Sherri Cornett
  • HOME
  • WORKS
    • ANCESTRESSES & WISE WOMEN
    • CHRYSALIS
    • COLLABORATIONS
    • FREEDOM SERIES
    • GROTTOES
    • LENS BASED ART
    • PUBLIC ART
    • SEAFORMS
    • SHELTERS
    • TRANSFORMATIONS
  • PROJECTS
    • UNITAS youth art and leadership
    • COMMUNITY GROVE
    • CONVERSATIONS AMONG WOMEN
    • FLOW Interactive Exhibition and Community Project >
      • EXHIBITION Flow
      • VOICES OF THE RIVER SYMPOSIUM Flow
      • MIXING OIL and WATER Film Night and Discussion Flow
      • WORDS ON WATER: POETRY AND JAZZ IN CONCERT Flow
      • LIVING IN HARMONY ON THE YELLOWSTONE Flow
      • YOUTH OUTREACH Flow
      • READING AREAS MSUBillings Library Flow
      • YELLOWSTONE RIVER CUMULATIVE EFFECTS ANALYSIS Flow
      • MORE TO EXPLORE Flow
      • PRESS KIT Flow
    • FOOD and CULTURE HUB East Helena
    • FOR FREEDOMS Billings >
      • FOR FREEDOMS Billings 2018 Partners and Presenters
    • THE 2020 AWAKENING BILLINGS For Freedoms 2020 >
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Robert Hall on Blood Quantum
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Indigenous Voices Films and Filmmakers Panel
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS MMIP Community Gathering
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS REDRess Exhibit
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Seeing Patterns Exhibition
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Related Events
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Partners and Presenters
    • POINTS OF MANY CONNECTIONS
    • QUEST Guest Art Facilitator
    • WHAT IS IT ABOUT MY MEMORY >
      • MEMORY CARDS What Is It About My Memory
      • SOMAS What Is It About My Memory
      • EXHIBITIONS What Is It About My Memory
    • ALTITUDE 3123 >
      • EVENTS Altitude 3123
  • CURATORIAL
    • CHINA Half the Sky: Intersections in Social Practice Art, Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, Shenyang 2014 >
      • ART & ARTISTS/CHINA Half the Sky
      • ART & ARTISTS/US Half the Sky
      • CULTURAL and COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS
      • DELEGATES
      • ESSAYS & ESSAYISTS
      • BLOG Half the Sky
      • TASKS, TEAMS & TIMELINES
    • GUTFREUND CORNETT ART
    • MATRIXXMODULATION Jon Lodge
    • PLANNED PARENTHOOD A Celebration of Expression: An Evening of Wine, Women and Art
    • SOUTH KOREA Woman Body Seoul and Gwangju 2012
    • WOMEN DO IT! Traveling Postcard Exhibition >
      • WOMEN DO IT Gallery
    • UNDOCUMENTED Difference in America Today
  • WRITING
    • ESSAYS
    • JOURNALISM
    • BLOG Memories and Musings
    • OTHER WRITING
  • ABOUT
    • EXHIBITIONS and EVENTS
    • BIO/CV
    • CONTACT/NEWSLETTER
Picture
Memories and Musings

1.4.20 Repairing Homes in Central Appalachia

3/28/2020

0 Comments

 
#memoriesat60
Repairing Homes in Central Appalachia
My first lessons, in the ever-evolving lessons, of acceptance of people where they are, just as they are, came from my Grandmother Cornett when I was very young, particularly when she asked me, as a five year old, to help with her Head Start class. I don't recall that I was much help, but I do remember basking in the love she spread throughout the room. As a 14 year old, this was underscored by the mentors and leaders in what would become multi-summer, spiritual and educational experiences for me, responding to requests from families, living deep in the hollows of the mountains, to work with them, to find donated materials in order to help to repair and to make safe their homes.
On a practical level, I learned to roof, to tear up floors, to tear down and build new outhouses, to build a simple bridge, to raise money to replace a coal-laced well, a sole source of drinking water for one of the families and ... the beginnings of a fascination with using power tools.
On a soul level, I was shown the importance of recognizing cultural, social and economic barriers and the importance of continually self-reflecting to avoid patronizing or "savior" actions or words of pity and the joy of connecting with the families in mutually respectful ways. While the parents might be initially hesitant to engage in conversation, the children were the reliable welcomers ... their curiosity, their eagerness to learn and to show their treasures, to help out, whether it be making caulking "worms" for me as I replaced window panes and then taking on the painting of the frames or hammering nails or taking a break with us to play keep away or taking my hand to show me flowers behind the house or asking me to read a book. And then the conversations with the elders, who shared their stories - one grandfather showed me how to hunt for ginseng in the woods - and who asked about ours. My guitar became another ice-breaker, as we shared songs back and forth, songs like Will the Circle Be Unbroken or Simple Gifts or Pass it On or If I Had a Hammer, songs about hope and love and community and trying to do the right thing ... I was happy to share one of these summers with each of my friends Amy Ettinger Burkett and Katy McCormick.
These experiences were formative and I continue to be grateful for their influence on how I navigate the world and the big and continuing and sometimes difficult and embarrassing lessons about self-editing, about letting go of outdated ideas, and about being open to learning new ones that might change the way I look at the world as a whole or how I interact with others.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    A place to decant my brain, to capture inspiration and share fresh insights. [Posts from 2015 onward]

    Categories

    All
    Adventure And Travel
    Art
    China
    Commission On The Status Of Women
    Curatorial
    Dialogue
    Environment
    Feminist Art
    Gutfreund Cornett Art
    Half The Sky
    Home Grove
    Inspiration
    International Projects
    #memoriesat60
    Music
    Public Art
    Social Justice Art
    Socially Engaged Art
    South Korea
    United Nations
    What Is It About My Memory
    Women's Caucus For Art
    Writing

    Archives

    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020

    RSS Feed

© 2011 Sherri Cornett
  • HOME
  • WORKS
    • ANCESTRESSES & WISE WOMEN
    • CHRYSALIS
    • COLLABORATIONS
    • FREEDOM SERIES
    • GROTTOES
    • LENS BASED ART
    • PUBLIC ART
    • SEAFORMS
    • SHELTERS
    • TRANSFORMATIONS
  • PROJECTS
    • UNITAS youth art and leadership
    • COMMUNITY GROVE
    • CONVERSATIONS AMONG WOMEN
    • FLOW Interactive Exhibition and Community Project >
      • EXHIBITION Flow
      • VOICES OF THE RIVER SYMPOSIUM Flow
      • MIXING OIL and WATER Film Night and Discussion Flow
      • WORDS ON WATER: POETRY AND JAZZ IN CONCERT Flow
      • LIVING IN HARMONY ON THE YELLOWSTONE Flow
      • YOUTH OUTREACH Flow
      • READING AREAS MSUBillings Library Flow
      • YELLOWSTONE RIVER CUMULATIVE EFFECTS ANALYSIS Flow
      • MORE TO EXPLORE Flow
      • PRESS KIT Flow
    • FOOD and CULTURE HUB East Helena
    • FOR FREEDOMS Billings >
      • FOR FREEDOMS Billings 2018 Partners and Presenters
    • THE 2020 AWAKENING BILLINGS For Freedoms 2020 >
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Robert Hall on Blood Quantum
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Indigenous Voices Films and Filmmakers Panel
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS MMIP Community Gathering
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS REDRess Exhibit
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Seeing Patterns Exhibition
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Related Events
      • THE2020AWAKENING BILLINGS Partners and Presenters
    • POINTS OF MANY CONNECTIONS
    • QUEST Guest Art Facilitator
    • WHAT IS IT ABOUT MY MEMORY >
      • MEMORY CARDS What Is It About My Memory
      • SOMAS What Is It About My Memory
      • EXHIBITIONS What Is It About My Memory
    • ALTITUDE 3123 >
      • EVENTS Altitude 3123
  • CURATORIAL
    • CHINA Half the Sky: Intersections in Social Practice Art, Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, Shenyang 2014 >
      • ART & ARTISTS/CHINA Half the Sky
      • ART & ARTISTS/US Half the Sky
      • CULTURAL and COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS
      • DELEGATES
      • ESSAYS & ESSAYISTS
      • BLOG Half the Sky
      • TASKS, TEAMS & TIMELINES
    • GUTFREUND CORNETT ART
    • MATRIXXMODULATION Jon Lodge
    • PLANNED PARENTHOOD A Celebration of Expression: An Evening of Wine, Women and Art
    • SOUTH KOREA Woman Body Seoul and Gwangju 2012
    • WOMEN DO IT! Traveling Postcard Exhibition >
      • WOMEN DO IT Gallery
    • UNDOCUMENTED Difference in America Today
  • WRITING
    • ESSAYS
    • JOURNALISM
    • BLOG Memories and Musings
    • OTHER WRITING
  • ABOUT
    • EXHIBITIONS and EVENTS
    • BIO/CV
    • CONTACT/NEWSLETTER