Charissa Graves
From the Graves
Recently, I have had the great privilege of talking to some of the wonderful artists who reside in this city.
There has always been a special place in my heart reserved for all things creative, whether that be crafts, visual arts, performing arts or any other medium one might use to express themself. However, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for me to connect with other creatives when I was growing up. The town where I grew up was small and more of a place where people slept between shifts rather than a place where people were actually invested in living.
For living, people went to one of our neighboring cities, or up to Sacramento if they were feeling particularly ambitious. I, with two parents who worked long hours, was resigned to living vicariously through those people, or to finding my own means of self expression.
So, I did both. I endeavored to learn from and support my friends who were in dance, theater and art classes, and I spent time at home just trying to figure out what I was good at, wishing I could do more.
I experimented, and I learned, and I got mediocre at a lot of things and very good at a couple of others. It wasn’t until college, though, when I was able to immerse myself in a community of artists in the way that I had always wanted. Then, when I got sick and was at home full-time again, it felt like I was back where I’d started.
Fast forward, and I get told that there’s an opportunity to join a new newspaper in Hutchinson, Kan., a place I’d only been to once before in my life. I took it, partially because it gave me the opportunity to be near family, but mostly because it was the only solid offer I had, and I needed to be sure of something.
I had no idea what to expect. I thought that perhaps it’d be similar to what I grew up with. Hutchinson is bigger than my hometown, but not by much, and there’s a similar amount of farmland.
Instead, one of the first things I was shown is the fact that there’s art around every corner that makes walking through downtown a beautiful experience. There’s the Hutchinson Art Center and its community that shows up every week. There’s Family Community Theatre and Stage 9 and their extremely talented casts and crews.
There’s Metropolitan Coffee’s monthly showcase and Third Thursday and all of the local opportunities for musicians to show up and share their skills, the Reno Choral Society, and a new orchestra that was created because a group of musicians couldn’t stand for their city to be without one.
Not to mention Hutchinson Community College’s shows, or the iconic local institution ArtisTree created with “Prairie Nutcracker,” or any number of other things that I’ve probably forgotten to mention.
There is so much beauty here, and it exists because of dedicated people that work every day to make it so. To everyone in that group, if I haven’t already told you in person how much I appreciate everything you do, let it be known now.
To everyone else: if you’re not already showing up to support local artists, now would be an excellent time to start. There are two shows being put on this very weekend, and two galleries full of talent at the Hutchinson Art Center.
It costs little to nothing to support these wonderful local institutions, and it means everything, not only to those directly involved, but to people like me. As long as they continue to exist, we all reap the benefits.
Charissa Graves is a reporter for The Hutchinson Tribune. She can be reached at: charissa@hutchtribune.com.