Living With Our History

by Geoff Giglierano, MHC Executive Director

Geoff GiglieranoDuring the most recent meeting of the Missouri Humanities Council in Kansas City, Council member Delia Gillis arranged a visit to one of that city’s dynamic community arts venues, the Vine Street Studio. The gallery, which showcases the work of African American artists, was presenting pieces by brothers Lonnie and Robert Powell. This wonderful exhibition gave us an opportunity to meet the artists and spend some time speaking with them. I was particularly struck by Robert Powell’s comments as we discussed his work as a sculptor. He described what he did as being a “storyteller” through his art; and he mentioned that the way he executed a piece was to sit on the ground with the wood or stone he was working on cradled between his legs–as he put it, “the way my forefathers did.”

He was of course, referring to the traditional way that sculptors in Africa worked with their materials. I found it fascinating how Mr. Powell took his understanding of this history, and actually applied it creating his art. He has gone beyond just having an awareness of this artistic heritage, to having a very personal relationship with the pieces he carves.

Living with history involves more than simply knowing something about our roots. It requires us to cultivate an understanding of not just the “who, what and when” of history, but also the “why and the how.” In doing so we can establish connections between ourselves and those who came before us and this process can significantly enrich our lives.

To that end, the MHC is in the process of evaluating the programs we offer, as well as those we support as partners with other organizations. Since my arrival, I have been in communication with many of our friends and constituents about the kinds of programming that they feel would be valuable to their communities. Based upon what we have been hearing, we will be working to develop a new balance between assisting organizations that provide humanities content, and being a content provider ourselves. In the next year, we will be looking at restructuring a number of our current activities, and we will also be pursuing resources and partnership opportunities that will enable us to introduce some new programs and to re-introduce other programs that have been phased out for various reasons (although these generally will be in a re-envisioned form).

We are receiving excellent and meaningful input, and we plan to put it to work in the next year to help Missourians build connections with their past and hopefully, gain insights into where we have come from and where we are going.

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