Gingersnap

It was such an honor to be cordially invited to attend the 19th Annual Reaching For Ethnic Awareness and Cultural Heritage Across Dayton (REACH) Conference at Sinclair Community College on Friday February 24, 2012 and to see friends- Willis "Bing" Davis, Betty Bolton, Leesa Haapapuro, James Pate, Kevin Harris, and others in one room while simultaneously meeting new people! A collaboration between Sinclair Community College, Ebonia Gallery, and the Dayton Visual Arts Center (DVAC), REACH is a day long event promoting "learning in the arts and humanities by creating an atmosphere that will build respect, knowledge, appreciation, and understanding for the area's culturally diverse populations." From 8AM to 4PM, this post entails eight hours of rich, implanted seeds that'll likely bear fruit to share..... Beautiful display right? After a lovely continental breakfast to fuel the body, REACH's proceedings got started by co-coordinators Tess ...

This has been an incredible Sunday. I say that after walking an hour and twenty minutes to a gallery reception. The October skies were cloudy, the temperature was pleasantly warm, and the sweetly singing birds couldn't sound any better.... Okay. In all honesty, there were no actual birds, more like squirrels, but if those squirrels could sing they would probably sound just like those chirping imaginary birds in my head! I just had a good, positive feeling about today, intuitively knowing that very soon I would be in the company of some wonderful people. That I was! Star of the hour, James Pate graciously socialized with the best of Dayton art celebs like Willis "Bing" Davis, Dwayne Daniels, Kevin Harris, Delora Bufurd Buchanon, Terry Hitt, other known local artists and admirers of all ages were in attendance! Rob missed out on an unbelievable experience. And I'm not talking fried chicken or sugar cookies here! Alive, hopping, and jazz bopping, Ebonia Gallery was defin...