse before, I had always thought
about how it related to death. But,
everend Alfred Bamsey of First
United Methodist Church shed new
.Jta Thought
light on what it means to mourn.
He explained that while you can
*ourn the loss of someone you love,
you can also mourn the state of the
world or personal losses, like dreams.
Rev. Bamsey's point was that it is
alright to be sad about anything; it's
natural, and through this "mourning"
one can find comfort.
When I started to reflect on how
this applies to my life, it began to
really hit home. I realized that in my
Fe most of the things that I feel sad
about don't have anything to do di-
rectly with me. It is usually the trials
and tragedies of my friends which
most deeply affect me. It is the faces
of hungry children or lonely senior
citizens which cause me to mourn.
Last week I got a call from a friend
who is having a difficult time dealing
with a work situation. He was feeling
,ike his energies are being misdirected
his organization and this was caus-
ing him a great deal of frustration.
While I was talking with him and
trying to convince him of his incred-
ible worth and talent, I began to sad-
den. It's hard to believe that such an
amazing person as my friend doesn't
realize his importance. When I hung
up the phone, he felt better and I cried.
I cried. And it wasn't productive.
There are many ills which we all
witness everyday as we walk down
the street or watch the evening news.
We talk about these things in classes
and over coffee. At some point, all of
us who are socially conscious, mourn
for these ills. But, do we do anything
about them except give lip service to
how great it would be if they didn't
exist?
Now that I have recognized the
Ource of my mourning, I feel the
need to turn it into something produc-
tive. While tears can be momentarily
comforting, it isn't always enough. It
seems to me that taking action is where
the comfort in mourning should come.
With this revelation comes a
greater responsibility which I must
now live up to. It must be part of my
daily life to work for justice, to ease
*ffering and to count my own bless-
ings which allow me to help others.
This does not mean I have to take
the responsibilities of the world onto
my shoulders. Nor does it mean that I
have to sacrifice myself into martyr-
dom. It simply means that I have a
unique responsibility as Jessie
Halladay to touch other people's lives.
For each of us that means some-
ing different. For some it means
ting letters to the editor, for others
it means writing articles for the paper.
Some people need to be working in a
soup kitchen and others need to stage
rallies on the Diag.
Whatever action we are spurred to
do is fine, as long as we are taking
action. And this does not mean that
we no longer mourn; it just means that
we are not solely satisfied with the act
* mourning. Because when we are
satisfied with mourning than we sink
quickly into that zone known as self-
pity.
I believe that there will be a time
when there will be no more suffering,
a time when all people will receive
BRINING ART ALIVE
STORY By JESSIE HALLADAY
PHOTOS By MOLLY STEVENS
When most of us were little we
spent a great deal of time with glue,
marker, paint or a combination of all
three, splattered all over our hands.
Art class was the hour of the school
day when we as children could freely
express ourselves without worrying
about what anyone else would say
about us. It was a time to have fun and
get messy.
When I was in kindergarten one of
my favorite things was to make col-
lages with colored glue. I used to drip
the glue in big sticky globs onto con-
struction paper and watch it dry in
pretty colors with pieces of felt and
Styrofoam clinging to it.
The art room was a haven for me,
as I'm sure it was for many, and I
always looked forward to my time
there. Little did I know that when I
came to college I could once again go
to a place which encouraged freedom
of artistic expression and provided
paint to get all over my hands. But to
my delight that is what I found in the
ArtVentures Workshop of the Ann
Arbor Art Association.
Located at 117 West Liberty, one
block past Main Street, the Art Asso-
ciation Art Center stands in as a sur-
rogate art room, as well as a host of
other things, for young and old alike.
This year the Art Association Art
Center is celebrating its 85th year as a
non-profit art organization in Ann
Arbor. The Center operates a retail
gallery shop, an exhibition space, class
space, ArtVentures Workshop and
professional artist studio space.
Since the beginning of the Asso-
ciation, the mission statement has sim-
ply been to "bring art alive." Assis-
tant to the Director Elizabeth Tarry-
Crowe said that the goal of the Art
Center is to "bring art, in some form
or another, to the community." And
it has been doing just that for the past
85 years.
For 25 years, starting in 1909, the
Art Association exhibited artists'
works in various public buildings
around Ann Arbor. Because this was
before the inception of the academic
arts curriculum at the University, the
Art Association filled a major gap
which the University wasn't filling.
After the University program began,
the Center looked to expand its pro-
gramming further into the commu-
nity at large.
In 1972, the Association began to
rent a building on Platt Road to use as
its permanent location but moved only
three years later to its current spot.
Once in its final resting place, ex-
panding its services became much
easier. Regular classes were offered
each term, off-site exhibits were put
together and projects such as work-
shops, community outreach, artist
hours and the gallery were devel-
oped.
As part of its continuing develop-
ment, the Art Center created
ArtVentures Workshop, which was
originally housed at Briarwood Mall.
ArtVentures was designed as a studio
space for children to drop in, with or
without parents, to experiment with a
variety of projects.
The Briarwood space has since
closed, and the studio's sole site is the
Liberty location on the second floor.
ArtVentures focuses mainly, though
not exclusively, on children and teach-
ing self-expression.
"We want to reach as many young
people as we can and give them an
educational experience and teach them
the importance of the many cultures
of the world," said Rachel Golden,
assistant director of ArtVentures.
The Workshop has gained a repu-
tation in Ann Arbor for developing
creative projects which incorporate
education about cultures from vari-
ous areas of the world. Each month
the projects change to take on a new
theme. This year will be divided into
four subject areas centering around
the theme "Basic to Beautiful," which
will take functional objects and turn
them into art.
ABOVE LEFT: A child explores her creative side in ArtVentures Workshop.
ABOVE RIGHT: The Exhibition Gallery features Michigan artists monthly.
BELOW: Workers in the Gallery Shop take a minute to share a laugh.
See ART, Page 4