Amber-Nicole Cannan | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: And joining us, making her return to the show she

0:03 Speaker 1: was on with us a long time ago. Amber Nicole

0:06 Speaker 1: Cannon is here.

0:06 Speaker 2: Hello, Hello, thank you for having me.

0:08 Speaker 3: Welcome back.

0:09 Speaker 1: So what did you talk about when you were on

0:11 Speaker 1: the show before, because we were talking about this off

0:13 Speaker 1: air and it was so long ago, it was in

0:15 Speaker 1: the previous building, but it was like like how many

0:17 Speaker 1: like would you say, like four or five years?

0:19 Speaker 2: Four or five years, it's got to be at this point.

0:21 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.

0:22 Speaker 2: So I'd founded a company called Uncharted and we teach

0:24 Speaker 2: kids science but trick them into thinking it's art. Okay,

0:27 Speaker 2: And actually it has since become a nonprofit and we're growing.

0:30 Speaker 2: We've got eight people working all the way from Franklin,

0:33 Speaker 2: New Hampshire down to Lowell, Massachusetts, teaching kids in hands on, explosive,

0:39 Speaker 2: colorful ways.

0:40 Speaker 1: Okay, it's starting to come back to me now because

0:44 Speaker 1: I think that was I think when you were on

0:47 Speaker 1: that might have been one of those times that I

0:49 Speaker 1: told the story of my own When I was a kid,

0:51 Speaker 1: I remember how much I hated art class because I

0:54 Speaker 1: felt like they were trying to force me to be

0:55 Speaker 1: artistic and I'm not visually artistic at all.

0:58 Speaker 4: And that's Okay, yeah, I thought so.

1:00 Speaker 3: The art teachers did not.

1:03 Speaker 2: It's about exploring what your creativity actually is. Yeah, and

1:08 Speaker 2: you know, really, be honest, teachers in schools are so

1:11 Speaker 2: overworked and tired and they just need all our support

1:14 Speaker 2: and love that they just don't get the resources that

1:17 Speaker 2: really help every kid in the classroom.

1:20 Speaker 1: Right right, no doubt you've got. We should start with

1:24 Speaker 1: you've got a big show coming up.

1:25 Speaker 5: I do.

1:26 Speaker 2: It's amazing. It's my first solo show. It is at

1:30 Speaker 2: the Nashville Public Library on Thursday the fourteenth at six o'clock. Okay,

1:37 Speaker 2: and the show's been up for about a month and

1:39 Speaker 2: a half, so this is like one of the last

1:40 Speaker 2: chances you get to see it. We're doing like a

1:42 Speaker 2: closing insteaven opening because the summer's been wild. Okay, there

1:46 Speaker 2: will be cake because it's also my fortieth birthday party.

1:49 Speaker 2: I just decided, you've got to combine these things. We

1:51 Speaker 2: don't have time to celebrate twice.

1:52 Speaker 3: Yeah.

1:53 Speaker 2: But it's actually a big gallery. I didn't even know

1:56 Speaker 2: it was there, and I got to Tourt and I

1:57 Speaker 2: was like, I don't even know if I have enough

1:58 Speaker 2: work to fill this, But it turns out I do.

2:02 Speaker 2: And it's been a wild ride. People have been visiting

2:06 Speaker 2: it and sending me pictures of them visiting it, and

2:08 Speaker 2: I keep going in every week to just you know,

2:10 Speaker 2: finicky touch up hanging tag or yeah, adjust an art piece.

2:14 Speaker 2: But it feels really good.

2:17 Speaker 1: So so it's it's been up for a while. Yes, okay, yes,

2:22 Speaker 1: So how does that work? Can people just go i

2:25 Speaker 1: mean outside of the events. Can people just go at

2:28 Speaker 1: any point.

2:28 Speaker 4: To any the library and see yes?

2:31 Speaker 3: Okay.

2:32 Speaker 2: And it's pretty family friendly too, because I work with

2:33 Speaker 2: kids a lot. So if you want to bring your

2:37 Speaker 2: kids during the summer break, right right before school starts,

2:39 Speaker 2: get their last bit of reading in before the you know,

2:41 Speaker 2: summer ends, you can totally go check out the art pieces.

2:46 Speaker 2: There are even some pieces that will appeall directly to

2:48 Speaker 2: kids that you can like buy stickers or prints of

2:50 Speaker 2: that are like animals of New Hampshire. And it's a

2:53 Speaker 2: great library. It and it's down in the basement. So

2:55 Speaker 2: when you come in the main doors and you turn

2:57 Speaker 2: right and you go down the stairwell on the right,

3:00 Speaker 2: or take the elevator that's on the left. Right there,

3:03 Speaker 2: you go down and it's this big open space and

3:06 Speaker 2: I've got like really big silks that I made with

3:08 Speaker 2: Able and h and then we've got some cyanotypes around

3:12 Speaker 2: the other side of the wall. There's like this big

3:14 Speaker 2: wall in the middle where you can put art on

3:15 Speaker 2: both sides. So it's big art. It's big art. Turns

3:20 Speaker 2: out I make big art.

3:22 Speaker 1: Well, okay, so tell us about the type of art

3:25 Speaker 1: that you make, because I saw this from biomedical art.

3:29 Speaker 2: Yeah. So my background is I have a degree in

3:31 Speaker 2: biomedical art from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Hence the

3:34 Speaker 2: untarted thing, teaching kids, you know, science through art. I

3:38 Speaker 2: hadn't really been into my formal art practice, you know,

3:42 Speaker 2: in the fine arts for a while. I really, you know,

3:46 Speaker 2: society tells us artists don't make money, so you don't

3:49 Speaker 2: pursue the fine arts, and so I was really pursuing

3:52 Speaker 2: the commercial arts thing with illustration and graphic design and

3:56 Speaker 2: logos and that kind of thing. And I did fine,

3:57 Speaker 2: and I showed that work regularly, but COVID hit and

4:01 Speaker 2: I developed disabilities around the same time, more than I

4:04 Speaker 2: originally had, and I needed a way to get it out,

4:09 Speaker 2: so I just started making I had to relearn to

4:12 Speaker 2: walk in Manchester during COVID.

4:14 Speaker 3: Wow.

4:15 Speaker 2: So I had to walk on the sidewalks in Manchester,

4:17 Speaker 2: which were not conducive to that process. So I would

4:21 Speaker 2: walk for ten minutes, sit down and make a painting

4:23 Speaker 2: for an hour and come back And I just did that.

4:26 Speaker 2: Not well, it was part of my physical therapy. I

4:28 Speaker 2: needed to do this interesting And so these pieces have

4:30 Speaker 2: developed into what I think is a big feature in

4:32 Speaker 2: the show called disability frames, where inside each piece is

4:35 Speaker 2: this cute little five by five watercolor, but around it

4:39 Speaker 2: is this massive frame that's more than twice the size

4:41 Speaker 2: of the piece, reflecting the challenges I had getting there,

4:45 Speaker 2: whether it was a lack of a sidewalk cut or

4:49 Speaker 2: whether it was just pain that day I just couldn't

4:51 Speaker 2: get out of bed, right. They all reflect the various

4:56 Speaker 2: infrastructure challenges I face. Sometimes it was just wet leaves, right,

5:00 Speaker 2: like what these were very scary.

5:02 Speaker 4: For me, I can imagine. Yeah, wow, And.

5:05 Speaker 2: So that's that's a big part of the show, is

5:07 Speaker 2: talking about my body and its development through this phase

5:11 Speaker 2: in my life.

5:12 Speaker 3: Yeah.

5:14 Speaker 1: One of the things that comes up a lot on

5:16 Speaker 1: this show is well, really a couple of things, but

5:20 Speaker 1: they go together. One is using uh trauma and challenge

5:24 Speaker 1: and negative experiences to create art out of that. You know,

5:30 Speaker 1: we interview more musicians than anybody, so we talk a

5:33 Speaker 1: lot about, you know, creating music from that. In fact,

5:35 Speaker 1: our guests coming up an hour three, Nancy Manet, Uh.

5:39 Speaker 1: You know, we always talk about that with her too,

5:41 Speaker 1: because a lot of what she's been through and informs

5:43 Speaker 1: of the music that she makes. So we always talk

5:45 Speaker 1: about how that's really kind of the best therapy, right,

5:48 Speaker 1: taking something negative and creating something positive, because not only

5:52 Speaker 1: are you creating art, but you're creating something that other

5:55 Speaker 1: people can relate to, So it not only helps you,

5:57 Speaker 1: but it potentially helps other people too. And and the

6:00 Speaker 1: other thing that we also it seems to come up

6:02 Speaker 1: a lot on the show is COVID and and how

6:07 Speaker 1: people found a lot of ways to be creative during

6:12 Speaker 1: COVID that perhaps would not have happened otherwise. And again,

6:16 Speaker 1: you know, when we're talking to musicians, it's usually you know,

6:18 Speaker 1: while I, you know, my band and I we had

6:21 Speaker 1: to learn how to email tracks back and forth while

6:24 Speaker 1: we were recording an album because we couldn't all be

6:26 Speaker 1: in the same.

6:26 Speaker 3: Room because it was very scary.

6:28 Speaker 4: And went on digital skills, right exactly.

6:30 Speaker 1: Yeah, and and it really forced the pandemic, really forced

6:34 Speaker 1: a lot of musicians to open up to things that

6:36 Speaker 1: they they hadn't considered before, even me, Like, I'm a

6:41 Speaker 1: certified hypnotherapist, and I found myself since the pandemic more

6:45 Speaker 1: open to seeing clients online, you know, instead of feeling

6:49 Speaker 1: like I had to be in the same room with

6:50 Speaker 1: them to properly do a session. So but but those

6:53 Speaker 1: are two of the things that we talk about a lot,

6:54 Speaker 1: you know, taking taking negative experiences and creating, and also

6:59 Speaker 1: how the pandemic force people to find new ways to

7:02 Speaker 1: do that or or new sources of inspiration to do that.

7:08 Speaker 1: But in your case, I mean, it sounds like this

7:10 Speaker 1: was a pretty serious example of that, right because because

7:15 Speaker 1: of what COVID did to you and how you had

7:16 Speaker 1: to overcome that and and create art while you're doing that.

7:20 Speaker 1: I mean, that's incredible.

7:21 Speaker 2: Yeah, it uh, it really pointed out a lot of

7:24 Speaker 2: the like challenges to getting around the city too, for me, yeah,

7:29 Speaker 2: for other people that I maybe just overlooked a lot

7:31 Speaker 2: because I was just zooming through life, you know, and

7:33 Speaker 2: I didn't see people struggling until I was in the struggle, right,

7:37 Speaker 2: And so I started reaching out to different organizations that

7:39 Speaker 2: supported disabilities like able and agent got to As I healed,

7:43 Speaker 2: I was then able to bring some of my healing

7:45 Speaker 2: to communities outside of myself. And that's why that's why

7:48 Speaker 2: the show is called Body of Work, because it's about

7:51 Speaker 2: bodies and healing and then how when you're you heal

7:54 Speaker 2: inside when you begin healing yourself, and I won't ever

7:57 Speaker 2: be fully healed, like, let's be honest, it's more or

8:00 Speaker 2: comfort of where I'm at and then finding the next challenge.

8:04 Speaker 2: It's about then bringing it to others so that they

8:06 Speaker 2: can maybe find some healing in what you've created. It's

8:10 Speaker 2: about connecting with people.

8:11 Speaker 1: Yeah, so now you have experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

8:18 Speaker 5: I do.

8:18 Speaker 3: Actually, Okay, do you still work in the pharmaceutical industry now?

8:21 Speaker 2: No? On Charter takes up most of my time. I

8:23 Speaker 2: also volunteer as a Department of Public Works commissioner so

8:26 Speaker 2: that I can advocate for sidewalks and bike lanes in Manchester,

8:29 Speaker 2: which are very important to people getting around the city.

8:31 Speaker 2: That's how you know, I turned my sadness and tears

8:35 Speaker 2: into I'm gonna work on this problem, and then I

8:39 Speaker 2: got out of pharmaceutical. So it's actually kind of a

8:42 Speaker 2: weird story. But I was working on in the informed

8:44 Speaker 2: consent process and I didn't feel like it was true

8:46 Speaker 2: or real, and I couldn't find sponsoring companies for clinical

8:49 Speaker 2: trials that were like interested in actually making it a

8:53 Speaker 2: real informed consent process. You know, they get these like

8:56 Speaker 2: two inch yeah really, but it's thick pieces of paper

8:59 Speaker 2: written at a grade level. Most people don't understand saying,

9:02 Speaker 2: you know, I'm gonna agree to participate in this clinical trial,

9:05 Speaker 2: but then they don't actually understand it, right, and then

9:09 Speaker 2: they get like surprised by something like a spinal tap,

9:11 Speaker 2: and no one wants a surprise spinal tap, right. So

9:16 Speaker 2: I realized I couldn't help the adults. Ultimately, I think

9:20 Speaker 2: we adults, even myself, we kind of get stuck in

9:22 Speaker 2: our ways and it's harder to open up our brains

9:25 Speaker 2: to new ideas. So I started tutoring some people who

9:29 Speaker 2: are very gifted in science but wanted to improve their

9:31 Speaker 2: art skills because I could, I could bridge that vocabulary channel,

9:35 Speaker 2: if you will, and it worked. And so then one

9:39 Speaker 2: of the kids I was tutoring, their mom was a

9:41 Speaker 2: headmaster of school and said come here, teach here. I

9:43 Speaker 2: was like, yeah, sure, okay, and then within two weeks

9:46 Speaker 2: I was in Claire's charter school, and within six months

9:48 Speaker 2: I was in all the Title I schools in Manchester,

9:52 Speaker 2: bringing this programming to kids so that when they hit there,

9:56 Speaker 2: when they're in control of their health, they'll be able

9:58 Speaker 2: to talk about it, they'll be able to help their

9:59 Speaker 2: family health, and they'll be able to navigate the health system.

10:02 Speaker 2: That's really what it like stemmed out of of course

10:04 Speaker 2: we've gone wider, like we're talking about watershed management with

10:07 Speaker 2: the Nature Conservancy who sponsored projects with us, and really

10:12 Speaker 2: focusing on all around science education.

10:16 Speaker 1: How did so, how did that grow so quickly? I mean,

10:20 Speaker 1: because that's that's impressive that.

10:22 Speaker 2: It's a great question, and if I knew, i'd write

10:24 Speaker 2: a book about it. But I think it was just

10:26 Speaker 2: clearly a passion of mine and I was in it

10:30 Speaker 2: one hundred percent and loved it, and I think that

10:34 Speaker 2: came through it. And I think there's a real need

10:35 Speaker 2: for it too, because you know, we do seem to

10:38 Speaker 2: be lowering the amount of money as a city that

10:41 Speaker 2: we're putting into schools, so other things need to come

10:43 Speaker 2: in to make up that deficit and that's potentially or

10:47 Speaker 2: it is uncharted coming in and teaching those things. And

10:50 Speaker 2: the kids are hungry for it too, you know, And

10:53 Speaker 2: I fully support all the teachers in our schools. They

10:56 Speaker 2: need so much more love and funds and everything to

10:59 Speaker 2: make their lives easier, because it should be easier for them.

11:03 Speaker 2: But they are setting into this mold that's been created

11:07 Speaker 2: by buyer systems, and unchartered can come outside of that

11:11 Speaker 2: mold and reach the kids that aren't fitting that mold.

11:15 Speaker 2: So and I think there's a lot more that don't

11:17 Speaker 2: fit the mold than we realize. Just like people with disabilities, right,

11:20 Speaker 2: we don't fit this. Whatever the standard, and I'm using

11:22 Speaker 2: quotations very clearly, whatever the normal is, we don't fit it.

11:28 Speaker 2: And you know, as I get fully more and more

11:31 Speaker 2: immersed and embracing of my disabled identity, I'm seeing it

11:36 Speaker 2: in kids too. Actually, one of the things that's developed is,

11:39 Speaker 2: you know, as I read IEPs for kids and the

11:40 Speaker 2: things I need to be doing to make sure they're

11:42 Speaker 2: learning it the best of their ability, I'm like looking

11:44 Speaker 2: at and going, oh, that's a good I should do

11:46 Speaker 2: that for myself.

11:47 Speaker 3: Oh wow, So I'm.

11:49 Speaker 2: Learning a lot about myself when I'm learning about other

11:50 Speaker 2: people's disabilities, which is also why I try to be

11:53 Speaker 2: so open about mine so that other people can find

11:56 Speaker 2: it faster and with less trial and tribulation than I did.

12:00 Speaker 2: But yeah, the kids have taught me a lot about myself.

12:03 Speaker 3: Oh that's cool. By the way, for people who don't know,

12:05 Speaker 3: what is an i EP.

12:06 Speaker 2: An individual education plan? Okay, okay, thank you for calling

12:10 Speaker 2: that out.

12:10 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, no problem. It's funny. Over the years that

12:13 Speaker 3: term has come up a lot on the show. But

12:15 Speaker 3: but but yeah, but people don't know. Well, you know,

12:18 Speaker 3: if it's not something you've had to directly engage with,

12:20 Speaker 3: you wouldn't know.

12:21 Speaker 2: No, no, you wouldn't know.

12:23 Speaker 3: So now, so what.

12:26 Speaker 1: Parents who are putting their kids into uh, because you

12:29 Speaker 1: have like a summer camp?

12:30 Speaker 2: Do we have summer camps right now? So we ran

12:33 Speaker 2: three summer camps at Positive Street Art in Nashua because

12:36 Speaker 2: they are fantastic partners.

12:38 Speaker 3: Oh, somebody from Positive Street Art was was on?

12:40 Speaker 2: Who was was it? Yeazz Manny Cecilia?

12:43 Speaker 3: No, there was somebody involved, though I can't remember. It

12:48 Speaker 3: was a musician. Wasn't it a musician? I can't remember.

12:51 Speaker 2: Now there are so many good people that are part

12:54 Speaker 2: of that organization supporting it because it's doing so much

12:57 Speaker 2: good work.

12:57 Speaker 3: Yeah, what was it, Mike McDowell the Healer?

13:01 Speaker 5: No, I think what.

13:02 Speaker 2: I don't remember.

13:04 Speaker 1: You're asking the wrong that's okay, But but whoever it was, Yeah,

13:07 Speaker 1: but it wasn't any of the three. Yeah, yeas was

13:09 Speaker 1: on the show a long time ago, but it wasn't

13:11 Speaker 1: any of the three people you mentioned.

13:12 Speaker 3: But we did have somebody on talking about it. Yeah. Yeah.

13:15 Speaker 2: Uh. They're doing really fantastic work through the city here

13:17 Speaker 2: and like giving opportunities to you know, kids that had

13:21 Speaker 2: to pick different paths in life through various circumstances, and

13:25 Speaker 2: they also work with people with disabilities in really engaging

13:28 Speaker 2: and wholesome ways.

13:30 Speaker 4: Yeah.

13:31 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a big fan. So partnering with them was

13:33 Speaker 2: like a perfect Kismet opportunity. And they have a beautiful

13:36 Speaker 2: space yeah, that we get to work out of with

13:38 Speaker 2: the gallery and the kids getting so inspired by the

13:40 Speaker 2: artwork around them.

13:42 Speaker 3: Really cowesome.

13:43 Speaker 2: And next week we're working with the y w c

13:44 Speaker 2: A for our sy Art Camp, So you'll see us

13:47 Speaker 2: downtown here going around the parks collecting little specimens of

13:50 Speaker 2: bugs and and and and spiders and and plants and dirt,

13:54 Speaker 2: and we're gonna look at under microscopes and we're gonna

13:56 Speaker 2: learn to draw it and represent it in a science

13:58 Speaker 2: communication kind of way.

14:00 Speaker 3: Oh very cool. Yeah, I remember who it was now,

14:02 Speaker 3: I was Justin Hunt. Is that name familiar to you.

14:05 Speaker 2: I'm not as much on the music side, admitted.

14:07 Speaker 1: Gotcha, Yeah, Justin's Yeah, he's he's actually not a musician,

14:11 Speaker 1: but he came on with an interesting story. He does,

14:15 Speaker 1: he does a lot of really positive things. I should

14:18 Speaker 1: get in touch with him, we should have him back on, but.

14:20 Speaker 2: Probably if he's associated with positive street art probably.

14:22 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I hope I'm thinking of the right person.

14:26 Speaker 1: So now before so what was your experience like with

14:29 Speaker 1: art before COVID were you were you actively?

14:34 Speaker 2: Oh? I never stopped making really truly, so I was.

14:37 Speaker 2: I was working as a professional like creative director and

14:40 Speaker 2: those kinds of things for different companies through through time,

14:44 Speaker 2: and I always like just kind of doodled. I never

14:47 Speaker 2: stopped like and you can look at the years on

14:49 Speaker 2: the artworks in the show too and kind of see

14:51 Speaker 2: that that was a case. Because I do I have

14:52 Speaker 2: a Bachelor of Fine Arts, like it is arts, arts, arts, Yeah,

14:57 Speaker 2: and but I really I don't so. I come from

15:00 Speaker 2: a long line of scientists, engineers, physicists, that kind of thing,

15:04 Speaker 2: and they were fully supportive of me going into the arts,

15:07 Speaker 2: even if it did make me a little bit of

15:08 Speaker 2: a black sheep. But I had my own internalized messages

15:13 Speaker 2: that I needed to make money at this. Whatever I

15:16 Speaker 2: was doing with the majority of my time, I needed

15:17 Speaker 2: to make money, and so I really focused on the

15:20 Speaker 2: commercial stuff, making ads and illustrations that would bring in money,

15:26 Speaker 2: a lot less self expression. I did a lot with

15:29 Speaker 2: like adornments that I didn't really consider art, whether it

15:34 Speaker 2: was sewing or creating things for my house that really,

15:37 Speaker 2: when I look at those are art objects and can

15:39 Speaker 2: are just as valid as anything else to be displayed

15:42 Speaker 2: in a gallery. And that came out of some of

15:46 Speaker 2: my relationship with yazz and through positive street art, to

15:49 Speaker 2: recognizing that these everyday creations that we are making, whether

15:54 Speaker 2: it's even just in art life choices, they are art

15:57 Speaker 2: and they are shaping the world around us and should

15:59 Speaker 2: be considered just as strongly as a traditional painting.

16:03 Speaker 1: Yeah, so you've always so when you when you decided

16:08 Speaker 1: to do that and to pursue that degree.

16:10 Speaker 3: Did you have family members try to talk you out

16:11 Speaker 3: of it?

16:13 Speaker 2: No, one tried to talk me out of it.

16:15 Speaker 3: They did.

16:15 Speaker 2: They did say, you know, art will never pay as

16:19 Speaker 2: much as engineering, okay, which which is funny because when

16:23 Speaker 2: my husband and I graduated college exactly at the same time,

16:25 Speaker 2: technically I was paid more than he was. And he's

16:27 Speaker 2: an engineer. Oh, he quickly surpassed me. But I just

16:30 Speaker 2: negotiated more for my pay.

16:32 Speaker 3: Okay, okay.

16:34 Speaker 2: Hence, you know, I run a small business.

16:35 Speaker 3: Now.

16:36 Speaker 2: I don't mind that kind of talk. But they were

16:40 Speaker 2: supportive in the best ways they could, and they always

16:43 Speaker 2: knew I was some kind of artists Like you know,

16:45 Speaker 2: my mom was like, even as early as first grades,

16:47 Speaker 2: I's thrawing better than I am. I don't, I can't.

16:51 Speaker 2: This isn't an area I can instruct her, And so

16:52 Speaker 2: they'd find me, you know, art lessons at the library

16:55 Speaker 2: and things like that. I watched Bob Ross religious.

16:57 Speaker 4: Oh nokid yeah, oh yeah.

17:00 Speaker 2: And you know, both my parents have their artistic focus,

17:03 Speaker 2: Like my dad was photography growing up and now he

17:05 Speaker 2: makes amazing award winning wooden kayaks. He's retired so he

17:08 Speaker 2: can he can do that beautiful thing, and he did

17:09 Speaker 2: it before he retired. My mom is is a noted

17:12 Speaker 2: fibers artist that goes around and gives workshops on spinning

17:15 Speaker 2: and weaving and knitting. I think I think primarily it's

17:20 Speaker 2: the spinning she's into in the weaving, oh wow. But

17:24 Speaker 2: always an artist, they just they chose to pursue the

17:27 Speaker 2: fun making for their right, which is working well for

17:31 Speaker 2: them because they're retired and comfortable now. You know, both

17:35 Speaker 2: based on my generation and time graduating and choices of

17:39 Speaker 2: my own career may never happen, but we'll work towards it.

17:42 Speaker 4: Sure, Sure, but I don't.

17:45 Speaker 2: I don't. I think even if I were to retire tomorrow,

17:47 Speaker 2: if I won the lottery or whatever, I'd still do

17:49 Speaker 2: exactly what I'm doing right now. So maybe I am retired.

17:52 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. And in terms of.

17:57 Speaker 1: In terms of the art that you create, because you

17:59 Speaker 1: mentioned that you didn't think or you were uncertain at

18:02 Speaker 1: first when this opportunity to have your art at the

18:05 Speaker 1: nash Is it Nashue a public library? Is that digital

18:08 Speaker 1: that you didn't think you had enough pieces necessarily for

18:11 Speaker 1: I was.

18:12 Speaker 2: I was concerned, yeah, And I'd been focusing on these

18:15 Speaker 2: small pieces out of COVID, right, these things that I

18:17 Speaker 2: could travel with, even taking as I relearned to walk,

18:20 Speaker 2: I had to relearn to ski, so I would take

18:22 Speaker 2: them up on mountains. I'd ski a couple runs and

18:23 Speaker 2: sit there for an hour or two at the lodge

18:25 Speaker 2: and paint and then ski some more. So, like it's

18:27 Speaker 2: a very, very compact. But then I just started looking

18:30 Speaker 2: back over my like I just started pulling things out

18:32 Speaker 2: of the woodworks, you know, like how you store everything,

18:34 Speaker 2: And suddenly I've got a massive pile of stuff that

18:37 Speaker 2: I can put in and you know, not limiting myself, right,

18:40 Speaker 2: because I've done a lot of fashion work, okay, and

18:43 Speaker 2: so there's several mannequins in the show with various pieces

18:46 Speaker 2: I've created for my body and other people's bodies. And

18:49 Speaker 2: then that's also why it's called body work, because it

18:51 Speaker 2: does it's it's all has to do with the body,

18:53 Speaker 2: the human body. As a biomedical artist. That makes sense

18:56 Speaker 2: because I am just kind of drawn. Is like a

18:58 Speaker 2: special interest. And then it's not just my body, it's

19:01 Speaker 2: other people's bodies and the art that goes on their bodies.

19:04 Speaker 1: Yeah, I wanted to ask you more about that too,

19:05 Speaker 1: because the name of the show is body of Work,

19:07 Speaker 1: and I think I think I forgot to mention that earlier.

19:10 Speaker 1: So yeah, can you expand on that a little bit?

19:12 Speaker 1: Why it's called that, and what's your inspiration to call

19:14 Speaker 1: it that?

19:15 Speaker 2: It was that that pulling of the art from different

19:17 Speaker 2: places all over the house. I was like, Okay, this

19:20 Speaker 2: is what I have. How does this all unite? Like,

19:22 Speaker 2: if this is all going to be one show, I

19:24 Speaker 2: either need to limit it like and give it log

19:26 Speaker 2: to the white space, or is everything relevant? And I

19:30 Speaker 2: began thinking about it, and I started looking at pieces

19:33 Speaker 2: that I was like, well, that's not relevant. But it's

19:34 Speaker 2: got a skull in it. Well, that's that's a body part, right.

19:38 Speaker 2: This was created in relationship in response to pain in

19:42 Speaker 2: my body. This was related to my body moving through space.

19:45 Speaker 2: This was a result of my body needing to rest.

19:48 Speaker 2: This was me networking with other people and learning about

19:51 Speaker 2: other people's bodies and helping their bodies engage in art.

19:55 Speaker 2: And this went on my body. And this is a

19:57 Speaker 2: T shirt that goes on my body. And this this

20:00 Speaker 2: is a dress form I made of someone else's body.

20:03 Speaker 2: This is a dress form made of my body. And

20:04 Speaker 2: I began realizing it was all about the body, and

20:08 Speaker 2: so it is a little bit of a pun I'm

20:09 Speaker 2: not I love a good dad pun. So it's like

20:11 Speaker 2: a body of work because that you can call that

20:13 Speaker 2: rite and an artist like, this is my body of work.

20:15 Speaker 2: But it's also very relational to a human body, my

20:19 Speaker 2: human body and the body of community that is here

20:23 Speaker 2: in New Hampshire through groups like Abele and h and others.

20:27 Speaker 2: So it really came about and I was like, oh,

20:31 Speaker 2: it all, it all relates. And there are a few

20:33 Speaker 2: pieces I didn't put in because they didn't relate. Even

20:35 Speaker 2: if they were bigger, like pieces that were more focused

20:37 Speaker 2: on my yard or my garden, you could make a

20:40 Speaker 2: case for them to be in. But when I got

20:41 Speaker 2: to it, it really just I was like, this is it.

20:44 Speaker 2: It's about disability, it's about community. It's about I don't

20:49 Speaker 2: want to say recovery because that implies like an end,

20:52 Speaker 2: but it's about healing.

20:54 Speaker 1: Yeah are you how are you doing today physically?

20:58 Speaker 3: I mean at this.

20:58 Speaker 2: Point, yeah, it's very interesting. So my nark, my idiopathic

21:02 Speaker 2: hypersomnia is well managed.

21:04 Speaker 3: The dots have what what is that?

21:06 Speaker 2: It's a yeah, no, it's a form of it's like

21:08 Speaker 2: narcileps and it means I sleep a lot when I'm

21:11 Speaker 2: not medicated, so there's a lot of meds I have

21:13 Speaker 2: to be on to manage that and to be able

21:15 Speaker 2: to drive safely and things like that. But it means

21:18 Speaker 2: I like a really very day, which is great because

21:20 Speaker 2: that's what Chartered gives me, bopping between kids and writing

21:22 Speaker 2: grants and interacting with people and that's beautiful and a

21:27 Speaker 2: lot of it's focus here Manchester, so I can walk

21:29 Speaker 2: or bike to get there, keeping everything as safe as possible,

21:33 Speaker 2: so you know, food for thought out there. Bike lanes

21:35 Speaker 2: are an accessibility device basically infrastructure because then I can

21:40 Speaker 2: bike and it keeps everyone safe and me safe. So

21:44 Speaker 2: and then I've got a number of neuralgias where they

21:47 Speaker 2: cause pain. My my hardest one has been pudental neuralgia,

21:50 Speaker 2: but that's been well treated over the last couple of years.

21:52 Speaker 2: But I seem to have developed two more, one in

21:54 Speaker 2: my neck and one in my lower back that I'm

21:56 Speaker 2: going to see a new neurologist for at the end

21:58 Speaker 2: of the month. But we also discovered that my digestion

22:02 Speaker 2: I haven't been able to digest fat my whole life.

22:04 Speaker 2: So now I've got great new big horse pills to

22:06 Speaker 2: take for that, but it's great so I can eat out.

22:09 Speaker 2: So my life is really like overall, like if the

22:12 Speaker 2: last time we talked, if you had asked me, like,

22:14 Speaker 2: how are you doing, I would have been like, oh, I'm

22:15 Speaker 2: a sick person, but I'm fighting it. Yeah, And now

22:17 Speaker 2: I feel like I've hit this equo lilbrium that is doable,

22:23 Speaker 2: and it changes from day to day, Holly, and I

22:25 Speaker 2: fully admit I took yesterday off and went to the beach,

22:27 Speaker 2: so that's probably contributing to my really great feeling today.

22:30 Speaker 2: You have to take rest days. But I couldn't go

22:33 Speaker 2: in the water above my waist because of my new

22:35 Speaker 2: lower back thing, so I'm you know, that's sad. And

22:38 Speaker 2: I can't stand up pattaboard right now because I'm not

22:39 Speaker 2: allowed to twist. Really, but I'm so in order to

22:44 Speaker 2: stay functional, like at least appearing, I have to do

22:48 Speaker 2: a lot of physical therapy. So like I work with

22:50 Speaker 2: a physical therapist outside the insurance companies because they don't

22:54 Speaker 2: want to pay for all the visits I actually need,

22:57 Speaker 2: and I pay her monthly and she gives me workouts

22:59 Speaker 2: and I do them. So I work out like an

23:00 Speaker 2: hour to two hours most days, and it's I love it.

23:07 Speaker 2: I love that I can do that, like I'm at

23:09 Speaker 2: a place in my life. But it does it means

23:11 Speaker 2: I have to focus on my body like ten times

23:13 Speaker 2: more than other people. But ultimately I'm in a good spot.

23:18 Speaker 2: Thanks for asking. It's nice that I get to say

23:21 Speaker 2: that this time.

23:22 Speaker 1: Yeah, isn't it? And this was all, by the way,

23:24 Speaker 1: So this was all the result of COVID.

23:26 Speaker 2: Oh, not a result. COVID had an effect. It did

23:28 Speaker 2: affect my heart. So I lost the ability to walk

23:32 Speaker 2: because I ran a triathlon and it turns out tenon

23:35 Speaker 2: in my leg was turning the bone, which is not

23:38 Speaker 2: supposed to happen, and they had to remove that. And

23:41 Speaker 2: then so the amount of time that I was immobilized

23:43 Speaker 2: before the surgery and then trying to relearn to walk

23:46 Speaker 2: was what caused all that. And then so the narclepsy

23:49 Speaker 2: or the idiopathic hypersomnia I ate. Narclepsy is like the

23:53 Speaker 2: coverall term. It's a form of that I got started

23:57 Speaker 2: getting diagnosed in like my late twenties, but I probably

24:00 Speaker 2: been suffering through it all through college, like I was

24:02 Speaker 2: a regular ten hour a day sleeper in college. I

24:04 Speaker 2: never pulled all nighters, very regimented schedules that I could function. Yeah,

24:10 Speaker 2: and I do have like a little bit of challenge

24:12 Speaker 2: with my heart from COVID. It just doesn't respond the

24:15 Speaker 2: way it should during exercise. Okay, but my physical therapist

24:18 Speaker 2: gives me exercises. It's like this, really like I've always

24:21 Speaker 2: been like a battler of exercise, like give me the

24:23 Speaker 2: bike and let me go up the hill as hard

24:24 Speaker 2: as I can. Yeah, but you know, she's focused way

24:28 Speaker 2: more on this gentle stuff that's hopefully just going to

24:31 Speaker 2: try to heal the blood vessels and the heart from

24:33 Speaker 2: all that. And it may be something that I have

24:34 Speaker 2: for the rest of my life, but I'll continue fighting

24:36 Speaker 2: it because I want to be a healthy eighty year old.

24:39 Speaker 3: Yeah of course. Yeah. Wow.

24:41 Speaker 1: Well I'm glad you're doing so much better though. That's excellent. Now,

24:45 Speaker 1: do you have more art shows planned after this one?

24:48 Speaker 2: I'm gonna look at talking. I haven't done this yet,

24:50 Speaker 2: so I'll reach out. But the Manchester Arts Commission usually

24:53 Speaker 2: allows artwork to be displayed at City Hall, and so

24:56 Speaker 2: for the show in Nashville, I had to purchase insurance

24:59 Speaker 2: for my art work. So I figure, while I have

25:01 Speaker 2: the insurance, i'll do it there as well. These places,

25:04 Speaker 2: city places don't have the insurance like a gallery does, okay,

25:06 Speaker 2: so and I want to protect my work, so I

25:08 Speaker 2: think I'll try to reach out and try to do

25:10 Speaker 2: a show at City Hall. Okay, but I don't have

25:13 Speaker 2: any shows after that plan. But if you're looking for

25:16 Speaker 2: more shows, I always recommend checking out Positive Street Art

25:19 Speaker 2: and Mosaic Art Collective because they're always doing fantastic things.

25:24 Speaker 2: I just yeah, I love everything they're doing.

25:26 Speaker 3: Yeah.

25:27 Speaker 1: Yeah, Jenny's had her art at Mosaic and also at

25:31 Speaker 1: Terminus Underground in Nashua.

25:33 Speaker 2: Fantastic.

25:33 Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, absolutely absolutely. I didn't know insurance. I didn't

25:37 Speaker 1: know that was a thing for I guess it makes sense.

25:39 Speaker 2: So when all of your life's artwork is all at

25:43 Speaker 2: one room that so many people have access to, I'm

25:45 Speaker 2: not leaving it on insurance.

25:47 Speaker 3: Yeah no, that makes sense.

25:49 Speaker 2: Like it's it's like I would I will part with

25:52 Speaker 2: just about all of it for a certain price.

25:54 Speaker 3: But right right, yeah, But.

25:56 Speaker 2: At the same time, it's it is my creation and

26:00 Speaker 2: I don't have children, so I guess that's it.

26:02 Speaker 3: Oh, there you go. There you go, very good.

26:05 Speaker 1: So now where should people go online to I assume

26:08 Speaker 1: I mean, obviously you want people to go to the

26:10 Speaker 1: show on the fourteenth, please do. But also I mean,

26:14 Speaker 1: is there art online? I assume I assume it is.

26:16 Speaker 2: Yeah, my my website, bioside Creative, so b io s

26:20 Speaker 2: ci creative dot com has has all the artwork there

26:24 Speaker 2: and you can even purchase any of it that you want,

26:25 Speaker 2: including the stickers or prints or the whole on art

26:27 Speaker 2: if you're that kind of wealthy.

26:29 Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not.

26:31 Speaker 2: I'm not wealthy enough to purchase my own art. That's okay.

26:33 Speaker 2: It took so much time for those expensive pieces. But

26:36 Speaker 2: and then you can also follow me on Instagram and

26:38 Speaker 2: that's the same bioside Creative. And the library has on

26:41 Speaker 2: their events page the details of the event posted and

26:46 Speaker 2: and do come and let me know you're coming because

26:47 Speaker 2: we're getting cake. So I trying to cake for everyone.

26:50 Speaker 3: Nice.

26:51 Speaker 1: By the way, is there anyone else you've met or

26:55 Speaker 1: connected with who uses that term biomedical art?

26:59 Speaker 2: So, so, medical illustration is the old school word for it.

27:03 Speaker 2: And the degree program I was in at the Cleveland

27:06 Speaker 2: Institute of Art decided to expand it because that was

27:09 Speaker 2: a little old school, and biomedical artists do a lot

27:13 Speaker 2: more like I ended up through concentrating on different things

27:16 Speaker 2: with like a minor in technology integrated media, so like

27:20 Speaker 2: video editing, robotics and programming, web development, that kind of

27:26 Speaker 2: thing I ended up with, and that's still biomedical art

27:28 Speaker 2: and still used. Like, oh, it's very relevant. Of course,

27:31 Speaker 2: three D modeling and animation is huge in that field

27:36 Speaker 2: because it's used a lot in that degree. Program changed

27:38 Speaker 2: their name to be a little more modern, but you

27:42 Speaker 2: can think, you know, time goes back to like Leonardo

27:44 Speaker 2: da Visions, Albrich, Duerr Gray of course of Grey's Anatomy,

27:49 Speaker 2: not the television show Netter. These are all famous people.

27:53 Speaker 2: But if you open up any science book that you

27:55 Speaker 2: get in you know, elementary school, high school, college, and

27:59 Speaker 2: there's drawings in it.

28:00 Speaker 4: Someone had to do those, Okay, So.

28:02 Speaker 2: That's like the old school, low paid aspect of the job.

28:05 Speaker 2: But eventually if you start working with startups and education materials.

28:09 Speaker 2: My favorite is taking like ideas from a physician and

28:12 Speaker 2: putting it in a way that everyone else can understand.

28:14 Speaker 2: It really is like a science communication field where through

28:17 Speaker 2: my drawings and maybe even my writings. Now at this point,

28:19 Speaker 2: because I've gotten better at writing, I can communicate this

28:22 Speaker 2: idea from the idea originator, you know, a doctor with

28:25 Speaker 2: a new procedure to other people either in their field

28:28 Speaker 2: that need to learn it or to a patient who

28:29 Speaker 2: needs to understand what's going on.

28:31 Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, Now that's interesting to me because I didn't know,

28:33 Speaker 1: you know, that term biomedical art. I didn't know if

28:35 Speaker 1: that was something that a term that you had come

28:37 Speaker 1: up with specifically for what you do, or if this

28:39 Speaker 1: was a broader thing.

28:40 Speaker 3: But apparently it is.

28:42 Speaker 2: Si art is the other one. Yeah, okay, it's a hashtag.

28:47 Speaker 2: I think there's a thing on Sundays or something.

28:48 Speaker 1: Yeah, oh okay, okay. And by the way, do you

28:51 Speaker 1: hear from people who've if people reached out to you,

28:55 Speaker 1: either who who've gone and seen in person in Nashua

28:59 Speaker 1: or maybe just look online and have said you know this,

29:02 Speaker 1: you know I can relate to this.

29:04 Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of people have said it. And even

29:06 Speaker 2: one comment was, you know, just getting to know you

29:08 Speaker 2: better because there is you know, writing in those some

29:10 Speaker 2: of those pieces that talks about medical stuff that may

29:13 Speaker 2: not come up in everyday conversation. I'm fully willing to

29:15 Speaker 2: talk about it, but I don't want to, you know,

29:17 Speaker 2: down everyone on the medical stuff all the time. So

29:21 Speaker 2: but it's there if they want to read it. And

29:22 Speaker 2: people reach out and said, you know, it's really great

29:24 Speaker 2: to know these things about you. And then you know

29:27 Speaker 2: others have reached out and been like, you know, you're

29:28 Speaker 2: talking about this gravel to have a gravel piece that

29:30 Speaker 2: talks about how hard it was to get to a

29:32 Speaker 2: restaurant because I said their space was accessible, but the

29:35 Speaker 2: it was gravel and I was in a wheelchair, so

29:37 Speaker 2: I couldn't get there, so I had to be transported

29:41 Speaker 2: by another individual. And she came up to me and

29:45 Speaker 2: was like, this is like so exactly what I'm experiencing,

29:48 Speaker 2: like going to the beach, trying to walk on the beach,

29:51 Speaker 2: and I remember that too. I had friends that helped

29:53 Speaker 2: me get to the water because it's so rejuvenating for me,

29:58 Speaker 2: and and you don't know until you've experienced just how

30:02 Speaker 2: hard that is.

30:05 Speaker 5: The aspect of your own independence and freedom is huge.

30:11 Speaker 5: I have problems with my vision, amongst other things. As

30:14 Speaker 5: you know, I get transportation assistants sometimes through volunteers, through

30:19 Speaker 5: new futures in sight and to be able to make

30:22 Speaker 5: an arrangement to go to my appointment or to have

30:26 Speaker 5: a test on and not have to ask a friend

30:29 Speaker 5: or look for a favor. But it's an actual volunteer

30:32 Speaker 5: who wants to do this, and I get to make

30:35 Speaker 5: the arrangement on my own, And that titch of independence

30:39 Speaker 5: is so huge, and it's given me back a little

30:42 Speaker 5: bit of dignity that I didn't have prior to having

30:46 Speaker 5: access to transportation assistance. And you may not think about that,

30:50 Speaker 5: but if you're somebody that maybe has a little time

30:53 Speaker 5: during the day, if you help somebody get to a

30:56 Speaker 5: doctor's appointment or get to a place to pick up

30:59 Speaker 5: their prescription, yeah, that is so huge for that individual

31:03 Speaker 5: to feel strong in self and not feel like a

31:07 Speaker 5: burden or a problem or the constant oh God, don't

31:11 Speaker 5: answer the phone, that can't ask me to ry. That

31:14 Speaker 5: is like the worst thing in the world is losing

31:16 Speaker 5: your ability to transport yourself.

31:19 Speaker 2: Yes, And I can relate so much because before this

31:24 Speaker 2: current med that I'm on for my sleep challenges, I

31:27 Speaker 2: needed if I was an evening event, I always needed

31:29 Speaker 2: to go with a friend because I was driving home.

31:31 Speaker 2: It just I wasn't willing to risk it. I've never

31:32 Speaker 2: had an accent because of it. But I'm not willing

31:34 Speaker 2: to hurt someone else because of my own hurts. And

31:37 Speaker 2: now with this met I'm a lot more comfortable, you know,

31:41 Speaker 2: being able to like and so much and small business

31:44 Speaker 2: happens at these evenings of events, you know, just networking

31:46 Speaker 2: and connecting, and it was really hampering my growth. And

31:49 Speaker 2: now that I can do this, we've exploded in our

31:52 Speaker 2: connections with other nonprofits.

31:54 Speaker 5: And especially when you have have a disability or something

31:58 Speaker 5: that's going on, the end of the day is like the.

32:00 Speaker 2: Because you don't know what you got, Oh, you don't

32:01 Speaker 2: know what you got left.

32:03 Speaker 5: You know, you've tried to space out your time and

32:05 Speaker 5: like I'm only gonna use one spoon, I'm saving some

32:08 Speaker 5: for later, and then you get to that end of

32:10 Speaker 5: the day and it's so hard and you have to

32:13 Speaker 5: push through, and it's I love everything that you are doing.

32:17 Speaker 5: What you're doing for people like myself, disabled people and

32:23 Speaker 5: people who want to be expressive, people who want to

32:25 Speaker 5: experience life on their own terms. You give them that

32:29 Speaker 5: and that is such a huge thing.

32:32 Speaker 2: Thank you.

32:33 Speaker 5: You don't really it's so you know, it's one of

32:37 Speaker 5: those things that it really stinks, but I can't explain

32:40 Speaker 5: to you what it feels like unless you've lived it,

32:42 Speaker 5: and I hope to. Like heck, you never live ever.

32:45 Speaker 5: You don't want anybody else in your shoes. But if

32:48 Speaker 5: that little bit of monoicum of understanding comes out of anything,

32:52 Speaker 5: it is such a big deal for everybody in our

32:55 Speaker 5: community and right, and isn't that like most It's one

32:57 Speaker 5: thing I love about New Hampshire and the City of

33:00 Speaker 5: Manchester is there's a lot of community here. There's a

33:03 Speaker 5: lot of people that you put these few people in

33:05 Speaker 5: a room together and it's amazing what can explode for kiddos,

33:09 Speaker 5: for people to disabil it just for average anybody, you know,

33:12 Speaker 5: just to have somebody that in the community that smiles

33:14 Speaker 5: and says, hey, you exist and I really care about you.

33:18 Speaker 5: It's something that I think is kind of unique around here.

33:21 Speaker 2: We're still small enough that those individual meetings, groups of

33:24 Speaker 2: people can get together and make a difference. And I'm

33:26 Speaker 2: seeing it now on Pine Street right they're repaving it

33:28 Speaker 2: and they're redoing the curb cuts. I don't know if

33:30 Speaker 2: you've noticed, but those curb cuts, the tactile stripping has

33:34 Speaker 2: been falling apart because they chose to try plastic product

33:36 Speaker 2: and it didn't work. So they're redoing all those curb

33:39 Speaker 2: cuts and they're going to put that bike lane on

33:41 Speaker 2: Pine Street, which is fantastic. That will make me getting

33:43 Speaker 2: around because I live just off of Pine Street so

33:45 Speaker 2: much easier. Yeah, so's there's other things like if driving

33:48 Speaker 2: isn't your thing, if you're like antisocial, like I get

33:51 Speaker 2: it I sometimes, then if getting to know someone new

33:54 Speaker 2: is hard, you know, using that click fix on Manchester

33:56 Speaker 2: to point out like a curb cut that has broken

33:59 Speaker 2: so someone using a stroller or a wheelchair can't get

34:02 Speaker 2: up or down, it can be a huge things that

34:04 Speaker 2: the city knows where those things are to repair them,

34:06 Speaker 2: or that the tactile strips for people of vision challenges,

34:09 Speaker 2: you know, if they're disappearing, then they may cross it

34:12 Speaker 2: the wrong spot and get hurt and we don't want that,

34:15 Speaker 2: so noting where sidewalks are because sidewalks are a big

34:17 Speaker 2: part of independence for people who are mobile but have

34:21 Speaker 2: other disabilities for getting around the.

34:23 Speaker 5: City, especially with folks who are in wheelchairs, because you

34:26 Speaker 5: cannot bounce a wheelchair up a curve. It hurts and

34:30 Speaker 5: you cannot And that's a huge one. If I ask

34:32 Speaker 5: of anybody of anything in this city. My biggest pet

34:35 Speaker 5: peeve is people who park in handicapped spaces are on

34:38 Speaker 5: the lines. Oh but I'm just getting I'm just getting

34:41 Speaker 5: my dinner. Yeah, but the person in the wheelchair can't

34:44 Speaker 5: get out of their car now because you're parked on

34:46 Speaker 5: the lines. And maybe that person was going to go

34:49 Speaker 5: to an event downtown right like the Racks or whatever,

34:52 Speaker 5: and now they can't get out of their car to

34:54 Speaker 5: go because you've parked your car on the lines just

34:58 Speaker 5: because you need a minute.

34:59 Speaker 3: Don't do it. Yeah, I'll please stop doing See that

35:02 Speaker 3: a lot on Elm Street.

35:03 Speaker 2: Or parking on the sidewalks. Our sidewalks aren't designed for

35:05 Speaker 2: the weight of your vehicle and it destroys them. And

35:07 Speaker 2: we don't have the budgets to keep repairing sidewalks caused

35:09 Speaker 2: by vehicular unplanned travel.

35:11 Speaker 3: Right.

35:12 Speaker 2: No, there were a number of businesses around Manchester that

35:15 Speaker 2: while I was using an accessibility placard and unable to

35:19 Speaker 2: walk that I would you know, I see it, I

35:22 Speaker 2: see it the people parking in the spots without tags,

35:24 Speaker 2: and I would I would go to do my grocery shoping.

35:26 Speaker 2: Now I couldn't unload the car, but I could get

35:28 Speaker 2: the groceries, and if I timed it just right, my

35:29 Speaker 2: husband could bring them in right and then and so

35:31 Speaker 2: I would still contributing to the family, which I wanted

35:33 Speaker 2: to do, right and I would go, I'd get I

35:36 Speaker 2: and I couldn't find a parking spot because they were

35:38 Speaker 2: full of people without hangtags. And I went into some

35:41 Speaker 2: of these places and said, you know that this is happening,

35:44 Speaker 2: and they're like, oh, that's not a priority for us,

35:46 Speaker 2: right right, like talk about sending me home crying that way, Like, okay,

35:50 Speaker 2: so the grocery can't get done, money, Sorry.

35:52 Speaker 5: Yeah, I can't get milk, caniket eggs, can't get bread.

35:55 Speaker 5: It's that serious, right, It's that significant to be able

35:58 Speaker 5: to have food in your home. You have to be

36:00 Speaker 5: able to get out of the car and back into

36:02 Speaker 5: it safely with everything you need. So those spots are

36:06 Speaker 5: really a big deal. It's not a convenience thing or

36:09 Speaker 5: I'm just running in. This is about somebody being able

36:12 Speaker 5: to live their life to the fullest in our city

36:14 Speaker 5: and enjoy everything our city has to offer and get

36:16 Speaker 5: the basics stuff.

36:17 Speaker 2: Yeah, most important, and I'll mention it, you know, the

36:20 Speaker 2: door dash drivers and things. Parking, Yes, spots downtown. I

36:23 Speaker 2: hate that in the restaurants, especially on Elm Street. Oh

36:27 Speaker 2: my goodness, stop doing it.

36:31 Speaker 5: Absolutely, don't be so lazy, all right.

36:33 Speaker 2: And you can always call parking. Manchester Parking Apparently they

36:35 Speaker 2: say they like those tickets because they're more expensive tickets.

36:38 Speaker 5: Yeah, they keep raising it, but people still doing it.

36:40 Speaker 5: I think somewhere around five hundred I think.

36:42 Speaker 2: I yeah, but you can call parking. You know that

36:45 Speaker 2: that helps a person out too.

36:47 Speaker 5: I did once have that happen on Elm Street, and

36:49 Speaker 5: it was a glorious day because there's never usually somebody

36:51 Speaker 5: around when you yeah, and somebody literally pulled in in

36:54 Speaker 5: front of me and I'm telling this person get out. Yeah,

36:58 Speaker 5: you're stopping somebody from like this is a big deal.

37:01 Speaker 5: You can't block the way to get onto the curve. No,

37:04 Speaker 5: Like the curb cutouts you're talking about are essential for

37:07 Speaker 5: people to be able to actually get onto the sidewalk

37:10 Speaker 5: right or they are stuck in the street.

37:12 Speaker 2: And you don't want to be stuck in the street

37:14 Speaker 2: when you're seated below eye level.

37:16 Speaker 5: No or if you're using a navigational cane. Oh yeah,

37:20 Speaker 5: I have deat procession issues. In certain situations, I need

37:22 Speaker 5: to I don't want to be in the street. That's

37:26 Speaker 5: like the worst place in the world to me, because

37:27 Speaker 5: they're more likely to be pitfalls, you know, to fall

37:30 Speaker 5: into and then you get a new injury and a

37:32 Speaker 5: new issue, a new problem.

37:33 Speaker 2: That's definitely happened to me too. Yes, And it's not

37:37 Speaker 2: just people with disabilities that benefit from these things too,

37:39 Speaker 2: like moms and dads with strollers, that's a big thing.

37:43 Speaker 2: Little dogs that have trouble jumping up the curve, those

37:45 Speaker 2: little dogs are benefiting too. Like you know, I say

37:48 Speaker 2: this jokingly, but there's a lot of benefit to those

37:50 Speaker 2: infrastructure plans that we have, and we we need to

37:54 Speaker 2: respect them so that the whole world is a better place.

37:57 Speaker 5: And if you want people to be involved in the

37:59 Speaker 5: world around you, to make it accessible. Dred percent, I

38:02 Speaker 5: love how you use your artwork. I really love how

38:06 Speaker 5: you use your artwork to express the importance of these things,

38:10 Speaker 5: but in the most creative ways. And it's interesting to

38:13 Speaker 5: hear you talk about the anatomy and the art of

38:16 Speaker 5: the anatomy, right because I never thought about that would

38:19 Speaker 5: go to school, Like I never thought about my anatomy book.

38:21 Speaker 3: Who threw this stuff?

38:22 Speaker 2: Someone somebody did through this stuff.

38:24 Speaker 5: But I have a friend, Megan Bent, who's an artist

38:27 Speaker 5: that does chlorophyll work on leaves where you where she's

38:32 Speaker 5: imprinting imagery onto the leaf and she's done things like

38:37 Speaker 5: with spines and things like that.

38:39 Speaker 3: I think you totally like love.

38:40 Speaker 2: God to check that out. I don't know anything about her.

38:43 Speaker 5: When you were talking that's I was thinking about that,

38:45 Speaker 5: and like, you have to know this person.

38:47 Speaker 4: You have to meet this artist.

38:48 Speaker 5: She's an amazing artist, amazing activist, very much in the

38:51 Speaker 5: fight to make sure people have health care accessibility. So

38:55 Speaker 5: you know, you and I could probably talk about that

38:56 Speaker 5: forever in a day.

38:57 Speaker 2: Forever, it would never end. We'd write a book.

39:00 Speaker 1: Probably, Well, we got to the time does go quickly.

39:06 Speaker 1: We need to start to wrap up, but before we do,

39:08 Speaker 1: I want to make sure, so again, remind everybody about

39:10 Speaker 1: the fourteenth and Nashua.

39:12 Speaker 2: Six o'clock Nashua Public Library downstairs. You can get there

39:16 Speaker 2: with an elevator or the stairs. And I'm gonna have

39:19 Speaker 2: cake because we've decided to turn it into my fortieth

39:21 Speaker 2: birthday celebration.

39:22 Speaker 4: As well, Happy birthday, thank you.

39:24 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, fortieth and glorious and yeah, just you know,

39:28 Speaker 2: if you can send me a quick message let me

39:30 Speaker 2: know you're coming so I can make sure I have

39:31 Speaker 2: enough cake. That's awesome. If you don't, you know, just

39:33 Speaker 2: come anyways, we'll figure it out. We'll cut half slices.

39:35 Speaker 2: I don't care. Yeah, but it's gonna be a showing

39:39 Speaker 2: on my work. Actually, i' gonna have Jasmine Man there

39:40 Speaker 2: playing a little bit of music. I want to her

39:42 Speaker 2: on the show. Yes, and I love her. And I'm

39:46 Speaker 2: gonna have mocktails as well, so like see, Yeah, it's

39:49 Speaker 2: gonna be great. And it's at the public library, so

39:51 Speaker 2: anyone can come in and check it out. It's gonna

39:53 Speaker 2: be a party. I really hope everyone comes out and

39:55 Speaker 2: just kind of flourishes a little bit together.

39:58 Speaker 1: Outstanding, outstanding, and tell people again where they should go

40:01 Speaker 1: online to.

40:02 Speaker 2: Bioso Yeah yeah, Bioside Creative dot com. So it's b

40:05 Speaker 2: io s C. I A lot of people like p

40:08 Speaker 2: s I No, no, no, it's sc I like science

40:12 Speaker 2: Bioside Creative dot com. And then on Instagram to do

40:15 Speaker 2: follow me on Instagram, I post like sneak shots of

40:19 Speaker 2: the show. Once the show comes down, I'll post full shots,

40:22 Speaker 2: but right now it's just sneak shots because I want

40:23 Speaker 2: you to go if you can, yeah, but not everyone can.

40:26 Speaker 2: I get that, so you will get shots later on.

40:28 Speaker 3: Okay.

40:29 Speaker 2: It's an accessibility thing, sure, and then you know, you

40:32 Speaker 2: can always look at unchartered as well if you were

40:33 Speaker 2: more interested in the kiddo stuff I get to do.

40:35 Speaker 5: Okay, And the event at the National Public Library is

40:38 Speaker 5: at six pm.

40:39 Speaker 2: Six pm, that's right, excellent until seven thirty.

40:42 Speaker 1: All right, well, very good, very good. Well Amber, Nicole Cannon,

40:45 Speaker 1: thank you so much.

40:46 Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. This is fun.

40:48 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, we'll do it again in the future. Absolutely,