Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Charlotte Phillips.
Hi Dr. Charlotte, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
This story is a bit unconventional, which is valid considering it involves hiding glitter-covered gnomes around Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Professionally, I’m a professor, researcher, writer, clinical supervisor, and dissertation chair.
I was born in Baltimore and as a young child, moved to Ocean City where I grew up surfing and covered in sand and rebellion.
During graduate school, I moved to Philadelphia and would frequent South Street where I encountered my first living art exhibit. It was interactive, and whimsical, and I soon forgot about it, since my own imagination had long been suppressed by academic writing and APA formatting. I have an actual visual memory of the day my imaginary friend disappeared, and I am pretty sure my imagination went with it!
After experiencing the timely, sacred, passing of my grandmother, Antoinette, I hid out in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia just long enough to rediscover this imagination I thought was gone forever.
In between antiquing, studying Appalachian folklore, learning to forage, mushroom hunting, refurbishing old furniture, and cultivating a love for poetry, I saw a gnome posted online and I drove a few miles away into West Virginia to snag it.
Painting the gnome was the strangest healing experience I could not have made up if I tried to!
Eventually, I moved back home to the shore and saw Ocean City and Berlin through a new, grief stricken, childlike lens. In a creative deep dive, I merged the wonder inspired by the South Street Lion Wheel Living Art Exhibit in Philly with my magical healing gnome lore.
Thus, was born the Gnomes of Berlin Living Art Project.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The struggle was the inspiration. Grief has a way of whittling us down to the very template of our being, and so, in missing and longing for my grandmother, I reconnected with a part of myself that was never really dead.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The Gnomes of Berlin Project was simple.
When a gnome reveals itself to a person, they scan the QR Code on the bottom/on the tag and capture a photo with or of the Gnome.
The Gnome is theirs to keep – a tiny piece of lore from our gnarly part of the shore.
In exchange for this lore gift, they are asked to submit art in the form of a visual, poem, or small written work to contribute to the living art project.
They may do so anonymously or reveal their identity while completing the task. They also provide consent to share their work once it has been submitted.
Each visual artwork, poem, or story gnome finders submit becomes part of an ever-growing tapestry of folklore, preserved for future seekers. I have quite the lore log saved and plan to turn it into a book as well as a program for communities that need a bit of imaginative revitalization.
So, this is my magical way of reawakening the imagination in the community using themes and, in turn, collecting art – thus, a living art project is born!
I am playfully witty, sometimes to my own demise, so being able to log off of a group supervision and go hide a gnome on Main Street in Berlin somewhere is a beautiful balance.
I noticed that many of the individuals who found gnomes would submit written artwork, unexpectedly, poetry – another avenue of healing I have grown to love.
After reading poems and continuing to write my own, I founded the Berlin Poetry Society. We have a board, a solid social media following, and every month we host a poetry contest themed by the community members themselves.
Board members vote on the submissions, and winners receive social media recognition and a Berlin Poetry Society care package with a framed certificate to showcase their win. We host events, and WBOC did a segment on this society when it was first started; it continues to inspire me and the local literary community.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Perhaps not exactly a risk, but somewhat of a fear and frustration, is creative poaching. My sister-in-law lives in Miami and, without asking me, took the format for the Gnomes of Berlin and did something identical in Miami with rubber ducks. This was risky because I had to get over my own ego and find a way to be okay with this, and instead of resentment, it turned into even more creative energy and motivation to continually evolve as a creative woman. I published a poetry book earlier this year called l O C a l: A Collection of Poems on Growing Up at the Beach, and the momentum has not stopped yet.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.berlinfolklore.com/ https://www.berlinpoetrysociety.org/
- Instagram: @TheMarylamdGnome @BerlinPoetrySociety
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Collection-Poems-Growing-Up-Beach/dp/B0GVQR7BM9/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28MVBBA4DKFY9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yekFPM9tAhaTFpSSNA3yiA.o0yERwX9JxEh8CyHX0dAuQ9Wvr1xVRHpkp0fY6lS-4Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=l+O+C+a+l+poetry+Charlotte&qid=1790225692&sprefix=l+o+c+a+l+poetry+charlotte%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-1
