THE Emily Dickinson Illustrated Chair

Thought I'd share this art story with you. In 2006 I was invited to join other artists in a fund-raising effort (The Illustrated Chair) for a local library. I was provided with an old chair to transform in any way I chose to reflect a book. Having recently moved to Western Massachusetts, I was becoming increasingly familiar with the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson. http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/hours.html I focused my design theme on Dickinson. To make a long story short, the Emily Dickinson International Society made the winning bid for the chair. They planned to present it as a gift to the next outgoing president of the EDIS.

In the 2 years ensuing the auction, the chair took on a life of its own. A handful of articles made the local papers, and I was often introduced as "the artist who made the Emily Dickinson chair." My 15 minutes of fame was magnified to a degree my meager math skills cannot compute. At last, the chair was presented this August to the EDIS outgoing president, Gudrun Grabher, Professor of American Studies at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. I had no idea she would be so overwhelmed with the gift. The story of shipping the chair to its final destination is a novel in itself, so I'll spare you that part.

Gudrun recently emailed me a copy of her thank-you to EDIS:
" My dear friends, last week I returned from Boston - together with the Illustrated ED Chair. We both arrived safely in Innsbruck. Thanks to ... great efforts, the chair had been wrapped and packed so carefully, that no harm was done to it on the trip from Boston to Innsbruck. It took me almost one and a half hours to unwrap it. It was like Christmas. For the weekend my mother and my sister came to visit me and to see and admire the Chair. On Monday I took it to my office so that my colleagues, who had been eagerly awaiting it, could also admire it. I want to thank all of you again for this wonderful gift. It is one of the most touching things I have ever received in my whole life. My former professor and mentor dropped by and I showed him my Chair. He said it was the most original gift he had ever seen in the academic environment. Jane Chang, the artist, sent me a whole portfolio that goes with the Chair. I have decided to put all of that material into the beautiful Japanese album that I was given last summer in Kyoto when I stepped down as President."

(Re the chair portfolio: I kept a binder filled with photos, my research notes, and newsclippings on my project. I sent a complete photocopy of this portfolio to Gudrun after the presentation.)

How very satisfying to know something I created has brought so much pleasure. Generally, when an artist creates something, the only way he or she knows it's appreciated is if it is purchased. I then think, "Well, at least SOMEONE enjoyed it". It is rare, however, to have this much knowledge of the end result, and I'm so grateful to be able to know how it all turned out.

The journey of this art project has added so much to my life. I've made dozens of new friends in circles I'd never thought to enter before, and I've become more and more attached to Dickinson's work. All this from a little voice in my head saying, "Just go ahead and try it. You need to stretch yourself in new ways."