Wet Paint: A conversation with Sophia Dawson
- Sep 18, 2017
- 2 min read
It's late afternoon. We walk into a studio space in downtown Easthampton, MA. Honey lavender lemonades, oatmeal cookies and a pumpkin whoopie pie (because, whoopie pies!) in hand from Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters. [Shoutout to a local & delicious coffee shop]. Sophia is sitting in the middle of the floor, Nina Simone is singing in the background; canvas, paint, brushes at the ready. It's almost as if we are all old friends and just hanging out while she paints-just a regular day. We take off our shoes, make ourselves comfortable, pass around the bougie lemonades and thank her for taking the time out of her schedule to meet with us. We remind her that we are brand new and don't really know what we are doing but we are thrilled that she is willing to be our guinea pig and first conversation. She assures us that she gets "working from the ground up" and immediately puts us at ease.
She begins to paint while casually answering our questions. We are **trying to be chill and professional at the same time (secretly fan girling out). We say that we have a bunch of questions but really just want to know about her. Dana says "tell us everything, start from the beginning, don't leave anything out!" Just some old friends sitting around as if we are just catching up. Sophia feels grounded, genuine, present. The colors she uses to paint feel as though they come from within her. And they evolve, bold, bright, dynamic and engaging. The subject emerges as does the story of how she started, where she is from and the reckless abandon she gives to her art that is motivated by her trust in God. It feels humbling to be around her. We are witnesses to her process and it is truly a gift.
As we sit with her in an old mill building, watching her, talking to her, and laughing with her, the scene feels surreal and almost ethereal. If you can imagine a more perfect interview that was it. Even though we just met Sophia the evening prior at an event at the Rosenberg Fund for Children, it feels as if we have known her forever. The more we talk to Sophia, the more we fall into an easy chat like reunited lifelong friends. Sophia talks to us about her family, her son, being a mother, her love of painting, friends she has made with current Black Panther political prisoners, growing up in Brooklyn, and her work with incarcerated youth at Ryker's Island.
Our conversation with Sophia opened our eyes, minds and hearts to political prisoners in the U.S. We hope that our conversation and her work does the same for you.
If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved with political prisoners, you can find more information through the National Jericho Movement.
You can listen to our conversation with Sophia Dawson on our podcast page. After you listen to our podcast, come back here, and share with our readers what "being free" means to you.
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