Creative Maladjustment
Letter From Sarah Workneh, Skowhegan Co-Director sent to the Skowhegan community in 2016.
“One argument is the myth of time. This myth says in substance that only time can solve problems that we face in the area of human relations. Somewhere along the way we must see that time will never solve the problem alone but that we must help time.
— Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dear Skowhegan,
It has been two weeks since the US Presidential election. Like many of you, both here and abroad, we have been struggling with how to respond to the political moment in which we are living.
Since the election, many Skowhegan alumni have reached out to share their fears for the future. Many among us have felt unsafe all of their lives, and many among us have worked and committed themselves to the pursuit of justice and equality. As the last couple of weeks have evolved, the issues we face seem overwhelming.
However, in this moment, we are even more convinced that our strength lies in our plurality. Skowhegan is not a monolithic community and our issues and struggles are not the same, nor will our solutions be so.
While many of us don’t know each other, we are bonded by this experience that is Skowhegan. Regardless of what may lie ahead, Skowhegan will remain a space where education, liberties and intellectual freedom with all its attendant responsibilities are protected for all. Skowhegan is made up of humans, we don't always do it perfectly. We don't always know what to do, but it is our responsibility to try.
Art, justice and equality are not mutually exclusive. In fact, in moments like now, art is even more important as a practice that preserves voice, and the unknown. As artists and as a community, we have the ability to be leaders in substantive change.
At a Skowhegan event in New York City in 2012, Cauleen Smith (A ’07, F ’12) introduced many of us to a lesser known speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. given at Western Michigan University in 1963:
"Modern psychology has a word that is probably used more than any other word in modern psychology. It is the word ‘maladjusted’. This word is the ringing cry to modern child psychology. Certainly, we all want to avoid the maladjusted life. In order to have real adjustment within our personalities, we all want the well adjusted life.
But I say to you, my friends, as I move to my conclusion, there are certain things in our nation and in the world which I am proud to be maladjusted and which I hope all men of good will be maladjusted until the good societies realize. I say very honestly that I never intend to become adjusted to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry. I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism, to self-defeating effects of physical violence.”
53 years later, Dr. King’s words can help guide all of us in how we relate, in how we work, and in who we aspire to be as artists and as people.
As tumultuous as the world may seem, let’s remember to be thankful for Dr. King’s words, our friends, our communities, and our voices.
In solidarity,
Maria Elena González
Chair, Board of Governors
Donald Moffett
Chair-Elect, Board of Governors
Carrie Moyer
Vice-Chair-Elect, Board of Governors
Sarah Workneh
Co-Director
