"Of Art and Politics" by Nick Sousanis from The Detroiter

http://www.thedetroiter.com/july05/clarkeart.html

Of Art and Politics
Hansen Clarke: Politician/Painter
by
Nick Sousanis

Our lives are a series of choices - a balancing act between our desires, our obligations, and the realities within which we find ourselves. Each decision we make, each path we choose, necessarily affects and eliminates other potential paths. State Senator Hansen Clarke's choices as a young man and his recent decision to run for mayor of Detroit are a powerful illustration of the effect our choices have on the course our lives take.

As a young man, Clarke was a strong artist, and this ability led to him receiving a scholarship to attend Cornell University. While he eventually did receive his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting there, at the time he felt there was little financial future for an artist. He turned instead towards law, in his words, "This is what the world recognized as being an accomplishment for a man." Thus he abandoned his passion for art and headed off to Law School at Georgetown. His law degree brought him back to Detroit, and once home, he worked his way into significant positions of public service in order to give back to his community, a role he does not regret in the least.

This fork in the road taken, Clarke would not return to making art for 18 years. Yet the call stayed with him all that time, every single day. Finally in 2002 he made a brief return to art, but his run for the Senate curtailed this once again. Settling into his role at the Senate, Clarke found a way to study painting evenings and Fridays and reacclimate himself to this world he'd left behind nearly two decades previous. In instructor Roumen Boudev, he found a strong teacher and a source of inspiration. Boudev shared these words with Clarke (before knowing of his student's Senate position), "It's easier to be a prime minister than a painter." The road to reclaiming his painting skills was not an easy one, but a challenge he always looked forward to.

In April of 2005, Clarke felt he was getting close to being comfortable showing his work. It was at this same time that he was thinking that he would have to run for mayor. People were calling on him to run, and the desperate state of the city presented an unavoidable pull. He hesitated as he knew that this would mean once again putting his art on hold. But by late April he determined that his city needed him too much, and so he put his brushes down again to attempt to serve Detroit in the larger capacity that the mayor's office could bring.

However, he did make this promise to himself, "For me to run, I couldn't give up painting again. I have to find a way to integrate it as part of my life." Clarke also points out the balance that an outlet like painting provides, "I think if I painted more I'd be more open as an elected official. Painting made me more sensitive to issues happening around me."

Should Clarke be elected this fall, we sincerely hope that he is able to find time for both of his passions - the city of Detroit and its people, and his art. Let it not be another 20 years before an exhibition of his art work hangs proudly in the city he long put it aside for in order to serve.

(For our interview with Clarke, please click here. For his campaign website, please click here.)

- Nick Sousanis