This past week was very difficult. Last Tuesday we lost one of our community members, Roger. The news of his death hit me very hard, so I was grateful that I was told the day before common art. That let me take care of myself first, so that I could be there for the community the next day. Moving through the day with the weight of this loss was challenging, but we found that we could share the burden together.

Although our community has faced a lot of loss, it was difficult to share this news with them. I greatly appreciated our staff leadership, Mary Eaton and Lisa Loughlin, who in their strength broke the bad news and held the community. It was good to hear Mary represent the feelings that I, and I’m sure many in the community, felt: feelings of sadness and anger about Roger’s unexpected death, which many felt could have been avoided if he had more resources available to him.

Marielle’s memorial pin for Roger

People were able to talk about him throughout the day.  It felt good to talk about how special he was. I am so happy I was able to become close with Roger and to spend a lot of time getting to know him this year. He was always a positive presence in the community and loved to chat with people. While it is difficult for me to not dwell on  “what if” and “I wish”, I am trying to focus on positive and true things, to be glad that he was a bright, creative light for the community. Lucky to have known him for these past few months, I will cherish the bracelet he gave me along with my memories of our chatting and art making. With his passions in photography and jewelry making, and recently in writing poetry with me, Roger embodied common art. He reflected the soul of common art in creativity, community, and friendship. I will miss his smile, his curiosity, his kindness, and his very presence.

– Marielle Carpentier