Meet Baltimore Featured Artist: Rebecca Mlinek
REBECCA MLINEK is a Baltimore-based screenwriter, poet, fiction and creative non-fiction (CNF) writer.
Check out her work: (Upcoming Podcast | Facebook | Short Stories & CNF)
CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION (CAC): Where are you from, and what brought you to Baltimore?
REBECCA MLINEK (RM): I’m from Pittsburgh, Pa. I got married right after college and my new husband’s job brought us to Baltimore. That was 20 years ago! It took a while, but Baltimore now feels like home.
CAC: How do understand your vocation as a Catholic artist? Do you call yourself a Catholic artist?
RM: This is a tricky question. I don’t think I can be anything other than a Catholic (insert noun here) if I take my faith seriously. But at the same time, I don’t label myself a “Catholic writer” because Catholics aren’t necessarily my audience. Most of my writing community, and most of my audience tend to be non-religious seekers of truth. Those are my people - I get them and I think they get what I do.
I see my mission as a writer as bringing some of the weird, complicated, messy way the world works into greater relief. I often find myself exploring ways in which hope can be found in the midst of pain. Both of these align with Catholic principles, but aren’t strictly Catholic ideas.
CAC: Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?
RM: Does your newsletter count? (Editor’s note: It does.) I am lucky to belong to a parish (Mount Calvary in Baltimore) that attracts artists and musicians and scholars, and interacting with my fellow parishioners is always inspiring. But otherwise - I often don’t even look to the Church for support in my writing. I, maybe wrongly, assume that the powers-that-be are looking more for propaganda than the challenge of art, and I’m not interested in that kind of writing.
CAC: Where have you found support among your fellow artists for your Catholic faith?
RM: I’ve found my fellow artists and writers to be incredibly supportive! Which goes against the popular assumption that “Hollywood” is a bunch of godless monsters. Most of the people I interact with are lovely, caring, and deeply respectful of my religious beliefs, even when they don’t understand them. They are, frankly, often more conscientious and respectful than fellow Christians.
CAC: How can the Church be more welcoming to artists?
RM: Paying us? Ha ha. Actually, I think the main thing the Church needs to do is to embrace being challenged. Loyalty to our faith is not the same thing as refusing to ever acknowledge problems. A spouse who refused to ever consider or face the beloved’s faults would be neglecting his or her duty. I think artists are the Church’s nagging spouse, and spending more time listening and less time in knee-jerk defensiveness could open up a whole world of beauty we’ve really almost closed ourselves off from.
CAC: How can the artistic world be more welcoming to artists of faith?
RM: Honestly, in my experience the artistic world is very welcoming. Most artists understand devotion to an ideal - it’s not that long of a jump between that and devotion to a Person.
CAC: Where in Baltimore do you regularly find spiritual fulfillment?
RM: Mount Calvary (part of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter). The liturgy is beautiful and reverent, the people are friendly and wonderfully weird, and the pastor is a truly devoted and hard-working priest. You can find the best book club (like, serious discussion about serious books) I’ve ever come across. You can find parishioners handing out breakfast sandwiches to the needy on Saturday mornings. You can find pews crawling (literally) with children - a truly vibrant community. I can’t recommend this parish highly enough!
CAC: Where in Baltimore do you regularly find artistic fulfillment?
RM: I sometimes make it to the Baltimore Women in Film Collective, though not enough to call myself part of the group. They are great collection of women, though, and I wish I could make meetings more! I love the Baltimore theater scene - I particularly love the Chesapeake Shakespeare Theater Company. I was gifted season tickets a few times, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Also, the BSO is a great asset to my city! We are always moved and inspired when we go to a concert.
CAC: How have you found or built community as a Catholic artist in Baltimore?
RM: I teach writing for high school, which plugs me into the writing community in a very natural way. Writers come to the school to mentor the youth, and I get to connect with them! Also, my students grow up to be passionate and talented writers themselves, and I look forward to the day when most of my prestigious writing contacts are former students!
CAC: What is your daily spiritual practice?
RM: I never write anything (even this) without first saying a section of the Liturgy of the Hours. I’m freewheeling with the time, but I love repeating the psalms - I feel like I slowly absorb ideas that are too deep for me to get after just the first few hundred reads.
CAC: What is your daily artistic practice? And what are your recommendations to other artists for practicing their craft daily?
RM: I work on my writing every day! But I don’t beat myself up if it’s working on wording for a website or a grant application rather than creative writing.
My biggest recommendation, actually, is as a mother. Give yourself permission to spend time on your passion! If keeping your counters pristine all day long gives you joy, great! But I promise you, nobody is going to remember how gritty your counter-tops were if you spend that time writing instead. (I know this because my counter-tops are, in fact, truly appalling.)
CAC: Describe a recent day in which you were most completely living out your vocation as an artist. What happened, and what brought you the most joy?
RM: I recently wrapped recording on a fiction podcast I wrote and directed. It was amazing to me how much energy it gave me! I came home from a long day with no food, having slept very little, but with more energy to hang out with my kids and husband than ever. Seeing my words brought to life was a joy unlike almost anything else.
CAC: How do you afford housing as an artist?
RM: Both my husband and I work full time - housing in Baltimore isn’t horrible (though it’s not great), but putting our six daughters through college is a constant financial stress.
CAC: How do you financially support yourself as an artist?
RM: I teach writing full time for a public magnet high school, which is a nice way to make money as a writer, since I’m immersed in the craft of it constantly. The Stowe Story Lab is a wonderful community of writers, and one I’m very proud and grateful to be a part of. Rocaberti Writers is another group (through their writing retreats in Spain and France) I’ve been fortunate to join. Online, I’ve found a lot of support through the Roadmap Writers programs. They really trained me how to pitch myself and my stories, and have connected me to some wonderful and supportive mentors.
CAC: What other practical resources would you recommend to a Catholic artist living in Baltimore?
RM: Lots of coffee. If you’re in Baltimore, I don’t know why you’d drink anything other than Zeke’s. I also have to mention one of my favorite bars, since I recently published a poem dedicated to it: Max’s Taphouse in Fells Point. It’s a serious beer bar, old as dirt, and a great place to spend a few hours with friends.
Also - the library! Use your library! Not only are they great for books, they can help with so many things. For my podcast, I was able to rent out a room in the library for auditions, and then again for rehearsals, and it didn’t cost me a billion dollars. I love the library!
CAC: What advice do you have for Catholic artists post-graduation?
RM: Do your art, even if you feel stupid - you might feel like it’s a waste of your time, but it isn’t! Find people who get it and will support you. Pray - go to adoration, go to mass, pray in the car, pray before you write or paint or whatever it is you do. Let God be a part of your process.
