My Final Discussion with Bob

I spoke with Robert Wood, a week before he passed away, at , where he could always be found in the evening. I wanted to talk with him about a Kent Artists’ Union, the things I thought we could do together, what he thought about trying to organize together.

I talked about the difficulties of selling one’s wares as an artist, the need for artists to have merchants sell their work in an equitable and well-presented way, and the value we could create for the community as a publicly visible entity.

He was very interested in the union. He shared with me that he had tried to do something similar many years ago, but nobody responded to his flyers or calls. He also shared his frustration with selling his art, confessed that he wasn’t a good salesman, and that he was never able to make enough to live on.

I don’t share these things to cash in on what’s in the public awareness right now, but to try to share something that seemed important to Bob, something he tried and failed to do in the past.

He asked me to send him an email with a link to this blog. I was waiting for his response to the previous essay when I read on Kent Patch that he’d passed away. I feel deeply saddened for the missed opportunity to collaborate with him in this organization, and I feel a pressing need to try to gather us together.

I don’t know what I can say to motivate local artists that this union is a necessity. I have shared ideas, but I don’t think those can be powerful enough to move people. So I hoped that maybe Bob would be willing to lend me his image, since he tried to do this in his own time. I understand everybody wants to do their own thing. There’s no strong desire to mingle with other artists. We have a lot of differences. We probably disagree on a lot of important things.

But the counterculture of Kent is against the ropes right now. We have important cultural institutions like the , the downtown Kent State Gallery, and the , but they are not enough.

The counterculture can no longer be content to dwell in special locations on the periphery of a rapidly expanding commercial zone, and we can’t rely on individual businesses to promote us out of the kindness of their hearts. We are a necessity to this town, a need they might not realize they have until it’s gone.

We are the culture of Kent. Bob is the culture of Kent. He had no place in stores. No local business in Kent would carry his work except the above mentioned (though I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes after his passing).

He carried his work across town on his back from place to place. He described himself as a bad salesman, but he worked harder than any salesman I’ve seen to sell what he could by himself. He shared this dream that he could study art, give himself to creation, and his work would be his contribution to the community.

It would be a sad commentary if the money would only come after his death, stores only willing to carry his work after he is able to benefit and thrive from it (which has already happened), people seeing value in his work when the money can no longer make his life more comfortable.

So what is the difference in his work now that he’s passed? The community views it differently now. The community is talking about him. A union could do have the same effect.

So let’s come together. Let’s start talking. Let’s try to do now what Bob couldn’t so many years ago. Join the Kent Artists' Union on Facebook, and I will notify all people on the group when a meeting is organized in the next two weeks.