Random bits of Artfest

I tend to notice the absence of things quickly, sometimes before I even see what's present. This kind of perspective has an obvious downside, but the upside is that I notice people and things that get overlooked. Like at my first Artfest: I noticed there were like six African-Americans in the whole 500+ group of attendees.

But scarcity of men at art retreats was so obvious that I barely paid it any attention at first. As I put it to a friend, if you're going to Artfest to pick up guys after class, you will be sorely disappointed. No, if they're there, they've teaching.

Or they've been pressed into service hauling or vending stuff. Maybe they hang out in town while the wife/girlfriend is making art. You can count the number of guys on one hand who are actually there to take a class. Really, how many guys do you know who go to any kind of retreat not related to work or maaaaybe church?

But this year I found an interesting perspective from Chad Goodson, who was in my Strange Angels class. He and his wife Jessica Herman Goodson ate lunch with us, and I overheard a snippet of their conversation. So I pestered him about it:

What do you think? The estrogen is pretty thick at art retreats. Do you think things would be the same if the ratio were about 50-50 (60-40, whatever) women to men? Would you want it that way? Or would you miss the just-us-girls vibe?