Building Community through Creativity
Receiving a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award this year marked a full-circle moment for Monica Mims. Decades earlier, she had stayed at the Y with her baby when escaping an abusive relationship. She later served on its staff and now sits on its Board of Directors. Mims noted, “Being honored as a woman of distinction means that the garden in me has had enough water, fertilizer, and sunlight to grow and is now mature enough to feed others!”
In its citation of Mims, the YWCA Women of Distinction committee noted, “Monica is a multidisciplinary artist, generously sharing her gifts via transformative initiatives in our community. Professionally, Monica serves as a Grassroots Community Engagement Partner at Alliant Energy and an artist whose work centers on building meaningful connections between people, ideas, and communities.”
Monica Mims also feels her life has come full circle as a Board member of Operation Fresh Start (OFS). She and her twin sister and older sister participated in the program after facing traumatic events in their childhood and struggling during high school. “I didn’t fit into a traditional school setting,” Mims reflected. “High school was an incredibly difficult time for me.” At OFS, she gained mentors, skills, and a passion for the environment. In an interview with OFS, Mims says, “Caring about people, understanding the diversity in us all, and wanting to be a resource—I learned a lot of that from OFS. It was a holistic experience that led to everything I do today.”
Practical building skills she learned at OFS have come in handy in her work as an artist, including making her own frames out of misfit wood suspended by fishing wire and finding materials for her collages in unusual places.
Another step in Mims’s journey was applying for the UW Odyssey Project, a free college humanities program for adults facing economic barriers. Initially, a road block appeared: “The first time that I received an acceptance letter from Odyssey, I was excited but was diagnosed with cancer about a week later. I reached out to Emily right away. She promised me a spot in a later class. AND HERE I AM, CLASS OF 2019!”
Mims says attending Odyssey helped her discover her learning style, get out of her own way, and “learn how to lean into curiosity” to find her own expressive, creative self. “I’ve never been in an environment where everyone cared so much,” she noted, comparing Odyssey metaphorically to a quilt stitched with love and care out of “different pieces of fabric, many shapes, textiles, and hues / needing, wanting purpose, and some misused.”
In another poem for Odyssey class, she proclaimed her determination:
My dreams can’t be blocked!
Dream fearlessly and soar.
Potential is a waste without ambition.
Ambition is a waste without dreams.
Dreams are a waste without desire.
I desire to dream.
My ambitions push my potential to the limits.
Just as one goal is accomplished,
the winds will rise and keep me blowing.
One goal she accomplished was getting hired as the Grassroots Community Engagement Partner for Alliant Energy. In that capacity, she works to build and execute community projects centered around renewable energy. But her passionate work on the side as a visual artist has by now turned into a second profession. Her acrylics and tapestries grace many exhibits, and her skills as a motivational speaker and creativity guru are in high demand. In another full-circle moment, she gave her Odyssey teachers “homework” at a recent workshop designed to generate a collaborative collage.
Visit creativesoulmonica.com to view examples of Mims’s artwork and statements of her belief in the power of art to unlock the best in humanity. She writes, “My creations embody a harmonious blend of complexity and simplicity, mirroring the essence of my Midwest upbringing, enriched by diverse experiences, and fueled by an unwavering admiration for humanity’s myriad expressions. In my artistry, I seek to unveil the allure within the ordinary, each piece an ode to the beauty found in the mundane.”
When not working for Alliant Energy, serving on Boards for non-profits like the YWCA, Women in Focus, and OFS, creating and speaking about art, and spending time with her 26-year-old daughter, Destiny, Monica Mims might be found with a watering can. “I’m a plant enthusiast with about 100 plants in my home that I care for daily.”
What advice would she give others? “If you feel like giving up on your dreams, make short, attainable goals, do what scares you most, and don’t be afraid to pivot. Life hasn’t been easy for me and I still have tough days, but I make every effort count and seek to learn from every ‘failure.’”
Like a skilled seamstress, Monica Mims believes in weaving any seeming failure into beautiful success: “Embracing a fluid approach, I allow the creative process to unfold organically, letting each stroke and stitch find its place in the tapestry of my creations.” Some of those larger-than-life creations are now on display at the new Center for Black Excellence in South Madison, inspiring others to dream big.
