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Kristina Cain
Scenic Artist
From 2006 t0 2016 I volunteered at the Springfield Little Theatre in Springfield Missouri. I worked with amazing people who inspired me and made me feel like I belonged. My only prior experience with theatre was being in a musical in high school my freshman year. It terrified me. My children and husband acted in shows and I painted. I painted and painted and painted. I am confident those I worked with would agree I was a mega-volunteer. I sometimes spent over 40 hours a week working on a show. I loved the work and I loved doing it for free. If I could do volunteer painting and not make any money I would, but I live in a capitalist society that doesn't value any that doesn't produce a capital gain. A person who doesn't make money will die at a younger age and suffer the entire time.
2016 was my last year because of the election. Missouri had been getting meaner since the 2008 election. Before 2008 Missouri was a bellwether state with its popular vote winner matching the national presidential winner every year. That ended with the first black man to become president. In 2016 Missouri citizens were joyously mean. They were frequently reveling in the suffering of others. I didn't understand it. When they voted for a man who embodied joyful hate and greed it broke me. I couldn't continue to give my work away for free. The smaller and smaller pockets of kindness no longer sustained me. I lost my inspiration to be creative. I decided greedy hateful people don't deserve my generosity. I withdrew from everyone except my family.
I cherish the wonderful memories I have volunteering there. I don't regret the time I gave. My family has wonderful memories made with our fellow theatre people. But things changed in 2016 and they have not gotten better.
Here are a few of the pieces I painted during this time. I intend to create a page that better represents of my work there. Maybe I'll change the paragraphs above too. I don't know. It's November 10th, 2024 and I'm still trying to figure out the tone I want to convey. Right now I am angry at every single American adult that didn't vote for Kamala. People are going to suffer. My transgender children are going to suffer.
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