Council Cast | March 24, 2023

West Edge Gallery hours for the "Inside Out" exhibit are Fridays from 4-7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday, April 16, 2023. 

For more information about the Inside Out exhibit and the upcoming Council Day Talent Show exhibits at West Edge, or to schedule a gallery visit,  please contact Gina Milum, West Edge Outreach and Operations Coordinator, at gmilum@coalfield-development.org. 

Transcript

LINDSAY CRANCE, NARRATOR
Welcome to CouncilCast, a podcast from Coalfield Development, where we highlight moments from our monthly gathering, Coalfield Council Day. It's a time for reflection, team building, and celebrating the personal and professional developments of our Crew Members.

This is Season 2 Episode 3, highlighting our Council Day on Friday, March 24, 2023. 

CEO Brandon Dennison kicked off this Council Day by welcoming a record-sized group of around 100 Coalfield employees to our headquarters at West Edge Factory in Westmoreland.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Our featured speakers for the morning were Dr. Bob McCollister and Don Perdue of Sunflower Seeds, a local non-profit organization dedicated to aiding Ukrainian refugees. Their vision is to mobilize Huntington and the surrounding Tri-State area to support Ukrainians in their efforts to preserve their democracy, ease suffering, and rebuild housing and infrastructure. Sunflower Seeds sends proceeds directly to partners in France to help provide food, hygiene, and medical items to refugees located in Poland near the Ukrainian border.

DON PERDUE
Our organization was set up initially, because we could see the humanitarian issue there. That was the first thing that grabs you. I mean, would you see, as I mentioned, the image of elementary school children trooping off to their schools with their blood type pinned to their backpack? That is an image that's so vivid, it's absolutely. Well, it rivets you to the floor. 

 The idea of sunflower seeds struck us because we're trying to plant seeds that will assist Ukraine. Our mission to assist the people of Ukraine. That's our basic mission. How can we do that best? Well, first of all, we recognized that we could do something in our local area, to raise awareness. 

We see our own problems. We're concerned about our politics, political structure, our economic structure, we're worried about gas prices, we worry about whether or not our children are getting a good education, whether or not they'll actually survive school. What we don't have to think about is whether our children can survive in their home. And there it is extraordinarily tragic. So that's, that's what this is all about. And we're hopeful. We're hopeful that we can expand it out into the larger Tri-State area.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Don, a Wayne county native, says that even though it may be hard to watch the news and learn what’s happening in Ukraine, it’s important to stay tuned in.

DON PERDUE
This is just too tough. I can't look at this anymore. How do you cut through that? You always have to refer to that person's own life experiences. Excuse me, sir. You have grandchildren? They went to school this morning. Do they have their blood types pinned to their backpack? You have to bring it down to the human level, you have to talk about the fact that we can't exist as humans in this world, where other humans in this world are being so horrifically attacked. We have to take responsibility for our own actions, and try to help. 

LINDSAY CRANCE
Following the presentation, Kelli Crabtree, Chief Human Development Officer, invited the crew to announce their recent personal and professional highlights. Christian Seabolt, a recent WRAPS graduate and new crew member, said he got his learner’s permit. Megan Mounts, green hat crew member in Mountain Mindful, said she’d also acquired a new ride. Another crew member got their driver’s license back. And Ashley Cain finished another semester at Mount West with a perfect GPA.

We also welcomed 13 new WRAPS crew members. The trainees received brown hats, symbolizing their hands-on role in rebuilding the Appalachian economy. They will be joining teams across Cabell, Mingo, and Wayne Counties for agriculture, construction, deconstruction, maintenance, and apparel.

Then, we introduced our five new staff members, including: Gina Browning, Shane Lloyd, Gates Campbell, Haley Stephens, and Sarah Bryan. These staff members received blue hats, symbolizing their desire to see and achieve Coalfield’s big-picture goals. 

To conclude our hat designation ceremony, Kelli and Brandon presented three new crew members with red hats, which represent the uniting of the vision and application of your efforts. Kavon Treleven, Christian Seabolt, and Eric Sartin, who all recently graduated from the WRAPS trainee program, will become full-time crew members.

Next, we celebrated the graduations of WRAPS trainees Max Nibert, Ethan Chandler, and Kayla Secrest. Max will be departing Coalfield to develop his freelance video production career. Ethan and Kayla will transition to full-time crew members. 

Regarding Max’s departure, several colleagues spoke highly of Max’s creative contributions and his passion for learning during his time at Mountain Mindful, including Mountain Mindful Crew Chief Brad Stapleton, Amanda Whitlock, a green hat crew member with Mountain Mindful, and Leslie Norris, Sales and Design Manager.

BRAD STAPLETON
Max Nibert, whatever you touch is going to turn to gold. You are a winner at your core. And although we are very sad that you will not continue your journey here as a crew member, with Mountain Mindful, we know that you are in the pursuit of your calling, your dream, your passion. And with that, you can't fail.

AMANDA JO WHITLOCK
You are dedicated. You have amazing impeccable tastes and music and I love vibing with that. I'm super proud of you for being so dedicated. And it's really inspiring to see you know what you want to do and I hope you never stop following your dreams.

LESLIE NORRIS
It was so awesome having you in our design meetings. Your feedback and creative problem solving with us was just like a really good time, but your insights were also incredibly helpful. You've got a great head on your shoulders, and you have a strong vision for your future. And I don't think there's any better roadmap to success.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Several other colleagues remarked on Max’s humility and good-hearted nature, including Ethan Chandler, a fellow WRAPS graduate and close friend of Max’s, Josiah Hannah, Personal Development Coordinator, Travis Edwards, Mountain Mindful Woodshop Technician, and Coalfield’s/West Edge’s Artist-in-Residence, Sassa Wilkes

ETHAN CHANDLER
He's been one of my dearest friends here in Coalfield. I just want to say, Max, I love you, man. You're a good friend, and the sky's the limit.

JOSIAH HANNAH
I think about the word sincerity when I think about you, Max, and that's a hard thing to have sometimes. It's a courageous thing to have, and I have zero doubt at all that no matter what you do, you're going to do it with utter sincerity. Very rarely have I seen anybody so emotionally and technically and professionally prepared for what's coming next. You have a steadiness and an awareness of what it's going to take and what you need to have and that you do have it you have all those tools.

TRAVIS EDWARDS
I like how you are always seeking wisdom from those around you. And that takes humility to do that. Even with folks that you may not see eye to eye with, we can still seek wisdom from each other.

SASSA WILKES
I am so proud of you. I'm you know, I'm proud of you. I'm so proud. But it is like the coolest thing to hear all the people and see that they've seen and like really witnessed and been affected by the parts of you that I've seen in you for years. I just also wanted to say thank you to all of you. You don't know how much you've changed Max's life. Everything he's gotten from here, he's gonna carry that with him for the rest of his life.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Then, Max said a few words.

MAX NIBERT
This experience has genuinely been the greatest honor that I have been privy to in my whole 19 years. I know it's a long time. I've just met amazing people and have made friends for life. I've had incredible conversations, I've learned incredible things and I just love y'all man.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Next, Kelli Crabtree recognized Ethan Chandler and opened the floor for Ethan's colleagues, advisors, and friends to reflect on his time at Coalfield. Max Nibert, Gina Milum, West Edge Outreach and Operations Coordinator, and Courtney Wilt, Financial Accountant, attested to Ethan’s gentle nature and positive influence.

MAX NIBERT
I remember going into the very big scary Black Diamond building at approximately 8am and thinking, "Who is this dude, behind me, tapping his foot whistlin', doing all that?" And I just had, I had no idea that you would become one of my best friends. Your work ethic in the shop, the knowledge you have of the trade is incredible, but more than that, you operate within your world in a way that uplifts everybody around you. And that is something exceedingly, exceedingly rare. That's something I have seen in very few people, and you're one of them.

GINA MILUM
I don't know how many times I walked into the woodshop shop, looking for help, and both your smiling faces just popped up, and always willing and eager with the spring in your step, to come help Mammaw Boomer do whatever crazy thing Mammaw Boomer needed in the gallery or out here in the Front 14. And to see the friendship, I mean, that has just really, really been touching.

COURTNEY WILT
You are Coalfield. When I think of Coalfield, I think of you. I'm so proud of you, and I cannot wait for you to be here forever and ever and ever.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Several other colleagues spoke about Ethan’s relentless perseverance through adversities, including Brad Stapleton, Sassa Wilkes, Josiah Hannah, Dreama Buck, Professional and Academic Development Coordinator, and Travis Edwards.

BRAD STAPLETON
This is the culmination of everything you've been striving for over these past six months right alongside your brother Max. And that was a really accurate way of putting that these two came on together and they had been inseparable. They are brothers, and it has been a delight to watch you grow right alongside him. You set a goal. You set your mind and your eye on something. And I've seen you systematically set and achieve goals, complete milestones unlike most any I've ever seen.

SASSA WILKES
I don't know you well, but I recognize a soft person when I see one. And that to a lot of people would not seem like a compliment, maybe because we value things that are hard, like, I'm gonna go hard, I'm gonna be hard. I'm gonna, you know, whatever. I think that's one of the biggest compliments I can ever give anybody is that you're soft, like you're sensitive, I can tell you're like, artistic in your mind, you're creative. 

It's very obvious to me that you have a big soft heart. And you should never lose that you should keep that because it kind of means you get hurt a little bit easier, but it is the strongest I think, to me, it's the strongest characteristic of a person to be really soft, and still stay open to being like loving and caring and then soft, you know, sensitive to stuff around you to maintain that way, even after you've been hurt and life is crappy and stuff. You got to be strong to be able to do that. And I just see that in you and I think that makes you really special. 

JOSIAH HANNAH
I really couldn't have agreed any more with Sassa's words. That really was spot on. And I would just add that, seeing that and knowing that, while also knowing the juxtaposition of the adversity, the little glimpses that I do know that you've faced, this is remarkable. Lot of people are faced with adversity in this room. There’s a lot of strong people in this room. You're not the least among them, and I'll tell you that. I wouldn't try to rank that stuff or devalue anybody by saying, one's better or stronger than another but, man, you've done an awesome, awesome job.

DREAMA BUCK
Loyal. That's a word that I have associated with you. You are exceptional, in your care of the people you love. And from what I can tell the people you love, or other people around you, you extend yourself, you sacrifice yourself for those people, for us. I think that quality is an intrinsic leadership quality that is part of that soft heart that Sassa was talking about. And I'm really glad that I get to be part of your journey. I'm proud of you.

TRAVIS EDWARDS
I see that you demonstrate that you don't just tell people, you love them. You do it and you show them and you're the epitome of love is action. I don't know all of your story yet. I hope to learn it, but I know that there are some tremendous obstacles that you've had to overcome to get to where you are right now. And I have no doubt that you're going to continue to excel in the future. Like the obstacles that you face right now. They're just things. They're not boundaries. They're just hurdles. 

Ethan, your value is not in what you do or what you accomplish, you are valuable, far beyond that. So I don't want you to ever think that you're only worth as much as you can accomplish or as much as you can do because you have so much inherent worth and value as a friend, as a colleague, as a brother as a co worker. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Ethan then took a moment to express his appreciation for Coalfield and the friends he’s gained during his time here.

ETHAN CHANDLER
I didn't think I could cry anymore. It's been some years. Thank you all very much. This job, it's been an honor. It's been the greatest honor. I've never come across people like this. A job like this, the things that Coalfield does for you, it’s just unheard of, and I think the possibilities are endless with Coalfield.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Kelli then introduced Kayla Secrest, our final graduate. Kelli and several colleagues, including Refresh Crew Chief Elice Hunley, Liam Burns, Agriculture Production Technician for Refresh, remarked on Kayla’s blossoming passion for agriculture and her diligent work ethic.

KELLI CRABTREE
It's been really fun just watching your journey from the beginning just really diving into agriculture. It's something that's new and just seeing like the love for it kind of just really grow every time I walk in there. I've just it's like this kind of light emanates from the space and from those of you in there, and you contribute to that so much

ELICE HUNLEY
I know that a lot of you don't know Kayla s o well. Some of you are brand, brand new. Others of you have worked here for a while, but you might not know Kayla very well, and that is because she's such a quiet force. She's one of those likes, succeed in silence folks. You have so much to celebrate, and I know that we don't always put you on the spot and make you just, you know, gab about yourself and I know that you don't want to, so I'm going to take a moment to do that. 

You have so much to celebrate, you've done so much in just the six months that you've been here. What a gift it is that I have gotten to know you as well as I have and that you have been a part of our team. The work that you put in every day, that quiet hard work, that doesn't get celebrated very often. And so we should today. Today, you are on this pedestal, and you deserve it.

LIAM BURNS
Kayla, we don't get to work together every day, but every interaction that I've ever had with you has been a positive one. So to me, it does really make sense that you are in Refresh because we need people that see the life aspect we need people that can see beyond just the food we need people that can spread that, that light, you know, and help not only the plants grow, not only the food grow, but also help the team grow, help us grow as people, as a team, as a family. So thank you for just being a huge part of that. I'm really, really proud of you.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Several colleagues, including Carlos Berry, a long-time Refresh crew member, Dreama Buck, and Adam Hudson, Senior Director of Agriculture, said Kayla had been an inspiration to many within the enterprise and expressed excitement for her future at Coalfield and in the agricultural industry.

CARLOS BERRY
Just to watch, you learn to watch you grow, not only in your job and in your program, you know, you're an inspiration to a lot of people. And just continue being who you are, you know, I'm very proud of you.

DREAMA BUCK
Kayla, what I see from you and feel from you is this tremendous depth of constancy. You just keep going and keep growing. And I love this metaphor of you being in Refresh your hands in the dirt, and you're, you're growing vegetables, but you're growing your character and yourself. And we see that in you. And the care and compassion that you have is really wonderful.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Another colleague then shared a message on behalf of his best friend and Kayla’s husband, Dana. 

I'm doing this for me and your husband, Dana. It's kind of a secret surprise, but he wanted to congratulate you on all your hard work. I know you're a hard worker, and Dana is very proud of you, and I am too. It's been a long road, and your husband is my best friend, so I'm getting emotional. I don't ever get emotional. It's been 10 plus years, but congratulations. I'm very proud of you from where you came from or where you've been.

ADAM HUDSON
It's just really pleasant to be with you in conversation, when you come to the table with solutions to problems and think through, you know, well what did we do this way? Let's not just jump in and do this thing. So to see that dynamic on the crew, in that point of view that you bring is refreshing and it's definitely a needed skill to have. And I think we did some quotes with the team and I think you said it's not just about food, it's about life. And I think to me, that summarizes just the whole thing. So I'm excited to see where you go from here. I see you leading a team someday you're going to be in charge somewhere you know managing a project leading people.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Kayla took a moment to express her gratitude.

KAYLA SECREST
I'm very quiet, and it's really hard for me to get up in front of a bunch of people and speak, but I really appreciate you all so much, all the things that you've said. That really means a lot to me, because there was a lot going on in my life sometimes and I just came to work and honestly it's like a little vacation for me just to come here and just be with my plants and be with my coworkers, and I love this place. It's amazing.

LINDSAY CRANCE
After the ceremony, we recognized one more crew member, Carlos Berry, as he was promoted to a green hat crew member. At Coalfield, green hats symbolize forward growth and leadership in our workforce. It is the highest recognition crew members may receive.

ELICE HUNLEY
When he came on, we had so much to do, and he took that responsibility, and he made it his, and that didn't go unnoticed. I saw that a mile away. You haven't let up, we probably disagree as much as we agree, that has been a nice place for me to grow. And I really, You're my friend Carlos, we had this conversation the other day where I said, I sat him down. And I'm like, Carlos, the nature of our relationship is about to change, and he said, Okay, good. Like he's ready for that leadership. He wants it. He wants to have his own responsibilities. He wants to lead activities.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Carlos said it was a great honor to become a green hat and that a love of blood, sweat, and tears had gone into earning it.

CARLOS BERRY
I came into Coalfield as, you know, a piece of trash, and, you know, through a lot of communication with me and Elice, I've changed it into a better person. Elice has helped me out a lot more than y'all know. Elice is a great person, I would not be right here standing right here without her.

LINDSAY CRANCE
James Cornett, a recent WRAPS graduate and new crew member, reacted to Carlos’ response.

JAMES CORNETT
Man, you said you were trash. What is compost for? To help people grow.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Several other colleagues, including Liam Burns, Adam Hudson, and lastly, Kayla Secrest, spoke to Carlos’ adaptability and leadership.

LIAM BURNS
So y'all probably don't know but I have a nickname for Carlos and that's the Duct Tape Iron Man. I know a lot of people. This is one of the most creative and capable people I've ever met in my entire life. I'm so proud of you. This has been a long time coming. But this is like exactly where you were always headed. I got so much love and respect for you, man. And you are Coalfield, because you got gumption. Right. Can't make him stop. You got gumption. You do it with grace. You're You're gritty. But I love you, man.

ADAM HUDSON
Carlos came on when we were kind of in a rebuilding stage for the West Edge Refresh crew and Carlos was one of our first trainees. You've always come back stronger and better whenever you had something that maybe set you back. And yeah, fully, fully exemplify all Coalfield's values, and I'm excited to see you step into this leadership role.

KAYLA SECREST
This crew would not be this crew without Carlos, and like, I'm really glad that you were here to teach me when I got here because you really take a lot of time to show somebody how to do stuff with a lot of compassion. And you've been a really good friend to me. I care a lot about you, Carlos. I'm so glad that we get to work together for at least the next three years.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Over lunch, some of our crew took the opportunity to walk through “Inside Out,” the current exhibit at West Edge. The exhibit is a collection of art created by incarcerated people in correctional facilities across West Virginia. Gina Milum, West Edge Outreach and Operations Coordinator, said the exhibit gave visitors a new perspective.

GINA MILUM
They're not able to have they don't have any access to actual art supplies. We've got things made from popsicle sticks, we've got roses made out of bread. We do. I mean, there are some things that they can make in an art class. And we've got a workshop over here in one of the prisons where they can actually make musical instruments, but they're not allowed to play them.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Gina said that many of the artists’ work in the exhibit illustrated the impact their difficult childhoods, trauma, or unstable home situations had on their lives. She said it’s important that we, as a society, work harder to help kids before they get into situations that result in incarceration.

GINA MILUM
But this just gives you a totally different perspective. We are the most incarcerated nation in the world. You can see by so much of the art, that the road to incarceration started for so many of these folks and I would hazard to say, most folks started in childhood.

You have your wins, you have your losses. We've got to understand how they got there. I'm glad someone's given me more than one chance in my life. Everybody, you know, wants to be tough on crime. But you know what? Let's be a little soft on the children before they get there.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Once this exhibit closes on April 16, another exhibit showcasing Coalfield crew’s own talents will take its place. On April 28, during our monthly Coalfield Council Day meeting, we’ll be hosting a crew Talent Show, which will involve musical performances, physical art, and more.

GINA MILUM
I want them to be able to bring their friends and their family and be able to show what they've done and what they're proud of. So it will be on display here. I hope to bring one of the TVs and Max over here is going to be one of our videographers, and we're going to be playing that so people can always come in here and watch in a loop. Carlos is going to sing and Randy Travis, so it's going to be amazing. So I can't wait. I can't wait for this.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Following lunch, Brandon took time to review our annual strategic plan, organizational progress, and discuss some adjustments regarding the ACT Now Coalition. Last September, the ACT Now Coalition, for which Coalfield is a lead sponsor, received one of 21 awards from the US EDA’s Build Back Better grant program to direct $62.8 million towards climate technology development in southern West Virginia.

BRANDON DENNISON
We have now trained over 1700 people since 2010. Now that includes we do community training, sometimes that are one day, half day or a week. So that does include some shorter term training we've done, but pretty amazing impact. And we've helped support 72 new businesses, some of those we've incubated from scratch. And then a lot of those are businesses, we've invested through us to be strong about communities. 

I'm proud of our numbers. But it's not all about numbers. It's about outcomes, and it's about people. And it's about our stories and the agency and the dignity that we discover here together. 

We did lead something last year called the ACT Now Coalition. Climate Technologies is basically a new technology that is climate resilient, that helps to be environmentally sustainable. That helps to be environmentally responsible. So that could include solar, wind, geothermal could include recycling could include local agriculture could include local green manufacturing that incorporates renewable energy or reuse products. 

We formed a coalition. It includes Marshall WVU, includes Huntington, Charleston, Logan, and includes carpenters, union, electrical workers, nearly 50 private businesses and some of the most innovative nonprofits in the state of West Virginia. It was a historic coalition, we competed in a national competition. And we've brought nearly 100 million of new investment to southern West Virginia. And again, that's what you are a part of. It's because of the tangible work, the tangible modeling of a new economy.

Growth can be hard, growth can feel scary or overwhelming, but remember the principles. Remember the vision, remember the values. If we stay true to that? Well, I think we'll make good decisions. For me personally, as the founder, this place has already exceeded the wildest goals I could have set for it and 2010 to be totally honest, and I'm grateful for that.

LINDSAY CRANCE
To conclude the day’s events, Artist-in-Residence Sassa Wilkes hosted another collaborative painting project, where we each painted custom designs on a square with vibrant colors. Once the squares have been completed, they will be installed on the lower brick exterior of West Edge Factory and along the 14th Street West bridge. 

A few months ago, Sassa hosted a similar project where the crew all painted on one large canvas. The canvas was cut and formed into scales on a large snake art installation inside West Edge. Sassa said they were inspired to make the West Edge exterior reflect all of the vibrant things that happen inside.

SASSA WILKES
When I first learned about stuff that was going on inside of this building, I was completely blown away. Because I was like, really? That's just like a warehouse. That's just a building like you would never guess if you just drove by it. So, I want it to be very apparent when people drive by that there's some seriously cool stuff happening like that you can't miss it just really, really bright. These pieces that you paint will actually be permanently adhered to either the front of this building or on 14th Street West or both.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Each table received a select amount of colors for the project, and Sassa said the lack of variety was intentional so we could stay within a range on the color wheel.

SASSA WILKES
Making sure you only have a couple of colors makes you really creative. And the reason I wanted you to have is so you can mix lighter versions of that too. So just think in terms of like a crisp, nice pattern that you can see and you can interpret that in any way you feel like and some of these will come diagonally and have like little rectangles of them in certain places.

LINDSAY CRANCE
At one table, five staffers from various positions worked with a combination of blue, green, and white paints. Adrian Sayles, Crew Chief for West Side Deconstruction, Caroline Hunter, Staff Accountant, Mariah Clay, AmeriCorps member for conservation, Courtney Wilt, Financial Accountant, and Grace McKeown, Operations Coordinator.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Mariah Clay said although they found it a little tough to work with a limited amount of colors, they enjoyed thinking outside the box.

MARIAH CLAY
So every table was given a different color, different colors, two colors, and then a white for mixing, we got a pretty light green and a light blue. To me, it's giving Adventure Time. So I'm doing a little scene that I envisioned from Adventure Time. So some water and also when I think of Adventure Time I also think of West Virginia, because it's a lot like, it's very hilly, a lot of really pretty water. So I'm doing some water here, and I want to do some green around it to add the color and yeah, hopefully it'll all come together and make something really cool.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Adrian Sayles focused on painting a landscape with the blue, white, and green paints. Adrian, who has been with Coalfield a couple months now, said he has thoroughly enjoyed his time with Coalfield so far. 

ADRIAN SAYLES
Just wonderful. Very happy to be here. Times have been great. Everybody has been great. So it's nice to be around a good group of people. My time has been wonderful.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Courtney Wilt, Financial Accountant, said she was looking forward to seeing the crew’s art added onto the exterior of the West Edge Factory Building.

COURTNEY WILT
Everyone that enters the building for whatever activity, whether it'd be someone doing a wedding or someone doing a show, they're going to be able to come in and see this artwork that we've all put together on the outside of the building.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Gina Browning, our Equitable Employment Coordinator, is one of our most recent hires. This Council Day event was her first.

GINA BROWNING
I've cried all day long. It's just been amazing. I'm a softy. So I was very touched and moved by everybody's kind words and just everybody's stories. Yeah, it's been wonderful.

LINDSAY CRANCE
For her square, Gina mixed her colors to create an ombre pattern.

GINA BROWNING
I think it looks very calming. If you're out on the water or something and you see all the different colors and it looks like so many different colors, but it's really not. This is great, I think. What a fun creative thing to get to do.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Sassa shared more insight into the project’s scope and the intention behind it. For them, Coalfield challenged their expectations, and with this external display of our crew’s creativity, they hope it challenges others’, too.

SASSA WILKES
I've told so many people, like, you just would not know if you drop by here. When I first figured out what was here, I was shocked. I want it to be just totally undeniable, like anybody that drives by like, I want to know what happens in that building like that a normal building wouldn't have there wouldn't look like that. Like, I want to know what happens there.

LINDSAY CRANCE
In the meantime, Sassa has been experimenting with digital mockups to try various designs and placements. They said they’re looking forward to seeing crew members be able to see and show off their squares for years to come.

SASSA WILKES
I mean, it's absolutely perfect. So I hope people can see what they made. Eventually, they'll know where to go to find it and be like, Yeah, I did that. Because that's a powerful feeling to see some live pieces of public art. And not only say, like, I contributed to that, but be able to point to the section like that right there. I did that, you know, 10 years ago, I did that and take your kids down there and be like, I painted that part. And that was my contribution.

LINDSAY CRANCE
Sassa then took a moment to reflect on their role as Artist-in-Residence at West Edge.

SASSA WILKES
I love being here. It is completely different than I thought it would be. I mean, an artist in residence is supposed to connect with the community around where they are. That is like part of it. People here don't seem to feel a lot of hesitancy about making art. There's also not a lot of hesitancy to talk about real things. And I love that and I was blown away by that. 

The first time I ever did a Coalfield Council day, I ended up sitting at a table listening to people who were talking about the fact that they had reentered after being in prison, or they had been a coal miner for a long time and been in like physically extremely dangerous jobs. And I mean, like, you couldn't have picked five more different people to plop down at a table together, but it didn't matter. Everybody was really open to talking about what was going on with them and celebrating, I love that people celebrate everything here. I wasn't expecting to feel like I had, like, fallen in love with this place and the people that work here for sure. Like, I really, really love it.

LINDSAY CRANCE
From connecting with the community, to challenging stereotypes, to making creative space for the crew to express their emotions in, they said the entire experience has been massively impactful and inspiring.

SASSA WILKES
People are more expressive and less fearful. And I think that speaks to the things that people do here that they're just used to doing, and that Coalfield Council days where it's like, okay, to be open about things and express emotions, that really translates well into expressing and paint. And it might not seem like a big deal to paint a square and do it abstractly. But it is to some people.

It's absolutely inspiring me to want to do more community art to want to reach out to certain subsets of communities that I wouldn't have really thought to reach out to or just wouldn't have been in my head. But yeah, I like people and places that challenge my expectations and stereotypes, and I feel like this has done that. 

More than anything else is completely blown away by any expectation or any stereotype I might have had about certain types of people or places or histories or whatever. And I just think that's inspiring, not just for artwork, but like, I mean, imagine if the world were like that, it would solve some big huge problems.

LINDSAY CRANCE, NARRATOR:
Thanks for listening to CouncilCast, a monthly podcast from Coalfield  Development. This series is hosted and produced by JJN Multimedia. Subscribe to CouncilCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you’re hearing, be sure to leave us a review. To support or learn more about our work creating resilient Appalachian communities and helping people unlock their full potential, power, and purpose, find us on social media or visit www dot coalfield hyphen development dot O R G. Thanks for joining us today. We’ll see you next month.