Discovering the Undiscovered
By Kristine Chung Salcedo
Michelangelo once said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
Some people live their entire lives never knowing what they could have done or whom they could have been. They were never made aware that within them lies something that is waiting to be carved out and discovered.
It takes a very special person to awaken these people, to enlighten them to the possibilities, and to inspire them to carve their own work.
The first time I met Paul Rabinowitz was at a Creative Writing Workshop on May 17, 2018 at the Summit Public Library. I walked into a meeting room, sat in the back, and observed the other attendees. There was a muted, nervous excitement in the room as each of us sat with our notebooks, pens, and laptops. At the front of the room, Paul sat before a neat pile of paper, a book, a microphone, and a small speaker.
I knew no one in that room. But I sensed we all had something in common. Each of us was curious. We were ready to do something, though we weren’t quite sure exactly what we were going to do.
Paul introduced himself and ARTS by the People (ABTP), the non-profit organization of which he was the Executive Director. Through a generous grant, ABTP was able to offer the Creative Writing Workshop at the Summit Public Library, free of charge. We learned that ABTP regularly organized open mics where people could read and perform their work. They published books and journals featuring the works of poets and writers, and hosted a myriad of other artistic events.
The notion of any of it, of all of it, began with a man holding a microphone in a library meeting room on an otherwise unremarkable Thursday.
Through the workshop, Paul exposed us to new and familiar poets and writers. He challenged and prompted us to write about people, places, and events, real or imagined, sometimes outside of our comfort zone. We watched a dancer dance. We listened to music play. We read and heard everyone’s stories, each one intimate, cutting, and raw. Paul listened to our pieces with compassion and commented with encouragement. There was no judgment. Only acceptance and warmth.
Paul had shown me and many of us in that workshop something that had been within us all along, waiting to be revealed. For that, I am grateful to him and ABTP.
The Creative Writing Workshop was also a gateway for other events. I attended several of The Platform open mic nights, where I read short prose and listened to the lyrical works of others. I had the privilege of reading a piece I had written for the workshop for Jump the Turnstile, a project where words, music, and art combined to form one performance. I read another piece for Mystics & Mandalas, where I joined other poets to read our interpretations of different works of art.
There is joy in creating art, sharing it, and experiencing it with others. Everyone has a story. It is the task of the sculptor to discover it. And if one is lucky enough, one might encounter someone who can help her along the way.