Damn Everything but the Circus
In 1968 at age 50 Corita (she decided to retain the name attached to her art life, Frances forever would be buried in the past) extended her sabbatical by withdrawing her vows and leaving the order.
At the time she was drawn to the poetry of several transcendental writers.
This is where I discovered Corita—Googling the e.e. cummings poem, Damn the circus
I was considering an epigraph for my non-fiction manuscript about cycling the UK from the very top to Land’s End. I needed something that conveyed the tension, the push and pull of fear and adrenaline, the tight wire of risk. The funny thing about risk is that it makes life interesting. Those who avoid it lead safe, stable mediocre lives. It is the person who steps away, who dares to lose sight of the shore that ventures forth to discover. Sometimes we find out something entirely new about ourselves, the world when we take a chance. This high wire act has all the pros and cons of every major decision—but it is about facing these decisions that makes the person. We know many who have ducked the hard choices, played the middle ground, both sides of the fence.
But there comes a moment when we have to enter into the unknown.
As a kid I hated circuses. Maybe it was a consideration for the animals—were those tigers really happy cooped up in cages, the elephants outside the center ring—were they well-treated? But it was the trapeze acrobats that shut me down. The suspense made me hide under my seat, close my eyes. I couldn’t stand the idea I was watching someone’s last act. It’s the same thing with scary movies, the girl in the shower—I turn it off. I’d rather NOT know.
Sister Corita, after 32 years in the convent, went from 200 roommates to living by herself in an apartment in Boston’s Back Bay. From 1968 to 1974 she took up art commissions and taught some. In 1974 she received a cancer diagnosis, yet she continued to produce art. Her LOVE stamp in 1985 was one of her greatest successes. Corita Kent passed away in 1986 at the age of 67.
November 20, 2019 was officially named Corita Day in Los Angeles in honor of what would be Corita Kent’s 101st birthday.
My series on Corita inspired by:
CORITA KENT. ART AND SOUL. THE BIOGRAPHY.
By April Dammann
Published by Angel City Press, 160 pages, $40
To read the entire series, Search Corita Kent or click on tags.
At the time she was drawn to the poetry of several transcendental writers.
This is where I discovered Corita—Googling the e.e. cummings poem, Damn the circus
I was considering an epigraph for my non-fiction manuscript about cycling the UK from the very top to Land’s End. I needed something that conveyed the tension, the push and pull of fear and adrenaline, the tight wire of risk. The funny thing about risk is that it makes life interesting. Those who avoid it lead safe, stable mediocre lives. It is the person who steps away, who dares to lose sight of the shore that ventures forth to discover. Sometimes we find out something entirely new about ourselves, the world when we take a chance. This high wire act has all the pros and cons of every major decision—but it is about facing these decisions that makes the person. We know many who have ducked the hard choices, played the middle ground, both sides of the fence.
But there comes a moment when we have to enter into the unknown.
As a kid I hated circuses. Maybe it was a consideration for the animals—were those tigers really happy cooped up in cages, the elephants outside the center ring—were they well-treated? But it was the trapeze acrobats that shut me down. The suspense made me hide under my seat, close my eyes. I couldn’t stand the idea I was watching someone’s last act. It’s the same thing with scary movies, the girl in the shower—I turn it off. I’d rather NOT know.
Sister Corita, after 32 years in the convent, went from 200 roommates to living by herself in an apartment in Boston’s Back Bay. From 1968 to 1974 she took up art commissions and taught some. In 1974 she received a cancer diagnosis, yet she continued to produce art. Her LOVE stamp in 1985 was one of her greatest successes. Corita Kent passed away in 1986 at the age of 67.
November 20, 2019 was officially named Corita Day in Los Angeles in honor of what would be Corita Kent’s 101st birthday.
My series on Corita inspired by:
CORITA KENT. ART AND SOUL. THE BIOGRAPHY.
By April Dammann
Published by Angel City Press, 160 pages, $40
To read the entire series, Search Corita Kent or click on tags.
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