Arts Alliance, the Twin City Arts Foundation, Monroe Renaissance, the Ouachita Business Alliance (OBA), ARROW Public Art, and North Monroe Baptist Church have all earned Kelsea’s attention as a volunteer. She provides not only physical help and ideas, but also lends encouragement to the larger community through these associations.
Savoring ' now'
GARY GUINIGUNDO PHOTOGRAPHY
Kelsea McCrary
not diminished since childhood, her spirit of volunteerism --that desire to help others --- remains strong. Even though volunteering brings its own challenges (“I think learning to work with people is a constant education”), it also brings its own special kind of reward. Revitalizing downtown Monroe and West Monroe is a major focus for her these days, and she champions the Downtown Arts Alliance at every opportunity. This small group of artists and creative
thinkers volunteer countless hours to promote the arts and to draw attention to the ongoing renewal of the historic downtowns on both sides of the Ouachita River. “We put on six Downtown Gallery Crawls a year, with the sole reward being seeing both downtowns alive and literally crawling with people on those nights. It’s amazing each time,” she said. As is characteristic of her Generation Y brothers and sis-
ters, Kelsea sees downtown revitalization in more than economic development terms. “My generation is looking to revamp the places that those before us built and then vacated,” she said. “We want to reclaim --re-purpose --- them. That’s part of the fun, figuring out what we can do in a building that was built a century or more ago. We aren’t asking to return it to its former glory; we are looking to the next one hundred years.” In addition to the Downtown
At the moment, Kelsea’s heart belongs to Murphy, a rescue pup she retrieved when his owners decided not to keep him. For a year-and-a-half, he has been an integral part of her life. He is her running buddy, her alarm clock, and the world’s best listener when her dad isn’t around. Kelsea’s idea of a perfect day would include good coffee, lots of quiet time, a house already clean, a run with Murphy on the levee, time with friends and family, a healthy meal, and --most importantly --- no agenda. She would “season” her day with her three greatest passions: food (“ ...something we absolutely need for survival but that we have turned into an art form purely for the joy of it... ”), art (“... for all the reasons that others have written better than I ever could ...”) and faith (“...growing and learning and trying to walk my faith daily as an adult is one big adventure, and is always the starting and ending point for me, no matter what happens in between...”). As so many are these days, Kelsea is committed to the “crunchy” movement --- the trend to make one’s ecological footprint as small as possible. To accomplish this, she has begun consciously thinking about ways she can reduce, reuse, or recycle things. In addition, she is seeking to eliminate her consumption of some products altogether. Even in these seemingly small ways, she is making a difference. Kelsea’s mother found a form not long ago that a very young Kelsea had filled out for her first week of kindergarten. On it, Kelsea said that she wanted to be an artist when she grew up --- not a ballerina, or a doctor, or an astronaut, but an artist. Even then, she knew what she wanted. It would just take time for her to get there.
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