Working-Class Art
I'm writing you an update sort of letter. I left New York City early last September and spent the first month in England doing my show, Construction Stories. I played what you might call a key role in making this happen, by setting up two readings of my work, in England, the summer before, when I was over to an RC workshop.
The audiences were very moved by the work. I'll never forget this one lone, thin man, clearly to my experienced eye a "builder" like myself, leaning forward, paying such close attention to everything I did on stage and then when it was over, while the rest of the audience clapped enthusiastically, he rose and stood there, by himself, standing very straight, taller perhaps than he had stood in a while, and clapped slowly, loudly, giving back to me, his mouth hardly smiling, his face beaming with pride, everything I had given to him, plus the memory forever, of him standing there, so proud, of himself, and of a fellow woman builder, both of us knowing just how much it takes to frame a wall plumb.
Marty Pottenger
San Francisco, California, USA