Canadian International School of Phnom Penh’s 10th Anniversary Art Show
This past weekend the Canadian International School celebrated its 10th anniversary. There was a circus on campus and lots of food and ice cream, science experiments in the makerspace, musical performances, and a giant art show. Our kindergarten through grade 12 students showed art work in the downstairs gallery and on the 3rd floor, near the art rooms.
There were paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures on display. While the downstairs space took a while to come together, it looked amazing on Family Day. There were lots and lots of wonderful comments from parents and administration along with some happy tears! There were times when the space felt a bit overwhelming because so many people were inside and enjoying themselves, looking at artwork and talking about the variety of pieces being shown.
I think this may have been my most favorite show my students have taken part in, from any school I’ve worked at. (A close second coming in from my year at Brookwood, back in Georgia.) I think what helped make this show so special was the way that we divided up the space and hung things in unique and specialized ways: some things were mid-air from a wire, while other things were mounted on rolling gallery walls, some things were on tabletops or video screens or stapled directly (yes, stapled) into areas of the walls. It all made for such a nice and varied show. It’s still up now and will be for the remainder of the week.
Schitt’s Creek
For the past several years, people have been telling me to watch Schitt’s Creek. A couple of times I started it, but the pilot seemed vacuous and I couldn’t get into it. Why do I care about these rich people who lose all of their money? Then I had dinner with a friend during my recent trip to Nashville, and she said to me: “You have to watch it. You will love it. It goes places.”
I moved to Cambodia about 10 days prior to orientation at my school. So I decided I could try again with Schitt’s Creek and see what happens. This time it stuck. I have never been more moved by a television show in my life. And as I was watching through the various seasons, particularly seasons 3 and 4, I started making a list on my phone. I realized that I was not only invested in this show’s storyline, I was invested in the character’s lives. I was invested in the goodness this show portrayed. I was invested emotionally. The list from my phone reads:
Goodness begets goodness.
Value in the everyday.
Empathy, resilience, love and caring.
Joy.
Inclusivity.
Hearts of gold.
Envisioning a better world for everyone.
Simply the best.
Hilarious.
A safe space.
A positive light.
From about the middle to late part of season 2 until the very end of season 6, I cried tears of joy for this family, this community. The way the writers have snuck in these very intentional and thoughtful moments between each of the characters is remarkable. Each person in this show is completely authentic in their reactions to daily life, yet each one is not immune to change and growth. Their love and commitment to one another feels so real and unlike anything I have ever seen on television.
Even now, days after I have finished the last season – for the 4th time – my eyes still well up when I think of particular scenes between Stevie and Moira or Patrick and David or Alexis and Ted or Johnny and Roland. How does someone write something that resonates so wonderfully with an audience? To me, this show feels like it is personal to my life and my experience. But, I am not alone in this. So, how do you make a show/a piece of art that relates to and completely transforms the audience?
I think about this show every day. It’s infectious and progressive and beautiful.
Patreon and Memberships
Exciting news!! I have started an arts-and-teaching-based membership program over on Patreon! Lots of fun giveaways and art experiences to be had and six different levels of participation available. So head on over to Patreon and have a look!!! It’s the very best combination of global community building and art experiences that I could ever possibly imagine! So exciting!!!
And, while most of my felt orders are done via email, I have an Etsy shop (see below) where you can order most anything out of felt that I can hand sew. I started my Etsy shop while I was in Singapore and it just keeps on going! So if you are in need of a banner or some bunting or some fun ornaments, have a look! Everything is coming up colorful, y’all! YAY!
>> And if you missed my feature on Trey Mitchell’s podcast, you can check it out here! I talk about teaching and living overseas and all different kinds of things! It was so fun to reconnect with Trey and talk about all of the things I love!
The holidays ARE coming!!! Let’s celebrate!