Living Chapters 2013 Project Players

 

The Protagonist
Beth Barbush

When asked to write a bio, I fall back on calling myself a collector of stories, a bit of a wanderer, a ‘character’ magnet and a connoisseur of good conversations.  I have spent the 36 years of my life simply trying to accomplish the following things: doing good work, traveling as much as my budget allows, and spending quality time with quality people.  This has worked as a great recipe thus far for enjoying life.

I enjoy change and find it to be the one constant in life since the age of 10.  New places, people and experiences comfort me somehow.  I grew up in Dillsburg, PA and have lived in 4 states, 3 countries, and traveled to 18 foreign countries conducting workshops and artist residencies in 6 of those countries.  I love people and have been lucky enough to have spent my “career” working with a spectrum of individuals and groups using art, self expression, and storytelling as a means to engage people with themselves and their environments.

I am drawn to things and people that are different than me and feel that the most important learning I have done, has come directly from recognizing and acknowledging those differences.  If I were to write anymore about my past, this would become a different project so I will stop there. I am excited about ‘living chapters’ because its the first project in which I am able to collaborate with all the amazing people who have helped me become who I am today. (the players!) It will also help me to focus on living in the present moment by letting go of planning and trying to control my future.

The Referee
Cosmic Jim
St. Croix, VI

As far as qualities about me that apply to the Living Chapters “adventure” I’d say that going from being a Norwegian bachelor farmer in VA to meeting the public working at a health food store has been an opportunity to learn about human nature, to look for common ground, and to understand and care about people in a deeper, more heart-centered way. I feel like this project will be a chance for many folks to know others and themselves better.

  Beth appeared at the store in “Downtown” Friendsville, MD the summer of 2011.  Personally, she has been very supportive and helpful in my gradual move to a Caribbean island—a wonderful and patient person to travel with. She is able to deal with life moving at “Island time”.

The Confidant
Savage, MD
Elizabeth Brady

Artist, designer, dog-lover and wanderer with a passion for social experiments, community projects and personal upheaval and change.  Might be described as someone who helps others identify and face the challenges in their lives, while perpetually creating new ones in my own. (Blame it on the Scorpio in my chart)  I am both extrovert and introvert, I like to learn new things, hate snakes, and hope to always have music, creativity, laughter, boxed wine and interesting people in my life.  Beth Barbush has been one of the most interesting to date, constantly challenging perceptions of life, people and permanence.  I think I’ll learn as much about myself in my role as confidant as I will about my friend.

The Project Manager
Baltimore, MD
Moira Fratantuono

I am an artist who facilitates projects that strengthen community, engender mutual understanding between participants, and bridge class/cultural divides.  I am also an eternal optimist and I love all things food – gardening, cooking, and eating.  As luck and happenstance would have it, I met Beth shortly after moving to Baltimore five years ago.  We share an interest in community engagement, a somewhat self-deprecating sense of humor, an appreciation for life’s occasional absurdities, and a passion for travel.  Last summer, she and I spent a week together in Honduras, playing our respective trades as a photographer and a muralist.

Beth has been a valued friend, and (perhaps unknowingly) has become a sort of mentor.  The spirit in which she embraces life’s potential and carves out an unconventional path has rekindled those sensibilities within myself.  At the start of this project, I had just returned from traveling for two months in northern India – a decision influenced by more than one conversation with her.

As the Project Manager, I am excited to collaborate with Beth on a large project and help to shape its scope and gain insights from her thoughts and experiences.  I also look forward to being connected to a new network of people equally engaged in community building, living artfully, and interested in intentional contemplation of their existence.

The Maestro
Austin, TX
Eric Imhof

I am an anarcho-primitivsit (I’ve always wanted to say that) living in Austin, Texas. I work on outdoor/nature programs for kids: camping, field trips, environmental science, those kinds of things. I write every day, swim almost every day, and try, when I can, to simplify my life. I used to live in Bawlmer, where I worked with BB on neighborhood projects like murals, youth programs, community organizing, and clean-ups. I got involved in this project because I was asked nicely and thought, what the hey. Beth and I exchange songs often, and I always love the opportunity to outdo my last mix CD. Yes, I still make mix CDs, and send them in the mail. My favorite thing about good songs is that they act like time capsules; they can always bring you back to a time and place. What better way, then, to mark “living chapters,” than by a song or two? I hope that my song choices add something worthwhile to this endeavor, and that Beth’s craziness rubs off on people because the best we can say about the “American Dream” is that it’s boring.

Chapter one:

The Writer
Theme: Body/Kinesthetic
Joe Gall
Boston, MA

I have always found it hard to sum myself up in a brief bio.  Not because my life is so complex or busy, etc., but because I always feel as though everything I do is so vague, nondescript, or amorphous (take your pick).  The hard facts are this: I’m 51 years old (middle-aged), of Italian-Catholic, Hungarian-Jewish descent, an autodidact by inclination, and have always felt at home with the crackpots, the failures, the in-betweeners, and the people who waddle on the fringes.  From a young age my aspiration was to be a novelist and then, a little later, a poet (which also meant being a Saint of some kind). Now I take pictures but I’m not really interested in becoming a photographer.

I mentioned being middle-aged because it’s a time in life when I’ve found that I’ve dropped most of my pretensions.  Most critical of these pretensions is the pretension of having no pretensions.  And I think this may be the key to what Beth is undertaking here.  That the time to pretend “to be” is over, that the striving after what makes us tick even louder is crucial to opening doors of empathy or compassion in an ossified world.

I met Beth through a mutual friend, Laura Burns, who is also taking part in this venture.  When I first met Beth about 12 or 13 years ago, I understood immediately why she and Laura hit it off.  There’s that odd-ball wholesomeness she has that is matched by a sense of humor that celebrates the absurdity of us being here at all, even as it wards off personal and universal suffering.

The Wild Card (his role, not his drag name)
Theme: Body/Kinesthetic
Aaron Heinsman
Baltimore, MD

I see myself as an artist administrator with a penchant for arts and culture nonprofit organizations, currently serving as the Director of Development for the Maryland Humanities Council.  I’ve been at the Council since late 2010, where I first met and found a kindred spirit in Beth.  Prior to this I spent nine years working in fundraising, publicity, and business administration for DC’s Wooly Mammoth Theatre Company and Baltimore’s CENTERSTAGE.  I trained as a theatrical director at Loyola Maymount University in Los Angeles and as a theater historian/critic at University of Texas at Austin.  My directing credits include works by Edward Albee, Samual Beckett, Caryl Churchill, Jason Groce, Jacqueline Lawton, and Yukio Mishima.  I was a co-founder of the Austin Performance Ensemble and have also served as board president of DC’s the Hegira: an artistic journey and Baltimore’s Strand Theater Company.  I have lived in West Virginia, Florida, Arizona (twice), California(twice), Texas(twice), England, Georgia, and Maryland, which is why I am fairly adept with people (despite being a shy extrovert) and have couches to crash on around the globe.  An inveterate playgoer, film buff, music chart obsessive, tennis fanatic, Anglophile and Francophile, and truly frequent flyer, I am happily a fully assimilated East Coaster.  I live in Baltimore with my paramour, the photographer Nick Simko, and our two cats, Marina and Ulay. I’m intrigued to be the first wild card for Beth’s project, as I encouraged her to open up the potential external influences for the project to her soon-to-be-legion followers, inspired by the Serbian performance art pioneer, Marina Abramović, for whom my cat is named!

Chapter two:

The Writer
Theme: Logic/Order
Gabe DellaVecchia
Portland, Oregon

Teacher, NGO volunteer, and occasional screenwriter.  I’m good at finding things to do. I am also skilled at giving good gifts.

Beth and I have been pushing each other to be the very best people we can be for pretty much our entire adult lives.  This project feels like a natural outgrowth of how our friendship has always functioned.

Way back in the fall of 1996, I was a freshman at Goucher College, reluctantly attending some sort of “get-to-know-you ice breaker nonsense.  Luckily, although she was a year ahead of me, Beth was a recent transfer student, so she was roped into attending the same event.  I was standing in the back, disgusted by the proceedings, and Beth walked right up to me. We mutually agreed that group chanting was not our thing and we went to get doughnuts.  We have been friends ever since.

We have been roommates in Baltimore, travel companions in India, and we completed a documentary project together in Japan.  We’ve been through a lot, good and bad, over the course of 17 years and I look forward to seeing what this new chapter introduces into her life.

The Wild Card
Theme: Logic/Order
Anita Bhorjee Delahay
Baltimore, MD

I love Baltimore.  I always dream of other places, but somehow have stopped going very far from home in recent years.  I can’t seem to stay out of school; I am going back for my third degree this fall.  I’ve been building academic programs and online experiences for higher education for over ten years.  I recently turned 40 and found that it does mean something to me beyond being just another number.

I’m willing to participate in anything Beth dreams up.  It will be interesting to see how a group of people come together to work out the meaning of this project.  I met Beth about a decade ago, just after I bought a home in Baltimore.  I went to an art opening at a gallery, maybe called Red Fish.  She was standing near a man.  I thought he was her boyfriend, she though he was mine.  The guy was not a keeper.  Beth and I have been friends ever since.

Chapter three:

The Writer
Theme: Environment
Andy Cook
Somerville, MA

At fifteen, I was a vegan Boy Scout. At 20, an art student in New York.  At 25, Beth was my best friend.  At 30, all of these prior factors still seem relevant.  I spend most of my time these days thinking about such broad topics as ‘Food’ and ‘Water’, and how I can positively intervene where I deem these systems to be broken.  In this project, I hope to use art, and Beth, to that end.

The Wild Card
Theme: Environment
David Mitchell
Baltimore, MD

My name is David D. Mitchell. I met Beth eight years ago when she helped shape and mold Baltimore’s non profit Art on Purpose.  I was instantly struck by her openness…and wit.  In life, it’s important to surround yourself with individuals who are intellectually it and passionate.  That’s Beth … she’s a beastie.  She’s inspired me to take leaps and bounds with my artistic vision.  What a risk taker!  What an incredible thinker… who else would have come up with a project like this?!

Presently, I’m completing a Fellowship with the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, while serving as consultant and assistant artistic director for Arena Players Inc.  I’m also the lead facilitator for Artists U Baltimore and founding director for The Urban Arts Leadership Program (both new programs sponsored by the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance).  It’s been a turbulent ride over the past eight years and if it weren’t for the bi-monthly siestas with Fearless Barbush, I’d probably be sitting on the curb with Mr. Caution watching opportunity pass on by.

I’m drawn to this project because it is fresh, innovative and virtually expansive! I’m crunching for time most days so being a “Wild Card” suits me just fine…I still have “the Power” to influence a roller coaster outcome!

Chapter four:

The Writer
Theme: Existential/Spirituality
Amy Rothstein
New York, NY

Until and through my early adult years, I identified as an artist.  After graduating from art school, I made a decision to redefine my art as simply-creation through impact. “Life art” is a term I coined for my personal reflections on this endeavor.  My life art started when I began working with Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  After almost three years in Mississippi, I then moved to Baltimore, where I worked on a national model for affordable housing policy for low-income families.  These experiences left me feeling full and enriched.  I have a sincere reverence for people that try to make an impact, live passionately and fully.

All the while, I have experimented with different methods for accelerating personal growth.  I’ve studied and practiced Zen Buddhism and have drank a few cayenne and lemon juice colon cleansers.  I have always loved finding new ways to experience and perceive the human experience-which is why I am drawn to this project.

I met Beth Barbush in Baltimore.  As friends, we have helped each other through many internal and external adventures.  I accepted her invitation to participate in Living Chapters with excitement.  It is life art at its finest – and I am looking forward to undertaking this experiment with her!

The Wild Cards
Theme: Existential/Spirituality
Agnes & Grace Lichtner
Friendsville, MD

Our relationship to one another is mother/daughter and our relationship to Beth is friend.  When I first heard of the Living Chapters project through Beth, a light shone brighter around her as she excitedly spoke of this collaborative adventure.  Not knowing I was going to be invited to participate, I gave her reinforcement on why to pursue this lifestyle for a short time.  Then here comes an email officially requesting my participation and that’s when I insert foot into mouth! How could I possibly do this when life is so busy and I don’t know her well enough excuse, excuse, excuse.  But wait! There’s excitement and the unknown and what else… and untraveled adventure that I’m being asked to partake in. SO heck yea I’m in and guess what else, I’m gonna bring my eight year old daughter into this and make it even more of an experience!

So here we are as an energetic family eager to take flight with Beth through these next months and if there’s one way to describe myself its “fresh junkie” as I like new beginnings with places, people, ideas, food, you name it. As for Grace, she’s a grounder for our family and offers so much intuition and creativity that together I believe we can offer Beth a fresh perspective, that won’t be too far out in left field, to push her limits of self understanding and soul searching.

We look forward to working together as a group and following the birth of this project. Thanks Beth!

Chapter five:

The Writer
Theme: Purpose
Emily Wheat
Spruce Pines, NC

The first thing that people notice about me is that I laugh… a lot.  Not only is my laughter a response to enjoying life, but a way to break down barriers that exist between people.  When I am working as an educator, I put a lot of emphasis on bringing joy and laughter to every classroom situation.  Creating a joyful space allows a certain level of comfort between myself and the students, allowing for a deeper sense of understanding and learning to occur.

While in graduate school in Baltimore, I had the privilege of being Beth’s neighbor in the neighborhood of Remington.  Beth has shared in many happy moments and times of struggle, always challenging me to stay true to myself and follow the path that has been set out before me no matter how difficult or strange it might seem.  Over time it became apparent that the crossing of our paths was no coincidence, but the start of a long term life-changing friendship.  I was immediately on board with this project, feeling that it was a more concrete version of the conversations we share on a regular basis.  I believe that this project will yield a great sense of self awareness and transformation.

The Wild Card
Theme: Purpose
Doug Sadler
New York, NY

I am a writer, filmmaker and storyteller, working to bring creative, narrative spark to marketing and advertising projects, while continuing to pursue my artistic ambitions.  Once, at the Sundance Labs in Utah, I had an intense conversation in a bathroom with Ed Harris while Robert Redford waited to give me a ride.  At times, I’ve reflected on that moment and wondered if its a sign of great things to come.

I wanted to be involved in this project because the daring of it inspires me and I want to stay close to that, to challenge, to question, to expand.  My hope is for a contact high, I guess.  That and I’m curious as to how this will all work out for the young Lady Barbush.

I met Beth when she sought me out at a radio show I did in Baltimore.  We then worked together over the spring of 2012 shooting videos about farming and the environment, creating the “Let’s Be Shore” campaign bringing awareness around land use, agriculture, and water quality issues.

Chapter six:

The Writer
Theme: Interpersonal Relationships
Laura Burns
Baltimore, MD

Laura Burns at one point was my photography professor, and has filled the role of a great friend and also a mentor to me. She has been someone that I have looked up to as a creative artist questioning, and appreciating the world and people around her. She has felt like an older sister guiding and molding my inquisitive nature and supporting my decisions along the way.

The Wild Card
Aaron Henkin
Baltimore, MD
Theme: Interpersonal Relationships

When I sat down to interview Beth for my radio program, we were casual acquaintances, essentially strangers.  At the end of the conversation, she invited me to act as her November ‘Wild Card.’  I felt so uplifted after that, I knew immediately what I’d ask her to do:  Talk to at least one stranger a day.  ‘Living Chapters’ has made her a wellspring of positive energy, and I hope & trust it’ll rub off on everyone she meets.

Chapter seven:

The Writer
Ashley Duffalo
St. Paul, MN

Theme: The Environment

I’ve been a fan and a friend of Beth’s ever since elementary school when a very special mutual friend by the name of Leah McClimans first introduced us. Although Beth and I were in different school districts and didn’t often see each other throughout the ensuing years, we kept connected and still do during various holidays and over long phone calls (remember long phone calls?!). It was in Glasgow, during our junior year of college when I realized two things about Beth: she is hands-down the best traveling companion I’ve ever known and she’s always game for an adventure. I suppose Living Chapters is proof of that!

In many ways our friendship has always felt like one long, engaging conversation that we keep returning to, despite separations of time and space. No matter how long the gap since we last spoke, we can always pick up where we left off, which I find very reassuring. This photo was taken during our last trip together to Montreal while standing under one of Bucky Fuller’s geodesic domes.

About me: I unexpectedly stumbled into my adult life in Minneapolis/St. Paul, a place I’m finally comfortable calling home after 11 years. A big part of my commitment to this sometimes frozen tundra is due to the Walker Art Center, where I’ve been mining the pleasures and pain that come with working with artists and the public at a non-profit contemporary art museum. (Where else could I help produce an opera for dogs or host a butter-making aerobics class?!) When not working, I find great happiness in cooking and hanging out at home with Yoshimi, Bindi and John, my two cats and boyfriend.

I’m super excited to kick off 2014 with Beth via Living Chapters, as she’ll be starting the year setting up shop in St. Croix. I’ve also recently relocated, albeit a shorter less exotic move, from Minneapolis to St. Paul. So it seems like the perfect time for us to reconsider our relationship to place and environment.

The Wild Card 
Dave Schott
currently in Michigan often in France and always wandering
Theme: The Environment

Forest firefighter, traveler, farmer, and lover of nature and free open spaces. My free time is filled with outdoor pursuits and hiking, reading, watching documentaries, cooking (while listening to Democracy Now, democracynow.org) and enjoying the company of friends. I have never been one to stay long in one place, enjoying the freedom of new experiences, new people and new places. With this has come a depth of wonderful experiences, realizations, and friends. My dreams are now calling on me to root down so that I can start a more grounded project working with the earth, plants, and perma-culture. This proves to be a serious challenge for one who is used to being on the move……

I grew up in the Baltimore suburbs and left after high school, studying in Appalachia, serving with Americorps in St Louis, chasing wildfires in Washington state, while traveling and WWOOFing in between. Yet always returning every so often to Baltimore to visit family and friends eventually coming upon the budding community of Remington where I encountered many wonderful people starting diverse projects. When I met Beth, she was immersed in her community explorations and I was impressed by her creative inquisitive nature and drive to realize her projects. We would catch up over a bottle of wine and she would tell me about current and future undertakings. When she told me about the idea for living chapters, I knew she was onto something good. I have been asked to be a wild card and am happy to be part of the project. Lately I have been busy scheming up ways to make January 2014 more difficult for her (haha – Just kidding Beth). On the contrary, I hope to be a spark to help kick of 2014 to be one of positive growth, change, and reflection in the next chapter of her life!

Chapter eight:

The Writer
Max von Duerckheim
MD

Theme: Interpersonal Relationships

I’m delighted to come on-board for this project as February’s writer!  I’ve known Beth since a few years back when we became acquainted through her work at the Maryland Humanities Council.  Since then, I’ve doggedly shown up in her life wherever the adventures of the last few years have taken her (read: the awesomest untold corners of Maryland; though I have yet to get to all the cool ones she makes it to).  I’m a failed theatre maker and actor and love that I’m able to say that!  Since giving up the good life of making ends almost meet through arts work, I have been living in a shared home in the country of Maryland with my mother and three cats, and taking what delightful work comes my way.  I’m also very good at sitting on porches and keeping in touch with those I love.

The Wild Cards 
Aliza Ess and Lee Widger
MD/KY
Theme: Interpersonal Relationships

We three met in Remington, Baltimore! Beth and Lee were neighborhood friends involved in projects like the creation of GRIA, the Greater Remington Improvement Association. One fateful May, Aliza happened by a party on Huntingdon Ave and overheard Lee talking about his chickens. It was love. They raised chickens, ducks, mini goats, and a garden in Remington over the course of several years. Aliza met Ms. B through Lee and has spent many happy times enjoying Beth’s company, eating muskrat on the Eastern Shore together and seeing her many beautiful homes over the past several years. Lee and Aliza will soon be heading on to new adventures in Kentucky. We look forward to keeping in touch with Beth and seeing her creative energy shine.

Chapter eleven

The Writer
Cousin Dena
Richmond, VA

Theme: Purpose

I have been able to watch Beth grow through a unique lens, one with a familial focus and one of a friend.   When I reflect on some of our memories together, I think of times from our childhood playing, pretending, crafting and celebrating holidays in our Grandparents’s basement passing out Christmas presents and watching our uncles open gag gifts. I also remember the cherished times during holiday dinners chasing after traditions listening to our mothers talk about politics, plans for the future, and careers.  Now, we can remise and talk about our own careers.

I followed my passion into the world of social services and I am now in an arena where I feel that I can develop my talents and interests.  I have to say that I am thankful to be doing what I love.  While that being said, I have not arrived as I am constantly changing, growing, and developing my skills to improve.

I think about how Beth has grown her career and has helped other people grow in the process, including teaching me many lessons along the way.  She helped me to abandon my fears about starting something new.  Had I not listened to her, I would not be where I am today!  She has used her talents to reach the under-served and to change communities one person at a time.  She has sought more than just a job title but to actually find opportunities to do what she loves, enjoys, and is passionate about and she has encouraged me to do the same!   While not always easy, growth and change are welcomed.  So, for all she was, is, and grows to be, I hope that as part of her purpose, in whatever life experience she takes on or job she works in, she will continue to inspire those in her family, friends, and strangers alike.  Lastly, I must say that I am proud to call her cousin and friend.

The Wild Card 
Myra Margolin
Washington, DC
Theme: Purpose

Myra is a community psychologist with a background in filmmaking and community-based media production.  She met Beth a few years ago in Baltimore and they quickly became friends.  She is from Chicago and has lived on both coasts of the country.

Chapter twelve

The Writer and Confidant
Elizabeth Brady
Savage, MD

Theme: Purpose

Artist, designer, dog-lover and wanderer with a passion for social experiments, community projects and personal upheaval and change.  Might be described as someone who helps others identify and face the challenges in their lives, while perpetually creating new ones in my own. (Blame it on the Scorpio in my chart)  I am both extrovert and introvert, I like to learn new things, hate snakes, and hope to always have music, creativity, laughter, boxed wine and interesting people in my life.  Beth Barbush has been one of the most interesting to date, constantly challenging perceptions of life, people and permanence.  I think I’ll learn as much about myself in my role as confidant as I will about my friend.