Linda Shoemaker welcomed Jan. 30.
At least 100 people crowded the lobby of the Arlington Center for Arts on Thursday, Jan. 30, to welcome Linda Shoemaker, the 25-year-old center’s new executive director.
The evening’s theme was enthusiasm for Arlington’s arts as Shoemaker, a veteran of the center on Foster Street in East Arlington, expressed her best wishes going forward.
Emphasizing high hopes was a display of Shoemaker’s talents on drum and in leading those gathered in a call-and-response titled “Baba’s Prayer/Sotemabandanin.”
So was the voice of Louise Grasmere, who wrote the words based on a traditional Malinke song from Guinea and inspired by the words of Babatunde Olatunji.
Welcoming photos >>
Shoemaker shared her fervor for drumming, which she took up about 15 years ago. “It changed my life,” she said.
Well-wishers sang a Fanga song of welcome from Liberia.
Musicians included Matt Jenson, keyboard; Liz Penton, Barbara Gosselin, Carlee Blamphin, drums.
Jenson, who teaches at Berklee, pointed to a wall where many stood in the lobby and said he has had a studio there for 20 years — “cheap.” The hideaway has been for him a place of creation.
Jan. 15, 2014: New arts director aims to listen: Let her know what you want
This story was published Friday, Jan. 31, 2014.
