Get Out of Your Culture Zone

The value of trying something new.

This month, we asked our COMO Living advisory board to try a new cultural or artistic experience. They shared the results of this experiment with us.

Becky Erdel

My artistic challenge is to get back to drawing and painting. Art used to be part of my daily life. I taught art for 20 years — then we opened Inside Outlet! There was no time for my art. I have not picked up a pencil or paint brush for over 15 years, and I was so excited to get back to my passion. I’m starting with pencil drawings of some of my favorite family photos, and I’m making note cards using these drawings. People are my favorite subject, and painting will be my next mission. I have three big canvases primed and ready.

Ann Merrifield

This month’s challenge was a little more difficult for me, as I already enjoy a variety of artistic and cultural experiences — I attend Roots N Blues every year, I love Artlandish Fridays downtown, I watch movies at Ragtag frequently (as a matter of fact, I’m going there after I finish writing this), I’ve painted (badly) at Paint the Town, I love the Blue Note, and I’m a new board member for the Missouri Symphony Society. So when asked to try something new culturally or artistically, I stretched myself a bit and volunteered to take a dance class.

What the heck was I thinking? How could I have forgotten that I have a scar on my chin from square dancing in eighth grade? I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that I’m never going to quit my day job to become a jazz dancer!

So, with apologies to my fellow board members, who I’m sure tried something brand new, I did something I’ve done before, only in a different way — I accompanied a variety of small choral acts over the holiday season out at Barnes and Noble. I’ve played the piano most of my life, but I’ve never done so in a shopping mall — it was great fun. I learned that young people still enjoy singing Christmas carols and that people never tire of listening to them.

I’m certainly enjoying these monthly challenges, but I’m putting this out there right now — if next month’s is to try a new athletic experience, I may have to quit the board. (Need I remind you of the scar on my chin from square dancing?)

Krista Kippenberger

This year, Curt and I decided to choose a cooking class for our team at Focus on Health as our holiday party. Ashley, with Back 2 Basics Cooking, came up with a menu. The only things we knew to expect were food and wine!

Our team of 13 split into two groups, one cooking while the other got to visit. We asked each other random questions and tried to come up with the right answers. Time passed quickly because when we weren’t just cooking — we were doing something fun with our team.

The food we made was different than what I would make at home, with different ingredients and fun kitchen tools I had never seen. Like a Veggetti! I must have one. By the end, we were starving and sat down together to share in a meal we prepared as a team. Everyone loved the food and we took home the recipes. Sometimes it’s not about the food; it’s about the people you prepare it with.

Carolyn Paris

My mother’s birthday is in mid-December. We usually go out for a nice lunch to celebrate. However, this year, I was out with friends when I heard them talking about attending the upcoming Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert. I got online to order tickets — and dang it, they were sold out. I put the word out that I was looking for two tickets. Lo and behold, the day of the concert, my friends John and Melody came through.

My mom and I decided to wear our “dress-up” hats, which come from her mother and cousin circa 1960. They are beautiful. The one my mother wore was turquoise and blue, made of feathers. My mother and her family were committed to the arts, which allowed music to be a part of my upbringing. Being with my mom and listening to wonderful music made this birthday an extra special memory.

Jill Orr

For my challenge, I attended a concert as a part of the We Always Swing Jazz Series. My husband is a big jazz fan and is always trying to get me to go with him to these sorts of deals, and I am always begging not to go, with excuses about having to stay home and clean out my sock drawer. But this time I went, and here is what I learned: First, I have an enormous amount of respect for jazz musicians and their ability to improvise. Second, the We Always Swing Jazz Series is an absolute local treasure, and Columbia is so very lucky to have it. Third, I do not like jazz.

Much like my new puppy, who wants to be potty-trained, I want to like jazz — I just don’t. There is a small part of me that considers this a personal failure, but in the end, I think music just isn’t my thing. Words are my thing. And that is what makes the arts so great: there is something for everyone. Now I just have to try explaining that to my husband . . .