This final post in the Stories with Wings series can only be about...
...love and gratitude.
On the night of the show, I and my fellow adult contributors of art were honored sweetly by being brought up on stage. I had been ambushed by a group of entreamigos staff, herded to the stage area, and told in no uncertain terms to stay put until further notice. I had no idea I was going to be offered the microphone once they got me up there and so have no idea what I said except for a vague recollection of voicing my appreciation that the school children of San Pancho would be brought to see the whole exhibit in the following days...which photos follow in this post.
Nicole Swedlow and Indira spoke many kind words and Plantaté stayed for moral support. Beside me is Gabriel, the creator of the scribble iron sculpture. Just behind Nicole, in pigtails and a handmade paper dress, is Kim Howard, artist/author extraordinaire of Un Circo Magico Entre Amigos.
A few mornings later, I was honored yet again in a wonderful if somewhat less formal fashion.
I was privileged to be on site when the kindergarteners arrived at entreamigos to view the installations. The waited politely at the door with their teachers as Estibaliz explained to them the rules:
"Are we going to touch anything?" "NO!"
"Are we going to eat anything during our tour?" "NO!"
"Are we going to listen and be quiet?" "YES!"
These beautiful and courteous children listened closely as Estibaliz explained what they were going to see. "Who is ready now to go inside?" she asked. They were ready.
They filed in, holding hands two-by-two, fingers in noses, and Estibaliz introduced them to the Imagination Machine.
Then, in time-honored kindergarten fashion, they sat cross-legged on the floor, and, to my surprise, Estibaliz introduced me to them. I received a generous round of baby applause and a lot of wide-eyed stares.
That was it for me: the moment it was really all about.
The children who performed in the circus and produced the artwork for the show were given the gratitude of the community in a sunshiny ceremony on the entreamigos stage.
The circus kids (who, by the way, had a fabulous time at their invitational performance in Vallarta where they were treated to several fancy meals, tram rides around the elegant grounds, and enthusiastic applause) received certificates and DVD's of the circus from Indira and Condor, their amazing and humor-filled San Pancho trainer.
A huge thank you and much applause went to Gilles Ste-Croix of Cirque du Soleil for his creativity and inspiration and for his big part in making Circo de los Niños 2014 come to life.
The child artists also received certificates of appreciation along with their own artwork, framed and ready for hanging.
Of course, my own gratitude overflows for the many wonderful people who were crucial in the creation of even my part of the exhibit. My thanks goes out to all of them, and most of all to Carol Lee, tireless and faithful full-time co-creator, helper and partner-in-crime whose antics, intentional and unintentional, fueled me with laughter constantly.
Here she is giggling with Travis, her accidental sidekick (in that he arrived for a visit and was immediately conscripted to the studio, where he performed bravely and added considerably to my own laughter-induced belly ache).
There was plenty of time for fun as we worked. Here are Jenelle and Sara, jigsaw bottle technicians, at work...and clowning. (Which reminds me: thanks to Doug Woodring who cleaned every one of those bottles and discovered innovative ways to remove the sticky labels and make them sparkle.)
Behind them, taking a well-earned feet-in-the-pool break, is Corinna, paper-maché maestra and endless font of patience and good ideas. Her daughter, Tyara, created the moon, sun, and heart in the Idea Mobile that hung above the sculptures.
Thanks also to the entreamigos recycling center, a rich source of empty bottles, plastic crates, bicycle wheels, gears, unidentifiable plastic thingies, bottle tops, tubes and valves and pieces of metal, broken fans and lamps and table legs. Thanks, too, to the people who send all that stuff for actual and potential recycling, for without them, the Imagination Machine could not exist.
And finally, one day, it was done (-ish). Deb and her partner Jennifer arrived with an empty van and we loaded it up for delivery down the hill. Here are Carol and Deb, spray painter and queen of the power tools, carrying Left Brain out to the van.
Last but not least, I wish to thank an eight year old named Adesha. She is Estibaliz's daughter, although I did not know this until very recently. When Indira gave me the stack of drawings that the children had made of their own "book-making machines", from which I received lots of inspiration and ideas, I had a long and happy laugh when I came across the one by Adesha.
She had drawn her picture at school during the same days I sat at home and drew my own idea of a "book-imagining machine". I am excited about the prospect of doing some dimensional art with Adesha, as I can only conclude either that I have the brain of an eight year old or that Adesha and I are kindred spirits.
My amor y gratitud to all.
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