Bruce Orr founder of Inkwell, Illustrator, Muralist, Puppeteer, Art Educator & Advocate

This week's guest is Bruce Orr, a multitalented visual artist from Delaware based in Beverly, MA. Bruce is the founder of Inkwell, an all inclusive youth arts program. It was a pleasure to talk to Bruce about his journey as an artist and how passionate he is about arts and art advocacy. As mentioned at the end of the episode Bruce has had some ongoing health challenges and has had to pause youth programs for now. If you would like to work with Bruce or purchase some art please see the below email and web links. 

Where to find our guest:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mudeyepuppets/
Website: https://bruceorr.com/
Email: [e-mail]

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Local Threads is produced, edited, and hosted by Molly Rae

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Molly Rae

What is Local Threads?

Local Threads is a storytelling podcast documenting the voices of New England's creative community. Artists, organizers, and culture makers who shape spaces, movements, and shared experiences.

Molly: 00:08

Welcome to this week's episode of Local Threads. I'm Molly, your host. And this week, I sat down with Bruce Orr. Bruce is a mural painter, illustrator, puppeteer, art educator, arts advocate, and builder of things from trash. Bruce is also the founder of Inkwell, a free after school program for teens.

Molly: 00:26

Well, you for being here. You are based on the North Shore, Beverly?

Bruce: 00:33

Yes.

Molly: 00:34

And are you born and raised in Massachusetts?

Bruce: 00:37

I am not born or raised in Massachusetts. I'm from Delaware.

Molly: 00:42

Oh, okay.

Bruce: 00:42

Grew up in Delaware.

Molly: 00:43

Never been to Delaware.

Bruce: 00:44

I get that a lot. Or I've driven through there. Or Joe Biden. Or Aubrey Plaza.

Molly: 00:50

Oh, yeah. She's from there. That's right.

Bruce: 00:53

I worked at a student newspaper in Wilmington when I was in high school. There used to be this student newspaper based out of Wilmington, Delaware, which is the larger city in Delaware. And I was like, I did cartoons for them when I was 13.

Molly: 01:11

Oh, wow.

Bruce: 01:11

And yeah. And that was probably what saved me in high school, like, to be a part of something that was positive. Because it wasn't my school newspaper.

Molly: 01:22

It was a town?

Bruce: 01:23

It was like a well, it was a nonprofit. It was like a state wide Oh, okay. Newspaper. And it was in the vein of, like, when cities used to have, like, a weekly like, the Boston Phoenix now used to have that, like, sort of a weekly cool newspaper with, like, music reviews and cartoons, and I did the cartoons and the artwork.

Molly: 01:45

How do you get into something like that at 13?

Bruce: 01:48

Yeah. That's like it was a rare instance of me, a very shy kid, going, oh, this is cool. Like, I wanna do art for this. And there was no open call. And I was like, I'm just gonna see if they want artists.

Bruce: 02:07

And in high school, was very shy and didn't I was a band kid. That might have been my only other extracurricular. And they were like they were just very nice, and they were like, yeah. You could do cartoons. And it was great.

Bruce: 02:21

And being a teenager in the eighties, I really liked all those newspaper strips that use like the far side and Bloom County and Peanuts. And then later, Calvin and Hobbs. But, yeah, I did that in high school. And I would I would have to say that's a good segue into what I do now. I do believe that something like that, having a place to go, and having a place to be around other teenagers with some of them having similar interests and having, like, a thing to feel proud of.

Bruce: 02:58

Like, oh, I did the cover. And, I did this cartoon, and now everybody sees it. And I was the first one. And then, like, as not a popular kid in high school at all. Not at all.

Bruce: 03:12

And but when I did that, like, a lot of my nerdy friends were like, oh, you just, like, go? And I'm like, yeah. And they would, like, I would I brought in other people who liked drawing and art and cartooning, and my mom would drive us to Wilmington.

Molly: 03:31

That was cool.

Bruce: 03:32

So I grew up in a small town about a half hour away from Wilmington. So

Molly: 03:36

after you did that, did you go go to art school?

Bruce: 03:40

Yes. Where did you go? Yeah. I went to University of in Philadelphia, which no longer exists, and studied illustration and minored in art therapy. Like, was interested in art therapy.

Bruce: 03:53

I didn't really know what it was. It just sounded interesting. And I always wanted to be an artist that also did something with art that was connected to people and and helped people rather than, you know, an artist who was just alone in their studio making art all the time, which I was that too. But I I think I just wanted both worlds. So I went to university arts in Philly.

Molly: 04:21

That's interesting that you realized that you wanted to do art therapy because it helped you navigate high school as a as a kid. Yeah. That's cool.

Bruce: 04:32

Yep. I really wanna accentuate, like, having a place to go and a place to feel accepted. And when I was in high school, we certainly didn't have a language of, like, queer, trans, neurodivergent. And now that I run an after school program, those kids come to a program to have a place where they're accepted and not judged. I didn't I didn't know what I was very young, and so I didn't really know what an art therapy job was gonna be.

Bruce: 05:07

And I think I came from a family of academics, and there was a pressure to get an advanced degree, because both my parents did.

Molly: 05:15

Okay. What did your parents do?

Bruce: 05:17

My mom had a master's in English, and she wound up being a teacher, but also did a lot of fun things in her small town that I grew up in. She did the town newspaper. She made a town newspaper for Delaware City. That's the town I grew up in.

Molly: 05:34

Okay.

Bruce: 05:35

So that was my mom. And my dad's an archaeologist.

Molly: 05:38

That's cool. Indiana Jones.

Bruce: 05:40

Yep. Yeah.

Molly: 05:42

Yeah. So that's really interesting that your mom was doing a newspaper, and then you ended up working, doing cartooning. But also It's true.

Bruce: 05:52

I never put that together. But yeah.

Molly: 05:53

And then you also are doing teaching now, which is neat.

Bruce: 05:58

Both my parents were teachers. I mean, my dad taught at the collegiate level, and my mom was a tutor, like the ESL tutor at the time. And my sister was too. My sister was a special ed teacher.

Molly: 06:12

Oh, nice. Yeah. So your whole family just is Yeah.

Bruce: 06:16

Each And my son is like, he's at Salem State getting an English degree, and he wants to be a teacher. He wants to be a school teacher.

Molly: 06:24

That's really cool.

Bruce: 06:25

Oh, yeah. I guess everybody's does that.

Molly: 06:28

Are you the are you the only artist?

Bruce: 06:30

No. No. No. My parents were both artsy. They didn't do it as a career.

Bruce: 06:36

They drew, and my mom sewed really cool stuff.

Molly: 06:39

Did you know, like, when you finished your education, what you were gonna do? No. You just kind of figured it out, and what was your first, like, artist gig, I guess?

Bruce: 06:52

Like, artist gig in in art school. I couldn't get a job any anywhere. I'd go walking up and down South Street and trying to in the summer, can I work at this bookstore or this restaurant? I was like, no. I'm like, alright.

Bruce: 07:12

I can't get a normal job. And then I I saw an ad in one of these weekly papers, and it's like, caricatures need it. And I draw cartoons. But as far as being a street caricature, I'd never done that. This guy called me.

Bruce: 07:26

And he's like, alright. Alright, kid. This Philly guy. And he, like, chain smoked. And he was like, alright, kid.

Bruce: 07:35

Let's see what you got. He kinda sounds like what my voice sounds like now. Like, I don't have to do an impersonation with him because now I I sound like Mike. And he had me draw his girlfriend, and I think like, I'd never done it. So I did sort of an unflattering picture of her.

Bruce: 07:52

I'm like, okay. Well, I'm drawing her. And he was just like, nah. This is I'm sorry, kid. This is no good.

Bruce: 08:00

You just don't got it yet. Keep working. And I went home, and I was so sad. And I remember very clearly the next morning, the phone rang very early in the morning. I'm like, Hello?

Bruce: 08:12

And it was Mike. And he's like, My guy quit on me. Can you be at my place in a half hour? I got this fair to do at Penns Landing. And I'm like, sure.

Bruce: 08:26

And and then I was a street caricatress for a while in Philadelphia.

Molly: 08:30

Oh, that's crazy. I love it. You saw an ad in the paper. That is, like, one of my favorite parts of, like, nostalgic movie moments where they're like, oh, I gotta find a job, and they're like, circle it, and then they, you know,

Bruce: 08:43

the You live these moments, and you don't realize, like, someday, they're gonna disappear forever. So weird. Like, there's not gonna be an ad in a paper. There's not gonna be a rotary phone call that you can't ignore. Like, if the phone rings, I don't know who it's gonna be.

Molly: 09:01

Yeah. Could be my mom.

Bruce: 09:02

It might

Molly: 09:03

You be have to

Bruce: 09:03

answer mom, right? Might wanna need to talk to me at 6AM. Maybe something went wrong. Yeah. Like, were always just like, hello?

Molly: 09:10

Yeah. Like

Bruce: 09:12

Yeah. I didn't even feel like like, yeah. You just look at the phone thing.

Molly: 09:16

No. Yeah. So, like, what did you do from there?

Bruce: 09:21

After being a caricaturist? Why I did a I mean, that was kind of a side gig that I made money as a young art student, and then I was a grad student. And then I still did it. Like, I still did caricatures. Probably the best money I've ever made in my life.

Bruce: 09:38

Really? Yeah. I mean, I'd at the time, adjusting for the economy Yeah.

Molly: 09:43

Yeah. Yeah.

Bruce: 09:44

I could just walk home with this wad of bills, and $400 just, like, in a few hours. And, like, from working at the beaches at Wildwood or busking on South Street or working at the Cherry Hill Mall. Mhmm. These are all very Philly, Mid Atlantic. I mean, that's where I was.

Bruce: 10:04

Doing a gig at the Camden Aquarium, doing, like, parties. When did you leave? I left Philadelphia. So I got my degree and worked very briefly in the mental health field, then came back and worked at a psychiatric hospital in Philadelphia for a while as an art therapist, which is that was an amazing experience. And then worked for a giant puppet nonprofit in Philadelphia.

Bruce: 10:35

And that's when I got into puppets. My partner at the time went to Portland, Oregon, drove there with no plan at all. Just like 30 years old in a '91 Taurus. And we're like, we've kinda run out of things to do here in Philadelphia and wanna and I had earlier, I'd I'd spent a summer in Portland, Oregon in the nineties and just always loved it, and it was always calling to me, I think. Like a fun, artsy, and beautiful place to be.

Bruce: 11:10

Like, the Pacific Northwest is a very beautiful part of the country. And so we drove there. Yeah. He made our way across the country, not always the it wasn't the quickest way to go, but we just wanted to enjoy. And we had friends to stay with in different parts of the country.

Bruce: 11:32

And that was

Molly: 11:33

And you made friends without the Internet. Look at that.

Bruce: 11:36

Yeah. Well, that's we made friends without the Internet when we got to Portland, Oregon. We got there, and we didn't really know. I just knew one dude from the zine world that I was kinda part of. And that's it.

Bruce: 11:52

And we stayed with him for three days. I think, not even. And then we were like, we found a place to live, that that was it. And then it was kind of the same thing. I'm like, alright.

Bruce: 12:06

Well, I guess I should try to get a job. And then I couldn't. Like, I couldn't get hired for anything. And I'm like, that's not what I came out here to do anyway. And I was actually there to finish a comic book, which I did do.

Bruce: 12:23

I used to do comics and zines and stuff. But then I just started making puppets. And then, like, my first gig was, like, an after school program, a part time gig. And I met some really like, people were very nice there. Like, place and time.

Bruce: 12:39

Portland, Oregon, two thousands, pre social media. Lots of artsy people, and people were nice. And we just like we just went out and talked to people. Like, that's how you and it wasn't like it wasn't awful. It was fun.

Bruce: 12:58

Yeah. You know? You just go to a place and be like, hi. And the person would be like, hi. You know?

Bruce: 13:03

It wasn't like, I'm busy, or do you have an appointment, or who are you? It was like, oh, hey. How you doing?

Molly: 13:10

Or when they say hi, they don't have their phone right here. Like, looking at it while they're, like, not listening.

Bruce: 13:15

I was talking to some people recently, and I didn't realize and for me, and that that decade was kinda cool. A good time for, like, music and art, and we made so many friends. And we lived on a block that had block parties. And I was in a band with other young dads. And I I started a puppet company in Portland, Oregon in not knowing anybody with, like, three tubs of my possessions, and that was it.

Bruce: 13:52

And then it just grew and grew and grew. But I think people were also very much into what I was doing. Like, oh, this guy makes puppets out of trash and does puppet shows and teaches kids how to make puppets out of trash. That was my job. That was the Mud Eye puppet company.

Bruce: 14:12

I started that. Just like, that first gig with that person hired me, and they paid me way too much money. I was like, woah. I'm gonna be rich. All I have to do is after school programs.

Bruce: 14:26

I don't have to work a nine to five. And I like, after that, I got another after school job. And after that, it just picked up. It was one of the things in my life that worked out, and it kind of freaked me out. I was not used to that happening, that level of I was never rich, but I was always, like, busy and doing things.

Bruce: 14:53

There was a club there that I started doing a all ages puppet thing called Puppetganza. And this was owned by this woman, Cianne McHeal, who's was at the she was married to one of the Decemberists, and she just started this club. And she was very she's like, I wanna do art and music here and make it a fun place with this other person. And I would do regular performances there. And she didn't charge me an arm and a leg.

Bruce: 15:25

I don't even remember. I don't remember what it cost, but I don't remember ever being financially destitute. We lived cheap, but you could live cheap. Yeah. And that was an option.

Bruce: 15:39

It is not an option No.

Molly: 15:41

It isn't.

Bruce: 15:41

Maybe in another part of the country, out of Massachusetts, and it sucks. It sucks that there's no cheap eats or cheap rent or cheap space or like, every time I hear somebody talk about how much they're paying, I'm like, are you kidding? Yeah. Oh, the studio's only 800 a month. And it's like, you know, 200 square feet.

Molly: 16:01

Yeah, exactly. You got into puppetry, and I love that you're making it for reclaimed materials. Do you still do that with your after school program now?

Bruce: 16:11

Yeah. I mean, to a degree. Yeah. Like, I can't really because of my voice, I can't do these sort of puppet shows Yeah. Anymore.

Bruce: 16:22

I'll just say it. I'm a I'm a throat cancer survivor. I had it last year, and now I sound like this. So I don't have, like

Molly: 16:30

The rain.

Bruce: 16:30

No. Yeah. I just have this. I don't have I used to be pretty good too. I used to be able to, like, do all these crazy voices and impersonations.

Bruce: 16:40

And, you know, now I can't, but I'm still alive. So there's that. Yeah. And but I still can make them. And I still it's one of the things I do with kids.

Bruce: 16:53

Like, it is a thing. And with teens, I do a lot of work with teens. I started an after school program called Inkwell, and I've been doing that for almost two years. And that's a free arts program with kids and teens, but mostly teens. And it's really based on those other things I talked about.

Bruce: 17:18

Like, when I did the Mudd Eye puppet company in Portland, it was half teaching and half performing. Like, I had I made all these original shows and built all the puppets and wrote all the music. And I I used to be able to, like, sing and, like, do all this crazy stuff. And this is based on that. And it's it's interesting.

Bruce: 17:45

Like, I was talking about the iMagazine earlier and just how and, you know, the way things were and the way things are not now. Yeah. Like, trying to teach, and the kids are on their phones. Yeah. Like, it's tough.

Bruce: 18:01

Yeah. Like, it's really like, I can't compete with that.

Molly: 18:05

And it's really and I struggle with this now, like, art feels very unapproachable. Not unapproachable, but you're like, ugh, it's gonna look stupid, so I'll just Whereas, don't even do like, a kid has that, I guess, curiosity still, but also, like, they have that phone now, so maybe they don't. I don't know.

Bruce: 18:28

I I feel like with the so I run this after school program in different I'm teaching at three different four different places right now, actually. But the the one I'm at the most is our ongoing program at the Peabody Library, which has a creativity lab, which is like a it's very unique. It's got a maker space in the basement of the library that is accessible to the public. And so there's sewing machines in there. There's embroidery machines.

Bruce: 19:03

There's there is a three d printer. There's a rizograph. There's a copy machine. There's a large printer for if you wanna make a poster. There's like we did film photography last week.

Bruce: 19:16

Oh, cool. Like, with with a film like, the librarian had an old point and shoot film camera.

Molly: 19:23

That's awesome.

Bruce: 19:24

And I will say, like, when I do these kinds of things, like film photography or sewing, like making your own ugly doll, or we're gonna burn a CD, and you're going to

Molly: 19:39

The lost art. Yeah. Like, they

Bruce: 19:42

burned a CD. They made a they made a compilation. Yeah. And fortunately, my assistant knows how to do that. I wouldn't know how to do that.

Bruce: 19:50

Oh, really? It used to be easy. It's not like

Molly: 19:53

Yeah.

Bruce: 19:53

Now you're doing it all

Molly: 19:54

these weird things and like yeah.

Bruce: 19:57

I mean, they were saying my my assistant who's also in a teenager, they are definitely more tech savvy than me. They were saying, it's tough. It's this process of getting MP3s and downloading them.

Molly: 20:15

Yeah. It's so

Bruce: 20:16

It used to be very easy, sticking your CD. I mean I just Not only do laptops and computers don't have a disk drive, but they don't even have, like, a universal jack or Yeah. Like, if it's Apple, they have their Apple Mhmm. The Apple jack. Yeah.

Bruce: 20:33

The lightning.

Molly: 20:35

Yeah. I just recently got into I've been thrifting CDs, and I've said this to the world podcast. I'm sure on other episodes that haven't edited yet. My bad. And, yeah, I had to buy a disk drive, and then to my surprise, I had to find these random CD Ripper programs that weren't native to the computer anymore, which I'm like, what do you mean?

Molly: 21:01

So, yeah. I felt old in that moment, but it was fine.

Bruce: 21:05

Did you burn some CDs though?

Molly: 21:07

I got like five or six of them done. Yeah. But, yeah, the so you are doing the Peabody. What is the place called again?

Bruce: 21:16

So I'm I'm doing what I'm currently doing is an after school program called Inkwell, and that is that's basically me teaching.

Molly: 21:26

Yeah. Is it also art therapy?

Bruce: 21:29

I can't Do certain therapy. Legally or ethically say, like, this is art therapy, but also It's inherent. I'm an art therapist, and I have a philosophical approach Mhmm. To doing art that people need an outlet. People need some very basic things, like very basic principles, which is, first of all, it needs to be free.

Bruce: 21:54

Yeah. Teenagers need to be free. It's it can't be, I'll figure out how to pay for it. I'm a good grant writer. I'm not a nonprofit, but I'm good at writing grants.

Bruce: 22:04

And people know me well enough to know that I'm going to provide a really fun arts experience Mhmm. Where we make a puppet, or we out of trash, or we build a model, or we do those things I I was saying, like ripping like designing a CD case. That's what and I found that new teens right now, in my experience well, the teens that come to my program, the teens that choose. Yeah. It's different than going to a school.

Bruce: 22:37

Very different. But the teens that come on a regular basis, they're sick of social media too. Yeah. They don't wanna they're sick of it. They are like, yeah.

Bruce: 22:48

Oh, sewing is fun. Or, oh, yeah. I wanna paint. But they you can see that they love it. Oh, I wanna do charcoal.

Bruce: 22:55

I wanna do a collage and use these different mixed media techniques. And that's what I'm doing with them. These programs have been going on for a year and a half. I run them twice a week at the Peabody Library. Mhmm.

Bruce: 23:11

And they're open to everybody, and they're still open. So if you're in that area and you don't have to be in the municipality of Peabody. You can you can come.

Molly: 23:26

That's awesome.

Bruce: 23:26

Like, you can try it.

Molly: 23:27

Is it certain duration, or is it each one is like a one off?

Bruce: 23:32

It kinda depends on how many kids are come. Like, I I make sure that there's a plan. Yeah. But there are some days where not as many kids show up, and so I wouldn't do the same plan. Last week, we did the photography.

Bruce: 23:46

Yeah. It was like eight kids, and this week, it was kind of in and out. Or yesterday, it was very in and out. It's Mondays and Wednesdays there. So then I have like, I had them doing painting and mixed media.

Molly: 24:04

Have the kids continued to sign up year after year? Like

Bruce: 24:08

Yeah. Some. Yeah. Some do and some don't. Yeah.

Bruce: 24:11

Yeah. But there's definitely a couple kids who have, like Really love it. Love it. Yeah. They found their place, And their parents support it too.

Bruce: 24:20

I think that's really important. Mhmm. Because some parents are gonna be like, oh, yeah. Art's dumb. Yeah.

Bruce: 24:29

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And I I don't like, I can't fight that. No.

Bruce: 24:35

Yeah. Like, I can't there's nothing I can do to combat that. But what combats that is the experience. Yeah. Like, I can't say, well, I could.

Bruce: 24:43

I could do this, like, master's thesis on the value of the arts and have some statistics, or just do art and see what it's like. Yeah. And then, oh, how do you feel right now? Yeah. Pretty good.

Molly: 24:56

Right? And I mean, changes your brain. Right? Yeah. And it's so underrated.

Molly: 25:01

Being able to finish an art project, when you see a final the final prod the final outcome of something, there's a resilience that's built that you don't necessarily, I guess, get in other mean, yeah, sure you could complete a chore, but like, just to create something yourself that you didn't otherwise think you were gonna be okay, good at, and it just defeat your brain in that way Yeah. Of like, hey, this turned out pretty cool. I'm actually gonna hang it on my wall.

Bruce: 25:34

I mean, I think that's where the pivotal moments in my life as an artist, I would say, where would be when I experienced something that I didn't know existed and found out that was possible. Yeah. Yeah. And that was the iMagazine. Oh, they're gonna let me draw cartoons and cut up the Metra set and put stuff in the waxer and

Molly: 25:59

Yeah.

Bruce: 25:59

Go use the weird camera. Like, I had no idea that was possible, and now I do. Yeah. Or working at a Spiral Cube puppet theater in Philadelphia. Oh, we can make giant things out of paper machine cardboard, and it doesn't cost anything.

Bruce: 26:16

Yeah. And we're gonna go, like, dumpster diving and get, like, giant reams of different color. Like, I remember jumping in a dumpster at Drexel University and just swimming. They had just had some kind of event, and they just had these giant reams of like butcher paper in all these different colors, which you can use for Yeah. For mache.

Bruce: 26:42

And me and my friends, we were just, like, in this dumpster full of, like, butcher paper. And she just looked at me. She's like, this is so fucking fun.

Molly: 26:51

It is. I'm like even wanting to go dumpster diving now.

Bruce: 26:54

I'm like, yeah. It was easier back then because nobody cared. People would be like people would be like, why are you in my trap? Who cares? Yeah.

Bruce: 27:02

Now everybody's like, what are you doing? Yeah. I'm gonna get you. Yeah. Somebody's in my trash.

Bruce: 27:08

I've been waiting for this moment all my life. Do you catch them on film? Yeah. Post it on social media. Yeah.

Bruce: 27:14

Like, that's how people are now. They want it. Like, I can't wait to catch somebody I can't wait to my find things.

Molly: 27:20

Yeah. It is weird. It's so weird. Ever since I've stopped holding on to perfection and just being curious about art, it's been so freeing and so helpful because I do struggle with mental health. Like, I have panic disorder.

Molly: 27:34

It's not fun.

Bruce: 27:35

Yeah. And art is Yeah. Me too.

Molly: 27:37

Same, yeah. Twins. Yeah, yeah. It's not fun. And, yeah, even just being a consumer of art, whether that's free art, or buying art, or talking to artists, it's like so therapeutic.

Bruce: 27:57

Yeah. I think the thing for me is it's therapeutic, but I don't I very rarely say that word. Yeah. You know? A team And I I think I learned

Molly: 28:08

is the right word.

Bruce: 28:09

I learned much more of just, like, going to grad school, half the time, I was like, what are we talking about here? Yeah. Like, I don't think this is relevant. Yeah. And then I graduated, and it's like, okay.

Bruce: 28:24

You're gonna run a art program in Camden, New Jersey. And it's like, yeah, this this some of this applied, but most of it didn't. Yeah. But that experience of working in Camden, New Jersey, or the experience of working in a locked psychiatric unit in North Philadelphia, like, that that is invaluable. Yeah.

Bruce: 28:46

That is invaluable. What I can say is I'm older, so I've been doing this for a while. And this is what I've seen is valuable. And I think what's most valuable is being encouraged, but also doing something with intention, like setting up an art space. And it's not like, this is the gym, and then it's the cafeteria, and then and then maybe we do art Yeah.

Bruce: 29:14

Here. It's more like, no. This is like, the creativity lab in Peabody is for just that. It's for Yeah. Making things.

Bruce: 29:22

It's not me, but I run a program there. Yeah. The libraries run programs. It is there for them, and it's free. And I think making sure that that space is accessible and intentional.

Bruce: 29:38

Mhmm. Like, I would love to have an art space. Where I live in Beverly is filled with abandonmentions that could be, but the city is not interested in that kind of thing. And I proposed it. But that's the dream.

Molly: 29:55

Yeah. I don't have Everything's so expensive.

Bruce: 29:59

2,000,000. 2,000,000. That's not enough. Yeah. 200,000,000.

Bruce: 30:04

Yeah. You have to keep trying and keep dreaming, and in the meantime, running these programs. And I think doing them with intention and just always having, like like, I try to have really fun, interesting art projects. When I leave here, I'm going to the Gloucester Library. And I do wanna I wanna take a moment in this podcast for a big shout out to all the librarians.

Bruce: 30:36

These are the heroes. The librarians that I work with, Peabody, and Beverly, and Gloucester, they're awesome. Yeah. Like, big shout out to Justin and Katie and Annalise. They're all great.

Bruce: 30:51

And they want, like, they want teenagers to have these fulfilling, like, esteem building. Like, I don't have to

Molly: 31:02

Convince them. No. Yeah.

Bruce: 31:03

And they and I just I love the libraries and the librarians. Yeah. And so I'm going to Gloucester, and we're doing a project. And the librarian made this flyer. And it's like it's like teen room art project.

Bruce: 31:20

And so the acronym of that is trap. And then on the flyer, she put admiral Akbar, and it's like him on the flyer going, it's a trap. And I'm like, yeah. And all the teenagers are like, what? Who's that?

Bruce: 31:36

And I'm like, actually, Admiral Akbar was a puppet. He was a puppet in the Star Wars movies, and the original Star Wars movies had a lot of puppeteers.

Molly: 31:49

And and I try

Bruce: 31:50

to use that as a segue.

Molly: 31:51

Yeah. That's really cool. And also, if you haven't seen the librarians movie, it is free on YouTube and it's a documentary that talks about everything the librarians are going through right now.

Bruce: 32:04

A good book that I read last year called That Librarian. I don't remember the author. She's from Louisiana. Oh, really?

Molly: 32:12

Yeah. Might be the one involved in this because there's a Louisiana

Bruce: 32:17

She is the one. Like, she's the one who just like was some

Molly: 32:21

Just fighting legislation.

Bruce: 32:22

Queer book, and she's like, no, I'm not banning her.

Molly: 32:24

Yeah. Yeah.

Bruce: 32:25

And she didn't mean she's not even some hard lefty. She was just a librarian who wanted to do her job, and didn't have anything against queer folk, and then became because of all hate, she became a lightning rod. Yeah. But anyway, I don't wanna give up too much. That's a good book, That Librarian.

Molly: 32:48

Yeah. And the film is also really good, and it's also playing in several locations in Massachusetts,

Bruce: 32:54

I think.

Molly: 32:56

But by the time you hear this, it'll probably be over. Hence, go to YouTube, it's free. Was there like a time when you were working either in the psych ward or with a student when you saw how important this art, incorporating art in someone's life was extremely valuable and you just, you like, carried that with you?

Bruce: 33:18

Yeah. Many times. Many times. I'm trying to think of like a specific instance, but I would I worked for a nonprofit in Lynn called Rae Artworks before venturing out on my own. And I was there for thirteen years, and I ran a public art program and a studio, a kind of fine arts program.

Bruce: 33:44

Those programs, I I wanna make a point of how important it is. Yes. People with, like, learning challenges. Yes. Need a place to go.

Bruce: 33:57

Or queer youth, or an order of virgin youth, or youth with, like, economic challenges. Like, there are these things that we recognize. But I think something we don't necessarily recognize to the same degree is the, like, the talented artistic kids who get, like who are just quiet, and they just sort of, like they don't get the same resources or attention because in school, they're not a behavioral problem. Yeah. So they don't attack.

Bruce: 34:29

They just keep quiet. But inside, they're just like, oh, SNH. You know? Like, they're just like, where are my people? Where what can I do?

Bruce: 34:39

Like, where do I fit in? Yeah. This kid again. Oh my god. And I I think what I've done as as an art educator is really made I mean, I make space for everybody, but I think those kids also Yeah.

Bruce: 34:54

Definitely have a place for the programming that I'm doing. I have many, many parents who would come up to me and say, you know, and not to brag, but, like, my kid loves you. My kid loves this. My kid loves coming here. There were kids who come, like, to peebody, and they're just you can see, like, as a teenager, they're just sort of, like, looking around, like, what?

Bruce: 35:23

Like, there's, you know, normal like, what is this? I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to expect. And then they start doing art, and then we start doing these different projects, and then they kinda see what that space, that creative space looks like. And then they're like like, they they just change, and they they brighten.

Bruce: 35:49

Like, they come alive, and they have a place. And then they just keep coming, and then they're, like, excited to come. Yeah. And I think that's what is really like, there's just so much apathy and depression, and not just teens. Just all of us.

Bruce: 36:03

But, like

Molly: 36:03

Yeah. We're all depressed. All mentally ill.

Bruce: 36:06

Yeah. But like, that's an anathema, if I'm saying that word correctly, to that kind of thing, to depression and anxiety. Like, art demands that you have to be you kind of have to be, like, rooted. You have to be somewhat grounded. You have to be in the moment.

Bruce: 36:28

Yeah. And you have to let go of, like The thoughts. Like, of course, like, oh, I hope I don't mess this up. I hope this doesn't look stupid. I don't wanna embarrass myself, you know, the normal, like, things that impede our creativity.

Bruce: 36:46

And I I think that art provides a I'm not coming up with the right word, but art helps with that. Yeah. And also, teenagers can and all of us, really, can just feel good about themselves. And also learn a different way. Like, oh, my mind was telling me this is what a good drawing is.

Bruce: 37:08

This is what something is supposed to look like. And then I did this, and it's not that. But it's still cool. Like, oh, look what I discovered. And they discovered it on their own.

Bruce: 37:20

I try to teach in such a way where there's enough structure that everybody knows what what to do, and they have that guidance, but also the freedom to kind of do your own thing. Yeah.

Molly: 37:36

That's cool.

Bruce: 37:36

So there have been many moments. Like, I have a box full of letters, and it's just the box is labeled gratitude. And it's just these are letters that people have written me over the years from Portland, from Philly, from you know, land, from Rae, of just like

Molly: 38:00

You should get that made into a book.

Bruce: 38:01

Thank you. Yeah. It would be. Just

Molly: 38:05

so you never lose it. Yeah. Because I've gotten a letter from a guest on the podcast, and whenever things are hard, I'll go back and read it, because I needed that in that moment. How often do you go back into that box?

Bruce: 38:20

I haven't lately. I've gone into other boxes. I have other boxes full of like old things Yeah. That I go back into. And I have yeah.

Bruce: 38:28

I have boxes, little boxes that I paint and keep stuff in. And they are just postcards and flyers and memories of what we were talking about, things that were. The age of physical media.

Molly: 38:44

I love that zines are coming back.

Bruce: 38:47

They are. When I teach a zine class, and I did one at Beverly Library a couple weeks ago, And it's the same thing. Like, kids are like, what is this? What? Oh, this is what it is.

Bruce: 38:59

Oh, I just like I'm basically making my own book about the things that I care about. Like, the things that are important to me. And it doesn't have to be anything. It doesn't have to be for anybody. It's for me.

Bruce: 39:13

And maybe someone will like it, and maybe I'll sell it. Yeah. Like, I still do zines. I still have a zine. Like, I just did one called bucket loader, and I still I just love throwing stuff together.

Bruce: 39:30

And Yeah. I love that medium of stapling and the original cut and paste Yeah. Look. I just really I enjoy doing that, and I love the way it looks, and I think I also love the feelings that it brings up. And I find that when I do that with teens, a lot of I think I've converted a few.

Bruce: 39:51

They're like, oh, zines. I know some of my former students do zines now. That's cool. They do that. Yeah.

Bruce: 39:59

And when you talk about when you talk about, like, what is a validating moment? So I had a student oh my god. I had a student who at Ra, actually, who just had a big art show in Ra, and she's very talented. I went to a a art show, and this person, like, was there. Actually, two of my former students were there, and that was a very proud moment at Leonard's to see my my students.

Bruce: 40:31

And I just entered there. It was cool because my some of my friends were there. And the artist just came out of nowhere and just grabbed me and gave me a big hug and said, this is Bruce. This picture here, taught me how to paint.

Molly: 40:51

Yeah.

Bruce: 40:51

And that yeah. That's very moving.

Molly: 40:54

The feeling of, like we were talking about earlier, those moments that you don't know if you'll get those back, one of them I believe to and I don't know because I'm not in school, I'm old now. I've already graduated long gone, but if I had a teacher that was helping me do art or anything or even just cared at all. Yeah. That would have been one of those moments that I'd always remember.

Bruce: 41:24

Because I had so many bad experiences with the adults in my life. Yeah. As a kid, and a teen, I was like, Well, I'm not going to be like that. Yeah. I'm gonna encourage people.

Bruce: 41:38

Yeah. I'm gonna make this fun. Yeah. Art class sucked. I remember art class.

Bruce: 41:42

It was awful, and my teacher sucked. My high school art teacher was good. He was actually good. But think that has certainly influenced me, having those kinds of experiences and knowing what that does to you

Molly: 42:00

Yeah.

Bruce: 42:00

As a kid. I could talk much more about negative experiences growing up as a kid being discouraged. They have, like, three former students that are very successful tattoo artists.

Molly: 42:16

Oh, that's awesome. I love tattoos. Yeah.

Bruce: 42:19

And they're they're all they're good. They're good draftsmen Yeah. Or draftswomen. Draftspeople. People that know how to draw.

Bruce: 42:30

Yeah. I have a tattoo one of my students.

Molly: 42:35

Oh, that's Like

Bruce: 42:36

Katie Smith in Peabody. To know that these former students are out there doing it, or going to an art show where Michael and Jania are showing their art. It's beautiful, like, gorgeous artwork. I do not take credit for any of that. But knowing I had a part of it makes me feel good.

Molly: 42:58

And I It keeps you going. Right? Because this is difficult when you're doing something essentially for free. Yeah. And often using your own money to do things.

Bruce: 43:10

Yeah. I write a lot of grants. Yeah. That's what I do. Yeah.

Bruce: 43:13

And I get the small I don't get the big ones, but I get the smaller ones. Yeah. So big shout out for Mass Cultural Council.

Molly: 43:23

Yeah.

Bruce: 43:23

They are very supportive of my work. They're big shout out to the city of Peabody. And, you know, Lucia and Stacy, who do not have to do this, but they support the after school program there. That's a community building development grant, the CBDG grant.

Molly: 43:46

It's so important.

Bruce: 43:46

CD c d community development. Yeah. CDB. A CBGB is great.

Molly: 43:54

Yeah. Acronyms. Do you sell art currently, and where can people buy it?

Bruce: 44:01

Yes. I do. But I do it I do it through I mean, I have an Instagram. It's at madaypuppets Mhmm. Which was my puppet company.

Bruce: 44:13

And I will do I do a lot of postal art because I like that thing. I was just sending out a lot of postal art on Monday just to people that in my life that I love. Like, sent a package. I have some friends who left the country because they're Hispanic, so they left the country and they're in Spain. Yeah.

Bruce: 44:36

I sent a package. I have a friend in Canada. I have a friend who's just going through a hard time, and his birthday's coming up, and I think he's all alone. And I was just sending art to people that I care about. But it's like post war.

Bruce: 44:50

It's like these elaborately painted envelopes. So I do that. You can reach out to me on Instagram. I will send you a painted envelope full of art. I sell my zine.

Bruce: 45:05

I don't know. It's like

Molly: 45:07

You saw your comic book that you made?

Bruce: 45:09

I have some copies of it. Yeah. You can reach out. Like, I did a comic book. 2 thousands.

Bruce: 45:16

Yeah.

Molly: 45:16

What's it about?

Bruce: 45:18

I have a com I have a couple, but I have one called Thread. So I didn't make it as a comic book artist, but I did, like, comic books and zines.

Molly: 45:28

That's cool.

Bruce: 45:29

And Threads about a toymaker who fights these evil corporate robots, and he becomes a mummy, and he brings toys to life to fight them.

Molly: 45:39

I love that.

Bruce: 45:40

That's his he becomes this sort of mummy superhero thing. It's a little old. It's kinda dated, but I sell that. I have a zine called bucket loader, and that has half of it's like just sorta comics about growing up and being a kid and making stuff. There's a page about having cancer.

Bruce: 46:06

Just because these are all things in my sketchbook already. Yeah. So I just kinda

Molly: 46:10

Put them on.

Bruce: 46:11

Copy and pasted them all together. And then the other half is just things that I've drawn, and then maybe a story. Here's where I ride my bike. And then I sit and draw the downtown Manchester by the sea because this is where I ride my bike to. Just stuff like that.

Bruce: 46:30

Here's a go go print design that I made a long time ago. That's what that zine is.

Molly: 46:37

Yeah.

Bruce: 46:38

It's very random things that I've done. This here is actually the person who hired me to do all this stuff in Peabody used to hire me to paint electrical boxes. Oh, okay. So this and this is on electrical box You Tidbitty. And it's in my zine.

Bruce: 46:58

So I, like, do these this art. It's just sort of like random art. So you can reach out to me via social media. I can send you postal art and a zine. I wanna make more T shirts.

Bruce: 47:14

Yeah. Like, I screen printed this. It's fun to do. You just have to have the right kind of stuff. Yeah.

Bruce: 47:21

Like, I definitely I think it's a good thing to to have other artist friends Yeah. Who are better at I have a friend who's a printmaker. Yeah. She's like, you put too much emulsion on here. Like, this is that's why that's not working.

Molly: 47:38

Yeah.

Bruce: 47:39

Also, I I learn much better, or maybe I just enjoy learning from a person.

Molly: 47:46

Me too.

Bruce: 47:47

I can I know you can do it all on YouTube? I know you can. Yeah. And that's great. Yeah.

Bruce: 47:51

And I know people do that.

Molly: 47:53

I I envy people that can do that because I need to ask you a question when I get to a point and I get stuck. Because when once I hit that point, I give up.

Bruce: 48:03

Yes. So Me too. That happens with

Molly: 48:07

me. And it's really frustrating because I wanna continue, and I just wanna ask someone real quick, what am I missing right here? Because I know I'm so close. I'm having that issue with computer things.

Bruce: 48:22

I have that issue with computer things. I'm like I think I'm a human glitch. I probably shouldn't say that. But like my card, the digital readout on the stereo is now showing all these crazy characters, and it's like it's possessed, and there's weird space invader pixelated things. And it'll say these weird messages.

Bruce: 48:44

It'll be like What? Diton diton diton, six twelve. And I'm there with my older son, and he's like, what is going on? I'm like, car is possessed. Then It's like normal.

Bruce: 48:56

I went to take a picture of it, and it went back to normal. I'm like, I see what you're doing here.

Molly: 49:02

What's that movie? Maximum Overdrive?

Bruce: 49:04

Yeah. It's Maximum Overdrive. It's green green Green classic. Green Goblin truck.

Molly: 49:10

That movie scared the hell out of me when I was younger. And I had this, like, irrational fear of 18 wheelers, and I still, when I turn on the blender, I still get creeped out. Yeah. I'm like, is this thing gonna shatter? Right.

Molly: 49:25

I loved those movies back in the day, even though they're, watch them now, they're terrible. Ugh. Hard hard watch. Yeah.

Bruce: 49:34

Hard yeah. Yeah.

Molly: 49:36

But that 18 that Mack truck being stuck at a gas station, I mean, what I gotta look up how they even came up with that movie, but no, the I like to think that things are, you know, hey, everything's working in here currently, so you're not glitching my equipment

Bruce: 49:54

I at

Molly: 49:56

do that plenty, for sure. So if people wanna support to donate, do you take donations for, like, craft supplies?

Bruce: 50:08

Yes. Good craft supplies. Yes. Absolutely. You can reach out to me, and I will do my best to get back to you.

Bruce: 50:17

Yeah. I'm just living in a small apartment in Beverly, so I have to be very Yeah. Mindful of what comes and goes, and I'm always working on things. Yeah. Like, I did a political puppet recently, and I just I need to get that out of it's a giant Christy Noem, and I need to get that.

Bruce: 50:41

It's it's You should burn it. Horrible because it looks like her, and it's awful. Could you imagine I'm I need to get these things Yeah. Out. So, yes, I do take donations.

Bruce: 50:54

I will not I may or may not take Yeah. What someone has to offer, but I appreciate someone reaching out to me. I can say the things that like paintbrushes in good shape. Paper, working markers, working not so much like oil paints or sort of the not to be a snob, but not like Crayola Yeah. Pencils.

Bruce: 51:23

I'll take Prismacolor pencils for sure. Those kinds of things. I mean, those aren't usually the things that people wanna give away because they're better. Rollers, brayers. Yeah.

Bruce: 51:37

If you have a brayer that's not too gnarly, I'm trying to get enough of that. Yeah. I was trying to get more Styrofoam trays because you could do printmaking with those, and I did that at the UU Church in Swampscott. So I would take more of those. So yes, definitely.

Bruce: 51:57

I can't legally say, like, donate. I'm not a nonprofit. Yeah. You can buy stuff from me, and it supports me being an artist in the world.

Molly: 52:08

And being able to offer free things.

Bruce: 52:10

Yeah. Me being able to, like, go to these places and do art with kids, or make my own art. I also do murals. I've done quite a bit of those

Molly: 52:22

Oh, yeah.

Bruce: 52:22

In my time.

Molly: 52:23

What are the ones in Peabody that people can look out for?

Bruce: 52:26

In Peabody, I've done, like, six electrical boxes. I have many. There are

Molly: 52:30

Yeah.

Bruce: 52:30

Two on Main Street. There's one in front of the hospital. There's one at the North Shore Mall behind the Barnes and Noble. Mhmm. Yeah.

Bruce: 52:40

So a lot of electrical boxes. I did a mural at their nature room for the the North Shore Children's Museum in Peabody. The kids did a mural in the stairwell of Peabody Library. I have a mural off of I think it's 107, like, coming from Beverly to Salem, the Carleton School. I forget the name of the park, but it's like you see it.

Bruce: 53:05

It's big. And I did that with Carleton School Mhmm. You know, and with the support of the city of Salem. So shout out to Julie Berry. And I have a mural in Wynn on the side of Tacos Filipita that was done through Rae.

Bruce: 53:22

I have done a lot of, you know, murals with nonprofits at Fraser Field, at Wyoming Square, Olympia Square, the last one we did at the old union hospital with the Element Care. That's inside for elderly folks. That was my last public art project with Rae before I left.

Molly: 53:49

Do you take mural work? Yes. Okay. So people can reach out to you for postal art, for mural work, or zines and comics. Yep.

Molly: 54:03

What if someone wants to inquire about an after school program?

Bruce: 54:09

Same thing. Reach out to me. I actually answer emails.

Molly: 54:11

Yeah.

Bruce: 54:12

Like, I will get back to you. And if you have a program that you wanna do, and a space dedicated for that, And teenagers, I really am like, I do get inquiries about kids, and I'll do I will do kids programming, but I have been more focused on teen programs just because I think they need it the most, and they have the least. I think people don't necessarily provide enough opportunities for them.

Molly: 54:49

Yeah.

Bruce: 54:49

That support and whatever. And I feel like it is a mental health intervention for them, having a place to go, having a place to connect. Another thing that happens with art is when people are together doing art, there's this I don't know what you would call it, but there's a connection. Yeah. And you see it like, you'll see common themes come out in the artwork that they did when they they didn't even see they weren't looking at what the other person was doing.

Bruce: 55:22

Yeah. But they're connected in the act of doing in the process of doing art.

Molly: 55:30

I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. Unfortunately, Bruce has faced some ongoing health issues since our last recording session. For any inquiries regarding how to support his work, check the show notes for the ways to do so. Bruce remains dedicated to the arts community and arts advocacy for teens and youth. Reach out to him, via email for availability, And I'll see you next time.