On July 1st we said goodbye to the Enchanted Circle longtime studio space at Open Square in Holyoke. Many of you have been in this studio, training with fellow teachers, meeting new people, gathering to discuss summer arts education programming. Whenever someone entered the studio for the first time, they always looked up and their mouths fell open. The space has the high ceilings of a mill building, painted white, an open floor plan, bright yellow walls, and enormous windows where the sun would stream in. Space is powerful. What a space feels like really matters. This space held early morning staff meetings with steaming cups of coffee, Teaching Artists sharing new theatre games and discussing best practices, day long retreats on culturally responsive arts integration practice with breezes flowing in through the open windows, bustling afternoons with staff members at computers, Teaching Artists flowing in and out from school residencies, one searching for a book, another reflecting with pen and journal on the couch, one picking up costumes for a school performance, another spread out on the large wooden table putting together a teaching resource fresh off the printer.
When we gather, there is always food in the center of that beautiful wooden table. Pastries and fruit in the morning; or chicken, jackfruit and arroz con gandules from Crave in the afternoon; sometimes fattoush and spinach pie from Nadim’s at an evening workshop. We gather around the food, feeding ourselves and feeding each other. The sharing of food is an essential element of culture building that communicates: You Belong Here. Food and art are fuel. They bring us the creative juice to live into the collective liberation we seek.
Holyoke Teens build giant collages on that wooden table in the weekly Community Youth Art Labs with Julissa and Ebbie. Yaurelí guides parents and children as they collaborate on visual art projects there. Partners gather around that table in regular hybrid meetings, accommodating humans with various circumstances to be virtually included in important conversations. Teachers create puppets with gabriela micchia – glue and paint spilling while teachers enjoy that rare time where they get to laugh and create together.
And those of you who know who you are, when we took that table apart we found quite a few pieces of gum stuck to the bottom.
Although Enchanted retained most of the furniture that we’ll need for our reopening in 2025, that giant wooden table was donated to The Drama Studio in Springfield. As we’ve downsized this past month, some of our favorite partners have been the beneficiaries.The Children’s Museum at Holyoke got the giant parade masks. CFCE/Headstart Programming received hundreds of storybooks. Holyoke High got the costumes and props. Lighthouse Holyoke will use set pieces, props and costumes at their new school at 92 Race St. Paper City Fabrics received yards of costume fabric. Knowing that these resources will continue to benefit youth and community brings me so much joy.
I joined Enchanted Circle as a Teaching Artist back in 2010 with the Teen Resource Project that was housed at the Care Center. I worked with the teens to write an original play which they performed in one of the old mill buildings along the canal. I quickly went on to facilitate Enchanted’s arts integration program with elementary age students at Homework House. I was a 30 year old WASP from the South, ten years into Spanish as my second language, and fresh out of theatre education grad school. I am immensely grateful to each and every young person, teacher, adult learner, colleague and mentor who has helped me learn, grow, and overcome challenges during my time at Enchanted. For me, leaving Open Square is bittersweet. There is a long history here of this wide open space holding the mission-driven work so beautifully. Studio 206 at Open Square is fully accessible with ramps and elevator. Thanks to the advocacy of Julissa Rodriguez and our team here, the bathrooms on our floor became All Gender Inclusive a few years ago, a vital component of safety for our LGBTQIAA+ programming.
Moving out of Open Square will save the organization money during this temporary pause in programming. But saying goodbye also opens up so many possibilities for what may develop next. Enchanted Circle is entering a research phase: a community feedback and listening tour. How can Enchanted best approach its mission to bridge the arts, culturally responsive education and social emotional wellbeing? How can we best serve our community? What kind of space should house this work? Should Enchanted’s space be close to one of the Holyoke Public Schools where youth can walk to for after-school programming? Should the studio be on Main Street so families can easily drop in for arts labs? Should the space function more like a training center for all of the Arts Integration teacher professional development workshops the district is hoping for? Maybe our next space will have that long sought-after fully realized kitchen for feeding people as they learn and build with one another.
So long Open Square. Thank you for holding us so well. For being steady roots and fertile soil. For being the solid ground for our long wooden table, big enough for all the teenagers to glue their fingers together, giggling, their long colorful strokes of oil pastels, emotions and ideas splayed open in safety and care. We don’t know exactly the next form Enchanted will take, but we are looking forward to the new opportunities and challenges that will come. As we move out and move into the next chapter, I have a stirring feeling of excitement and wonder … what will sprout next?
The Enchanted Circle board will be engaged in Community Dialogue around the organization’s next steps this fall. Please reach if you’d like to offer your ideas and support info@enchantedcircletheater.com