Check out Volunteer for Life (VFL) Nathan Ober’s ruminations on art and community, germinated during his stint at the Library, here on the American Arts Incubator blog, as he heads off to Colombia!

AMRIFEWO!!!! (A must-read if there ever was one!!)

Key excerpt is as follows:

“One of the first music shows I attended and helped out with at the Henry Miller Memorial Library was back in December of 2016 with Kendra McKinley and Kelly McFarling. A crowd of 60 or more people huddled together inside a room filled by candlelight and the crackling of a wood-burning stove.

“We were surrounded by visionaries from the past to the present — contained within the pages of a diverse collection of books from all walks of life. While on stage, Kelly mentioned how beautiful ‘it was that in the midst of all the recent political turmoil and world events that we could still find it in our hearts to come together and listen to a woman sing about her emotions.

It made me think about humanity and perhaps our crowning achievement, which in my mind is the celebration of artistic creation. Along with food and shelter — art, story, song and dance are vital to the human condition and when the world beats down on us it is art that serves to lift us up again.”