One Artist’s View

	Wilma Steele and one of her works

Statement from artist Wilma Lee Steele, resident of Meador, Mingo County, whose work was in the art show:

Nature has always been important to me.  When I was a child, camping and fishing with my family were a major part of summertime.  My own special place was a vine-covered tree canopy where it was always cool and many good books were my only companions. 

As an adult, my husband and I share the love of time spent together in the hills.  We love West Virginia and our hearts grieve over what is happening here. I am often asked, Ms. Steele have you seen the golf course or the trails?  Don’t you like them?  I have seen them, and the hatchery, the industrial park, the plans for the school and much more.  I am not against progress and if the mountaintop has already been blasted apart, then good use for what is left is great.

  Now, I ask you, "Have you seen what was there before?  Do you know what we just destroyed?"  These mountains are one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world.  Many of our families have been in this country since before the Revolutionary War or even earlier.  Our connection with the Appalachians is a part of our heritage.  Every cliff had a name, and animals and plants were our means of survival.  I know times have changed, but to destroy so much of our heritage for money is a shame.  So I ask you, "Have you looked down on these mountains from a plane and seen just how much is gone?  Have you seen the flooding and destruction of your neighbor’s property with the third 100-year rain?"

I’ve heard an "act of God" once too often!  I do what others have done in the past when their eyes and ears have witnessed loss of too much - I use my art to create, I write words to cry out, and I pray that someone hears.  I support those that do something to stop the wrong that is being done.

  Art is not just pretty pictures – many of its images are quite disturbing – but it has the ability to get others to be still and see. Our writers, singers, movie makers, painters and sculptors have always been important to social change.  Their works are often the consciousness-expanding voice that gets others to hear.

  I do not put myself in this great company or on that level.  I am only another heart that cares. I know I have friends that have a stronger talent and ability than mine, but when small groups of passionate people join together for a common good – then mountains move – or stay.