Billy Collins Reads at Rollins College

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Billy Collins was appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to
2003 was New York State Poet Laureate from 2004-2006. In 2016 he retired from his position as a Distinguished
Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York after
teaching there almost 50 years.

He read a selection of his poems at Rollins College, Tiedeke Concert Hall. His poems about everyday occurrences are witty and direct yet they often unveil something sublime and profound. Humor and insight mix in fun and unexpected ways.

I have had the pleasure of having dinner with Billy and Suzannah Gilman on several occasions. They both inspire me to want to continue to create every day. That is a rare gift from a friend or acquaintance. Billy has published 10 collections of poetry and they have garnered an amazing following. His work speaks for itself, go pick up one of his books and enjoy. His latest publications include Ballistics, Horoscopes for the Dead, Aimless Love, and The Rain in Portugal. I had Billy sign my sketch since they both will be worth something someday.

Billy’s next reading will be, What Poets Talk About When They Talk About Love, in the Tiedeke Concert Hall on February 17, 2019 at 2pm. Tickets are $25.

Another Year Passes at the Orange County Regional History Center

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I sketched the final day of the exhibit install for,
Another Year Passes: Orlando After the Pulse Nightclub Massacre. The Exhibit will be on display from June 2, 2018 through October 14, 2018. Last year’s exhibit honoring the victims of the
Pulse Nightclub shooting was only up for one week because a
wedding was booked in the exhibit hall. This year the exhibit will be up
for four months in a different space.

I was on hand to sketch the install of a huge piece of art created by Jeff Sonksen of

Paint the Trail fame. He paints
on wooden fencing and has created a long stretch of art along the biking
trail in Longwood, Florida. After the Pulse Nightclub massacre he
painted 49 portraits of the victims of the shooting.
The portraits surround a large fence panel that has the Orlando skyline
along with several tourist attractions in silhouette. The museum staff
had to remove the heavy and cumbersome wooden supports he used when he
left the panels freestanding at the Dr. Phillips
memorial in 2016. They devised a method of disassembling the panels so
it could be brought into the museum and installed for the exhibit that
is opening just two years after the fateful shooting on June 12, 2016.

Assembling and hanging the piece was a herculean task. The staff looked like the soldiers who raised the flag at

Iwo Jima in the famous WWII
photo and sculpture. The sign, along with a set of 49 beautiful
hand-painted tiles, however will not be present for a few days to the
public and will have to be taken down intermittently throughout
the exhibition to allow for weddings happening in the same space. If
isn’t up when you come, I recommend you come back another time to see
them. 

I walked through the exhibit and it is incredible, with so much
information about how this community continues to try and heal after the
tragedy. It wraps around the second floor hall bringing the walls close
for an intimate view. Over 1,800 images of quilts
from the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild were miniaturized and then
exhibited en mass together on one wall. The shear volume of colorful
quilts is staggering. A few of my sketches from oral histories are
scattered throughout the exhibit.


The museum staff have to be commended for again crafting an incredible exhibition.
The Orange County Regional History Center has received five significant national awards from the
American Alliance of Museums,
the American Association for State and Local History, and
the Southeastern Museum Conference for their work on the One Orlando
Collection in the last two years related to the impact and legacy of the
mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016. It is hard to
see their hard work needing to be compromised
against a funding initiative. It would be a great day when the museum
was well enough funded by the community so it no longer needed
income from weddings.

The first Modern Widows Club Conference in Orlando.

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Carolyn Moor founded the Modern Widows Club six years ago in Orlando Florida. It has since expanded to have chapters in 15 other states. On June 12, 2016, Carolyn was in Seattle making plans for the first Modern Woman’s Club Conference. Because of the horrific Pulse nightclub shooting it was unanimously decided to have the first Conference in Orlando Florida. The hash tags were #WidowsStrong and #OrlandoStrong.

The theme of the conference was “Always wear your invisible crown.” There is the biblical connotation to that symbolism but also a playful sense of empowerment. Every woman who attended got a t-shirt with a crown that looked like it was made from upside down tear drops. At the first luncheon in this room, they were all given crowns. This was something of a social experiment in that women who wore the crowns were further along in the grief process and able to receive love. As the conference went on and everyone opened up more, all the ladies wore them. This tradition started at the second Modern Widows Club meeting at Carolyn’s home. She had a friend who worked in the Disney costuming show and she asked to borrow one of the big Cinderella crowns worn at the big Disney parades. It was heavy. One of the ladies at the meeting had basically not left her house for five years. She saw no future for herself. Carolyn told the group that she could prove to them that they still have joy in you. They couldn’t see it because of the devastating grief. She brought out the huge crown and everyone lit up with excitement. They each picked one and looked at themselves in the mirror. One of the ladies turned around and said, “You tricked us.” Carolyn said, “No, I just showed you what was already there.” All the crowns were symbols for the trials and tribulations of various sizes.

One of the hotel staff was seen leaning against the wall watching the widows crowning each other at the luncheon at the conference. Carolyn met her after everyone has left. The staffer said she was surprised that she had been assigned to work this conference. She had no idea what to expect and she welled up multiple times and had to go back to the kitchen to dry her eyes. She had lost her husband three years ago. She told Carolyn that she was overwhelmed by what she saw happening in the room. Carolyn said that the woman deserved a crown as well, but all the crowns had been handed out. Just then her assistant walked up and said, “I have one more crown let over. What should I do with it?”  Carolyn showed me the picture of the two of then hugging and beaming. That woman is going to the next Modern Widows Club meeting at Carolyn’s home.