Someone Opened the Door
I went to my first art show when I was three weeks old. I obviously don't remember it, but somehow, that feels like an important detail. Before I could walk, talk, read, or even understand what art was, I was already experiencing it. I grew up traveling with my parents to art shows around the country, watching them create, meeting other artists, and seeing people connect with their work. The arts weren't something I had to seek out. They were simply part of my life.
Image courtesy of the author.
Both of my parents are artists. My mom is a painter, and my dad worked in pottery. Creativity was part of our everyday life, in our home, in the places we traveled, in the people we met, and around our dinner table. I received my first award in the arts when I was five. As I got older, I found my own ways to participate. I danced. I did colorguard in band. I performed. I created. Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was. I never had to wonder whether there was a place for me in the arts. I didn't have to figure out how to find an opportunity. The arts were accessible to me because my family made them part of my world. And that is why I care so deeply about access to the arts.
Access isn't just about putting an instrument in a child's hands or getting them into a classroom. It's about opening a door to possibilities they may not even know exist yet. Some of the most important things I learned growing up didn't come from a textbook. They came from being part of a band. Band taught me time management, accountability, discipline, communication, and leadership. It taught me how to listen, how to work alongside people who might be very different from me, and how to help the person beside me succeed.
Perhaps most importantly, it taught me that success isn't always about the individual. Sometimes, the most beautiful things happen when everyone brings their own part and those parts come together. The arts build skills, but they also build people. Confidence. Creativity. Empathy. Discipline. Communication. Belonging. The courage to stand in front of a room and share something you've created. The ability to listen to someone else's story. The realization that your voice matters. Those things matter, too.
But my experience with the arts began before I was even old enough to understand that I was having an experience with the arts at all. That isn't everyone's story. For some children, the opportunity to take a dance class, learn an instrument, visit a museum, see a live performance, participate in theater, or simply spend time creating depends on where they live, what their family can afford, or whether someone happens to open that door for them.
Talent is everywhere. Curiosity is everywhere. Creativity is everywhere. Opportunity isn't.
Photo of a Mad Hatters Tea Party in front of the historic Roberts-Mozley House, home of the Cultural Arts Council Douglasville/Douglas County. Image courtesy of the author and the Cultural Arts Council Douglasville/Douglas County.
And I think that is the part we have an obligation to change. Every child should have the opportunity to discover what happens when they are given permission to create. To find the thing that makes them light up. To discover a talent they didn't know they had, or a confidence they didn't know was possible.
The goal isn't to make every child an artist. It's to give every child the opportunity to experience what the arts can teach them, and to discover something about themselves along the way. One of the things I love most about the arts is their ability to bring people together. People from different backgrounds, generations, neighborhoods, and walks of life can still find common ground in a song, a performance, a painting, a dance, a story, or a shared creative experience.
I saw that growing up at those art shows with my parents. Artists created something deeply personal and then invited other people into that experience. That is what the arts do. They create connection. They give us opportunities to see the world through someone else's eyes and, sometimes, simply to experience joy together. In a world where it can feel like there are more things dividing us than bringing us together, I think that matters more than ever.
Photo of the the Cultural Arts Council Douglasville/Douglas County campus. Courtesy of the author and the Cultural Arts Council Douglasville/Douglas County.
When I think about the future of the arts, I think about that three-week-old version of myself. She had no idea what she was experiencing. She didn't know she was being introduced to a world that would shape her life. She simply had access. Someone opened the door. And she walked through it. That is what I dream about for every child.
That is why the initiative to build an Arts & Culture Campus in Douglas County matters so deeply to me. This isn't simply about building a facility or adding another program to a community. It's about creating access. It's about making the arts part of everyday community life and ensuring that experiencing them isn't dependent on a family's resources, transportation, connections, or circumstances. Because I know what access can do. I know what it did for me.
I was three weeks old when I went to my first art show. I was five when I received my first award. I grew up surrounded by artists, creativity, music, dance, and community. The arts helped shape who I became. And now, my dream is simple:
