Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen Celebrates Transformative Effect of Art

"Art is one in the most nourishing things on this planet. It is food for the soul because it feeds people who participate in it. And we believe this feeding has a transformative effect." These were the words of Clyde Kuemmerle, Programs Coordinator at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen (HASK) where, on May 8th it held a Drumming and Art Group Exhibit & Celebration and, on May 10th, the Annual Writers’ Workshop Public Reading.

HASK’s Drumming and Art Group program is directed by Marion Williams, founder of ArtSpirit Inc., which utilizes the power of the creative spirit to heal the mind, body, and soul. Her workshops make use of the universal qualities of rhythm and the drumming circle format to inspire participants’ creativity during the art sessions that follow. "Our purpose is to give the soup kitchen guests an experience of belonging, a place to express themselves and gain self-esteem while developing their creative talents with the positive support of the group," Williams said.

The most recent six-week drumming and art session was facilitated by percussionist Neil Ocho, with the artistic help of performance and visual artist Lloyd Lawrence. Each week following the drumming, Ocho and Lawrence showed the group how to create their own percussion instruments from natural materials – in this case, egg shakers and shekeres made from hollowed out gourds.

Participants filled egg gourds with different types of beans or seeds, which each gave a different sound to the instrument. Painting and beading the shekeres was more complicated, requiring many decisions about design and function. However Ocho is an experienced drum maker, and his expertise in knotting djembe drums was invaluable to the completion of the task.

At the drumming and art celebration, in which the drumming was led by percussionist Marc Wagnon, President of Buckyball Music, people were invited to express themselves in the drumming circle and then view the original percussion instruments created by the workshop participants. Jacob Stevens said of his beautifully painted green shekere, "I was trying to express the green things of life, about earth and the need to take care of the environment and stop killing plants and animals and to protect our forests." Another participant was Precious, who exhibited her beads that could be put onto a shekere if desired. She pointed out that she started her beads off with energetic reds and blues at the top and then changed to more relaxing brown and tan colors. "This is like a movement from energetic to peaceful colors because it starts off so bright and then mellows down as it goes along," Precious explained.

The Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen Writers’ Workshop, founded by Ian Frazier, meets for eight weeks each spring as approximately two-dozen soup kitchen guests (and anyone else who wishes to join) gather after lunch to write on a wide variety of topics. "All the participants have looked deep into themselves and have found the power to tell their stories – to have their voices heard," Frazier said.

At this year’s public reading, Norman Clayton regaled the audience with his piece on the game of golf in which, "one whacks a ball rather than his fellow man." There was also John Calloway’s imaginative "Rainbow Footsies" which he described as "sweet-smelling feet, the kind that never stink," and a piece by Ron Grunberg that featured meatballs – no spaghetti.

In a more serious vein, Walter Ludwig Schubert addressed America's attitude towards the homeless; Joe Negrelli revealed some things about the aftermath of his heart surgery; and Toby Van Buren told of his visits with his mother, including the final one before she died.

Leucio Parrella wrote of being brought to the United States from Italy as a young child, and Lily Waters described looking out a window atop the World Trade Center years ago and feeling, "I stood at the edge of Heaven. Puffs of clouds glowed red and pink at my feet. I knew I could just step on them and walk across the sky."

One of the most courageous pieces of the evening was by former journalist Tory Connolly Walker. She read "Death Valley Days, 1985" from her memoir-in-process, about a period in her life when she was manic-depressive and believed she was secretly married to Michael Jackson.

Both of these most enjoyable and enriching events concluded with an abundant buffet and ample time for guests to mingle informally with the artists/writers.

To view the artwork created by the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen Drumming and Art Group – all of which are for sale with the total proceeds going to the artists – visit www.artspiritonline.org. To obtain a copy of the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen 2006 Writers’ Workshop Anthology, call (212) 924-0167. To learn more about the soup kitchen, visit www.holyapostlesnyc.org.