Meet Athena Lynch

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Athena Lynch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Athena, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I got my first job as an arts and crafts teacher at the Boys & Girls Club in Newark when I was twenty, and I loved it. That was the moment I knew I wanted to teach. For more than a decade, I worked with kids of all ages on creative projects, took art, psychology, and education courses, and laid the groundwork to eventually earn my degree.

In my thirties, I moved to Maine to continue my education and art practice at MECA, majoring in Sculpture with a focus on Public Engagement. The plan was to go straight into the MAT program, but life had other ideas, and then COVID hit.

While working in the healthcare sector, I had the chance to substitute in an art class at a local high school. The teacher was remote, and I was just the adult in the room. I was miserable. That same year, I organized my first Juneteenth celebration in downtown Portland. The planning, the community, the art making, everything about it lit me up. Standing on that stage, speaking to the crowd, I felt something click: I did not need four walls and a roof to teach. My classroom is wherever my voice reaches, and my students are whoever is on the other end of that exchange.

I may not have a formal teaching certification, but I am a teacher. I share knowledge with community, any community, with intention, purpose, and pride. My goal is always the same: leave people in a better place than where they started. I found my purpose in the midst of a global crisis.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a hand-thinker. I make things with my hands, whether that’s a sculpture or a community event that brings people together and celebrates multicultural creativity. I’m actively working on transitioning back into the arts sector, and while the search has been tiring, I’m also exploring the possibility of starting something of my own, whether that becomes a nonprofit, a collective, or something in between.

I thrive in creative environments, and I’m not in one professionally right now. Summers are when I get to fully step into my creative work. I organize an annual Juneteenth celebration in Portland, collaborating with partners across many organizations. In 2023, I started a food and music festival called Sounds N Sizzle. Funding has been difficult, especially for work rooted in diverse and multicultural communities, so I had to cancel this summer’s event. The bright side is that my collaborator and I received a grant to produce a winter version: CTRL ALT SZZL, a punk showcase featuring BIPOC punk musicians and performers.

Together, we also curated the exhibition Seen≠Heard, a show about being visible yet unheard. I’m currently wrapping up an artist residency in New Mexico with the Olamina Global Artist Residency. I’m also working on Rooted: A Festival of Hair, Culture and Identity with the Portland Public Library, slated for March, which celebrates the cultural, traditional, and personal significance of hair across communities.

Alongside all of this, I’m returning to my personal studio practice after being away from it since 2022. I’m casting the hands of elders, mostly elders of color, though not exclusively, for a project called The Way We Carry Memories, which explores how our hands hold lineage, memory, and lived experience.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three areas of knowledge I never take for granted are public speaking, working with children, and staying flexible. The first two are deeply connected. Learning to project my voice and command a room came from working with kids. When you can get 100 children in a loud gym to focus on you long enough to give instructions or transition an activity, speaking to a room full of adults becomes easy.

Flexibility is just as essential, especially when working with large groups. Bruce Lee said, “Be like water.” Water can flow, carve rock, and take the shape of any vessel. I try to apply that same philosophy in my work, staying adaptable even when a situation is not.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

I am the product of a single-parent household. My mother was the kind of person who could do anything she set her mind to, and I witnessed her do things women were never expected, or even supposed to know how to do. I watched her, eight months pregnant, build an entire wall unit and throw her own baby shower. I saw a Christmas tree cut down by her hands. She was the epitome of badass, and through her example, it was taught to me that I could do anything I set my mind to and that my abilities were not limited by gender.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://acapellalynch.com
• Instagram: @a_capella_lynch

Image Credits

Main image taken with the artist’s( Athena Lynch) phone camera by another artist/ gallerist, Nicole Butscher. Additional image credits: image one, Athena Lynch; image two, Kelly McConnell; image three, Athena Lynch; image four and five, Melissa Comstock.