FUZE Week 2

The emphasis of this week was engaging, or moving towards. Moving towards my new community, people, the church body and leadership, and the arts scene. This process took many forms for me. There was a concert, meeting lots of people, a trip to the local dive bar, a sculpture walk, church, Bible study, moving into an apartment, and lots of cups of coffee.

Jim Kelly and I met for the first time. Jim Kelly was the main caretaker of our church building and a big “success story” for churchfreo,
a year ago Jim Kelly was homeless, drinking heavily and all in all a very different person. After many years of living on the streets Jim learned to be a scavenger of sorts, collecting... this often meant dumpster diving… all types of items at no charge, including food. I have had the honor of being the recipient of many gifts from Jim that he had acquired in this manner. Jim Kelley and I invested a lot of time getting to know each other this week as we planned be working closely at churchfreo where I will be holding studio hours.

My dear friend Sarah, whom I had gotten close to when I visited in 2009 and stayed in touch with, and I spent a lot of time catching up. We went to a concert in a tiny, dive bar. We got coffee. Saw Sculpture by the Sea, an annual sculpture walk installed along one of the beaches, and had dinner together between some of our favorite works and the ocean. It is so good to finally have a regular day in and day out relationship with Sarah. She is the Dianna Berry to my Anne Shirley, and it is good to have her close in proximity too. We spent some time catching up at Sculpture by the sea, an art show by Australian artists where all the work is installed on the beach.


I moved in with two girls from churchfreo, Ana and Helma. The house we’re living in is just a short bus ride from the heart of Fremantle and churchfreo. It is in the neighborhood where I’ll be living for the entire year I’m here. Ana and Helma took me in on a short-term basis while I am waiting for the room we had planned on opening up.

This just goes to prove that not only am I engaging my new community, but they are also engaging me. As I step towards them, they step back towards me. All of the engaging I’ve done this week has been focused on the physical place, my neighborhood, and on people at churchfreo. My hope is that I continue to strengthen relationships in these areas I will also begin stepping towards the individuals in my community (of Fremantle and in my neighborhood, not just churchfreo) and the arts community.


(part of engaging my environment has been learning the bus routes... this is the stop I get on/off at when going to churchfreo 408)