When considering the concept of leadership, attributes like “focus” and “direction” often come to mind. Over the course of my fellowship thus far, I have discovered that these are not necessarily the qualities I rely on as frequently as I expected in my own leadership path, and it has taken until just recently to become comfortable with that. Some leaders are laser focused on advancing an agenda. Others go where they are needed at the time. I get around quite a bit.

At the beginning of my fellowship journey, I took the things that I had been most successful with to that point, and tried to design a plan that, if visualized, would look something like a spear- sharp, streamlined, and set on a path straight forward without distraction. But good leaders need to know themselves, their strengths and their attributes well, and this spear I designed did not cater to my attributes. I am still passionate about developing public art that empowers people, but I originally thought that my path would be focused on developing spaces, and instead my work has taken a very distinct turn towards the human side of it. I have become heavily engaged in the work of juvenile diversion, working with youth referred to me through the court system as well as mentoring youth currently held in Juvenile detention facilities. The surprise of this is that at the beginning of my fellowship, I was concerned that the work I was entering into with juvenile diversion as instructed by my job would distract me from the work I would be trying to do with my fellowship. The reality though is that it’s the most important element of my fellowship work, and perhaps, the one I was frightened to dive in to for fear of failure. To my relief, failure has not been the case.

The work I do with them is simple and meaningful and at the end of the day, I walk away humbled to be able to connect with and understand these young people who are so different from me. I’ve come to remember that art and public art spaces were only the tools. Bringing people peace of mind was always the end goal. So I go directly to those who need my support and we make murals together. I hear them, I accept them, and I appreciate them.

During your Bush Fellowship, the ideology of leadership is presented to you in abundance. Your are given this distinction, and others remind you of it often. You report on your development of leadership monthly. It becomes both your identity and the goal that you seek to achieve.
I have found discomfort in the notion that leaders are distinctly separate from the rest of us. In my pondering on the subject, I have become an advocate for servant leadership. I believe a key stumbling block to much of humanities progression is the idea that leaders are on top which leads to competition rather than cooperation. I had the opportunity to explain this theory to a class of fourth and fifth graders last week. It was my daughters class. She was getting bullied by a couple of her classmates, so I asked the teachers if I could come in and talk to the whole group.

I shared pictures of all of the amazing art projects I have worked on. I showed them paintings I had done in tiger cages, and libraries, paintings used in commercials and tv shows, and paintings of Mohamed Ali, and Oscar Howe, and the Water Protectors fighting the Black Snake. I told them the stories of the paintings, and having to fix them when people defaced them, and the words of encouragement I received from around the world as well. Then I told them that every great opportunity I’ve had came from being supportive of others or trying to help out. I told them that every single one of them could be leaders. All they had to do was support each other and they would see for themselves how others would look to them as leaders. I explained that the notion they may have heard that you had to scratch and claw your way to the top to get what you want in life was not true, for if you scratch and claw your way to the top of a hill, you damage the foundation you stand on, and it will eventually give way and you will fall.

Leaders aren’t on the top of the hill. They are in the very center of it, supporting everything that surrounds them, and being supported by everything in return.
That’s what continues to materialize in my leadership development over the course of my fellowship. I will not be on the top of the hill. I will be leading from right in the thick of it. That’s where I’m well suited.