Deborah Tobola
|
|
HeART of the Matter
by Deborah Tobola
In the fall I look forward to Open Studios on the Central Coast—the annual event that brings the general public out to visit the homes or studios of about 200 artists. It's a good excuse to visit one of my favorite artists — who is also one of my favorite people.
I've known Guillermo Willie for 14 years. His art is extraordinary and so is he. He is a master at "being in the moment." He says life itself is an art form. If it's an art form, how should we approach its canvas, I ask him.
He says, "What do you mean by if? I figure that if we're a chip off the old block, then we must have been blessed with a little creativity somewhere along the line. And isn't creativity what its all about? Somebody somehow came up with the idea of the wheel, and now we have tiny computer phones. Whether its called art or not, in the normal sense, our creativity has evolved, just like art forms."
Guillermo is primarily a self-taught artist who found freedom in self-expression. He wishes that freedom for everyone, especially young people. He says, "It's wonderful to open people's minds to expression through the arts. It's a step closer to exposing their hearts to it.
"And maybe the young person that keeps getting told to be quiet, to be like everybody else, to stop acting out, just maybe he can express himself through the arts. It would sure be better than them sneaking off somewhere else, where forms of expression have a door that opens up and leads to criminality."
This is something Guillermo knows firsthand. If he had discovered art when he was a boy, I probably never would have met him. I would never have encountered his "art from the gut" or taken amazing journeys with him — to the Steinbeck Festival, Alcatraz Island, a continuation high school in Redding — among many others. (Every journey Guillermo takes, by the way, is an amazing journey.) I would have missed our discussions about art and life over a cup of coffee.
Because when I met Guillermo 14 years ago, it was in prison, where he was an inmate and I was the facilitator of the Arts in Corrections program. He paroled right before I left to begin Poetic Justice Project. Now, almost six years later, he's thriving as an artist, actor and student.
"Maybe art can be described as the creative process by which we become better human beings, remembering that we're all in this together, and doing our best to reach our full potential but not at the expense of any one of our fellow travelers," Guillermo says. Maybe he's right. And maybe he's a shining example of that statement.
|
|
