Meet: Renée Darline Roden
RENEÉ DARLINE RODEN is a playwright and writer based in NYC. (Twitter: @reNEIGHimahorse )
CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION (CAC): What brought you to NYC, and where did you come from?
RENEÉ DARLINE RODEN (RDR): I am originally from the very artist-friendly state of Minnesota. I first moved to NYC in 2014 as a post-grad volunteer at Cristo Rey New York High School, took a hiatus from the city for graduate school, and just returned in fall of 2018!
CAC: What do you see as your personal mission as a Catholic working in the arts?
RDR: I think Jacques Maritain has a lot of wisdom on this front when he writes: “your art is not isolated from your soul.” Good art is authentic art, which means that if I’m making authentic art, it’s going to be Christian simply because I am.
CAC: Where have you found support among your fellow artists for your Catholic faith?
RDR: Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, or simply in the name of good conversation and fellowship! New York’s greatest resource is its people, and I have met so many artists - Christian, Catholic, non-Catholic - who are so delighted to engage in a discussion about faith, religion, ritual, the deep down things of life. This is always encouraging and inspiring.
CAC: How can the Church be more welcoming to artists?
RDR: Bishop Scharfenberger said in a recent interview that the devil’s greatest temptation for us is discouragement. In that case, I think that the Church ought to offer artists real, positive encouragement.
In my experience, I have felt that pursuing a career in the arts seriously means risking other social metrics of success (salary, prestige, etc.) in order to pursue a vision of beauty and goodness that I believe is good for the world but the world doesn’t value that much.
The Church has a great partnership in artists, who seek, like the Church goodness and beauty. We may not be putting the most in the collection plate on Sundays, but we’re invaluable resources to the Church in a different way.
CAC: How can the artistic world be more welcoming to artists of faith?
RDR: I was recently talking with a fellow Christian working professionally in the arts and she made the excellent point that it’s on us to be evangelists for Christ. Christianity’s - particularly Catholicism’s- public face has taken a bad hit in recent years, unfortunately, and it’s up to us to be bearers of Christ to a world that’s not quite sure what to make of him (or at least his church). The majority of non-religious or formerly-religious people in the arts I’ve encountered are actually pretty interested in talking about religion - it’s a meaningful part of the human experience that people want to talk about and often don’t have avenues to do so.
People may have been hurt by an experience of religion, they may be wrestling with their spiritual journey, they may want to argue about a teaching, understand our spirituality, make sense of their own experience, and I think that if we provide listening ears and walk with them a bit on their journey that can be a very powerful welcome to them into the world of faith. If we, as Catholics and Christians, are people others can talk to about the most vulnerable layer of life, that’s a rare gift to offer a spiritually hungering world.
CAC: Where in NYC do you regularly find spiritual fulfillment?
RDR: Honestly, the subway. It can also be a space of the greatest spiritual desolation or tribulation (ugh). But where else can you have your face crushed into the smelly armpit of an Image of God during rush hour traffic? There’s something real good in how truly unpleasant that is.
It took me a while to love New York, but the city finally won me over when I was riding the M60 SBS to LaGuardia one summer at 4am; there was a sea of faces on that bus, and they really did shine like Thomas Merton says they did on the corner of Fourth and Walnut. I usually try to leave the city to find quiet, but in the city, I find the greatest opportunity to find God in that really uncomfortable sacrament of your neighbor. I’m ~~still working on it~~
CAC: Where in NYC do you regularly find artistic fulfillment?
RDR: Project Y and Bushwick Starr have been very good to me and are great places for young writers. I have found lots of artistic inspiration and refreshment at NYC’s many museums: Brooklyn Museum, The Frick, and The Met are good places to cleanse your eyes with some beauty and get inspired. I regularly write in Monet’s water lilies room in MoMa.
CAC: If you have a spiritual director, how did you find that person?
RDR: I am a big external processor and I process my relationships via conversations with trusted advisors. So I have found a spiritual director is pretty essential for processing my relationship with God. I found my spiritual director during graduate school, and decided to keep doing direction via Skype. I prefer meeting with people in person, but I think with a spiritual director, when you find someone who gets you and speaks a language that makes sense for you, that’s worth sticking with. If you’re looking for to start spiritual direction, St. Ignatius Loyola is a really helpful parish that is committed to helping people find a spiritual director.
CAC: What is your daily artistic practice? And what are your recommendations to other artists for practicing their craft daily?
RDR: It’s so basic: write every day. I prefer writing in the morning, but on weekdays, it’s usually after work. I don’t write a masterpiece each evening, but a little chipping away at projects goes a long way. Also I think catching the stray creative thoughts and insights throughout the day or writing something striking or beautiful that happened in your day is important. I have a journal on me (almost) at all times to write down thoughts that bubble up randomly throughout the day. In absence of journal, I use my iPhones notes app. Before I had a smartphone, I would text myself ideas or images seen throughout the day.
CAC: How do you make a living in NYC?
RDR: How to balance having security and making art is a question that I think I will always be wrestling with. I currently work remotely as an editor. I have immense respect for my fellow artists who do not have full-time jobs with benefits. The financial, emotional, physical and mental security that a full-time job brings is something I do not take for granted and I’m seriously grateful. A day job that is both meaningful work and builds skills that help me in my art has been very, very helpful.
CAC: What other practical resources would you recommend to a Catholic artist living in NYC?
RDR: Get an NYC City ID
Look for free nights at Museums to see discounted art!
Get on mailing lists of good places:
The people: I have most learned how to navigate New York by talking to people who have done it before me. Email people, ask to get coffee, build friendships, learn how they found their apartment, how they make their writing happen, where they like to go to work, how they found their job, who did their headshots. Ask for help, and you shall receive.
CAC: What are your top 3 pieces of advice for Catholic artists moving to NYC?
RDR: 1. Live with good people. I lived on an air mattress in a small room for a month while looking for a lease, but I was with roommates who made dinner with me, watched Cohen Brothers films, and talked politics and those blessings cover a multitude of inconveniences.
2. Be brave. David Mamet says that all art is just brave men and women getting up and telling the truth. Art takes courage, as does living in New York City, as does being a Christian. Don’t be afraid of failure or disappointment - just keep being brave.
3. If you haven’t had a really full, authentic belly laugh recently, find someone who will make you laugh and hang out with them or call them on the phone. Gotta have that joy fully stocked at all times.
