August is my Bday month + a time to reflect

Celebrating one year of this newsletter with thank you post for YOU

Hello friend,

In two weeks I will turn 54, 5+4 = 9 which is considered to be an auspicious number that represents completion, wisdom, and spiritual growth. In many ways there is a an ending on the horizon as three hours ago I sent my youngest daughter off to her last first day of school. I know your social media feed is probably inundated with parents posting these pictures but as a solo mother (if you do not know the difference between solo and single mum please ask) I have been driving, picking up and making school lunches for almost 20 years. Like many women I had to choose between going full throttle with my career or balancing it with motherhood, I chose the latter. I went from a doctoral program at a very prestigious Uni to a management position at the Guggenheim Museum to being an after school pre K art teacher (see below).

The year I moved to Miami with my eldest daughter at her pre-school, I was the after school art teacher. Also, if childcare were more affordable in this country women would not have to “choose” between continuing to work and being a FT mom, for many women it makes more sense financially to not get help, and since there is no alternative we derail our professional life, not men. Yet the US defense budget is in the trillions, make it make sense I say.

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Many would say my career tanked, but I beg to differ. Sure I have bouts of dare I say envy when I see the meteoric careers of my former classmates and colleagues: museum directors, full professors, fellowships, big salaries etc. But that was not my path, mine had detours and some minefields but all in all and at the risk of sounding like a cheesy Hallmark card, I would not change a thing. One of my aforementioned brilliant former co-workers Amy Whitaker wrote a book called Art Thinking that really gave me perspective on the culture of measuring or comparing our “achievements” to others (PS read this book). In the book she talks about the doctor who invented a crucial device which led to life-saving open heart surgery. You would imagine his achievement was because of his degree and research at some VERY important U, but actually the invention stems from his proclivity to cut class in elementary school and go fishing. The hook and fishing line he used on afternoons that he bailed on class were the mental basis for his later discovery. It is something Amy identifies as whole life perspective, in my understanding it means all of your detours, mess ups, skipped classes-to-do-what-you-love are what TRULY lead you to where are today. Without that very individualized journey you could never create what is before you, and for sure not what lies ahead of you. This is a genius and simple observation that is so easily forgotten.

Anyway, how does this pertain to me and this newsletter you ask! Well, if I had not left my undergrad in Spain for SMU I would have never met my mentor Dr. Alessandra Comini, (her life-changing lectures inspired me to be an Art Historian) and if I had not left grad school in Chicago to move to NYC I would have never worked at the Guggenheim (where Dr. Comini recommended me to a former student who happened to be a curator) and if a position in the Education Department had not been available I would have met another mentor, Dr. Marilyn JS Goodman. (By the way she also wrote a brilliant book on teaching kids art that you should also buy! It was published by my alma mater University of Chicago, you see, more full circle life stuff!)

She believed* in me and taught me to teach teachers how to talk about art, she mentored me on writing material for kids and families by using simple key terms and taking much of the curatorial fluff (i.e. all the big, convoluted words and theory that I had JUST learned in grad school) out of the equation so people could understand and appreciate art. And by leading large groups through exhibits I developed my own “teaching” voice, one that came in handy when I started teaching college again last year. This is what that job at the Guggenheim gave me, and now, more that 25 years later I find myself doing it again, art education, but on my terms.

*by the way as my mom recently reminded me, my “college” counselor in high school told me I was “not college material.” I would like to punch her in the face and stick my fully funded scholarship to grad school right up in her smug face. And if you are a kid, screw the conventional path, build your own.

Vero as Guggenheim Museum International Education Manager teaching public school teacher in Ecuador how to incorporate arts into their curriculum. The program we launched there (here is their webpage) is still going strong, when I think of all the kids whose lives have been enriched in the past 25 or so years my eyes get teary! ART EDUCATION WORKS. So VOTE because keeping art funded is a civic and moral imperative! (thank you for listening to my Ted talk)

In addition, my years launching and growing two sustainable brands also helped. It was by boot strapping said brands that I learned how to wear many hats, navigate social media, build up a brand communicate it to the world, or at least to those who were listening! You get where I am going? Anyway I hope this helps if you are feeling like you may have missed that golden opportunity, because guess what, it was not for you, and thats ok!

And now I want to express my deep gratitude to my paid subscribers for believing in me and for funding my work. Going forward- after this post- I am going to keep all personal essays, and this will include my foray into fictional short stories- for paid subscribers. I will continue leave the more public-facing cultural writing public. Now that my youngest is on her way, I hope to devote more time to writing, making art and growing my new biz Miami Art Hang (if you have Instagram please follow @miamiarthang). Next week I wrap up my first season with a cocktail party and where I chat with an incredible artist and friend (you read about her in my last newsletter ) in a killer new gallery, sponsored by a sustainable tequila brand. (I did it, and only after launching in April) Not to say there is not a ton of work ahead, reader I struggle so much with admin and tech, but I see a path forward and more importantly, I am excited!

Here is a preview of what my next Art Hang entails

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On Aug 24 I am planning a field trip to Palm Beach to the Norton Museum to see the incredible New Mexico-born Rose B. Simpson show, Journeys of Clay. If you are in Miami and can join me shoot me an email info@miamiarthang.com if you can join.

Her work is truly gorgeous and deeply meaningful, I just saw some of it at the Whitney Biennial, (next newsletter will be a summary of this monumental show) and going to Palm Beach means having tacos at my fav Ecuadorian Mexican joint, Cholo Soy! I leave you with a quote by the artist:

“Having been to art school in the Western colonial art world, I found it’s taboo to talk about spirituality or religion. I’ve tried to find language around that in so many ways without just saying, What I’m doing is a prayer and a story. I believe that the creative process, if we’re conscious about it, is prayer and what we do and what we put out there matters. You have to be careful with it…I [am] scared to talk about.. because of ancestral colonial trauma where, when we practiced our beliefs, we were enslaved and murdered…So, maybe decolonizing is about facing that fear because our ancestors are leading us into this new world that is actually built on the old way. After all, what you and I do is a form of remembering how we once knew to be in the world.” -Rose B. Simpson 

Until next time, be well!

P.S. If you could give me a like or a little comment in the app as a Bday pressie would be lovely, you know these algorithms work on numbers!

xoxoxox

Vero