When I was a kid there was a TV show that I loved to watch with my dad. It was called the Naked City. Each week it brought you a glimpse of New York, in the format of a crime drama. But what I remember most about the show was the way in which you felt that at any given moment there was a story going on, lives and dramas being played out, interacting in the vastness of a city of 8 million people, of which I was one.

Now that I am living in Phoenix I am experiencing something that makes me feel that way again. Only this time it is in the connections that I have made and the people I have met here and their personal stories that inspire me. Serendipitous events that happen and the way in which they unfold amaze me. But my stories do not revolve around a film noir crime drama (well, maybe sometimes they do). Mostly they revolve around art.

My granddaughter, Kyria and Robrt Pela

It’s hard to believe that what started as a little idea that my friend, Todd, and I tossed around while working on some art projects has blossomed into a viable collaboration with Kristin Shears of Willo North Gallery and is continuing to grow. Through our symbiotic relationship over the past six months we have offered four workshops and curated a group art show for uac. We also held a benefit for the Alzheimer’s Association with the help of Robrt Pela, who generously offered his time to be our guest of honor. He read from his collection of personal essays about his mom’s struggles with Alzheimer’s and the effects it has had on him and his family.

I met Todd and Robrt when they curiously opened a door to a yoga studio where I was asked to teach a knitting class because the real teacher did not show up.

I met Kristin, through Robrt, because my granddaughter, Kyria, was in his art class and their show was held in Kristin’s gallery.

There are only 1.5 million stories in this naked city, and I am looking forward to a future of chance encounters.

The next show at Willo North Gallery will feature the art of Barbara Kemp Cowlin. And how I met her is another story.