Lindsay Marie Morris

Artist and educator Hillary Younglove was content working on her various projects alone in her home. She'd made a career out of it. But a conversation about puppetry would change the course, igniting a new passion she had not realized.

Her friend told her about the Processional Arts Workshop, a nonprofit ensemble of puppeteers, artists, and musicians committed to creating site-specific, community-organized parades, processions, and performances in the small Northern Italian town of Morinesio. Led by American workshop instructors Alex Kahn and Sophie Michahelles, locals would come together to make large puppets from recycled materials while learning techniques such as bamboo armature construction, paper-mâché casting, and scenic painting. 

The California-based Rhode Island School of Design alum and former Fulbright Scholar found the project fascinating. She decided to travel to Morinesio with her employer's art department, theater teacher, and music teacher. They joined in the puppet-making, and on the day of the culminating event, the Midsummer Procession, she was surprised to see hundreds of people show up with puppets from past years to march throughout the town before gathering for a large dinner. 

"I think it was at that moment I thought, 'Wow, the artwork that we made is reaching all these people,'" Hillary says. "And I just loved seeing the magic in the adults' and children's eyes, and I thought, I want to do this. It was the start of my thinking about community art and its impact."

Today, Hillary proudly promotes community projects as a specialty. In 2023, she'd return to Italy—this time to Lentini, Sicily—with her Sonoma Academy students, who collaborated with local non-profit Badia Lost & Found on a mural project. 

Hillary and I chatted about that recent project, its inspiration, subject, challenges and highlights, impact on the students and community, and more. 

 

 

What inspired this project, and why Sicily?

We do a lot of trips abroad with the students. A couple of years ago, I thought it would be great for our students to get to know Italian teenagers. So our arts department planned a trip to Sicily. One of my colleagues, a music teacher, has family from Puglia, and he's been to Sicily a lot, so he wanted to do an arts trip to promote his music program. And I said, "Well, if I'm going to come, I want to do a mural."

I started reaching out to different arts organizations in Sicily, writing to them without knowing anyone. I showed them the murals I'd done, but I wasn't getting very far. Then, I was put in touch with an organization called Badia Lost & Found, which is in Lentini. They were the perfect organization, a group of artists who wanted to revitalize a beautiful yet dilapidated neighborhood full of history. They started having local artists do murals throughout this designated arts district. 

Lentini is not a tourist town at all. It's off the beaten track, but the people love their town. They started to put these murals in, and they got a big building where they have art classes, too, for the local kids. And so it was a perfect fit for us to partner with them. 

I was put in touch with Erika Puntillo at Badia Lost and Found, who spoke English fluently. So we planned something on Zoom. It was right at the end of the pandemic. I'd had some experience making murals before with students, so I knew how long it would take to do something. I knew we only had one day to do it, which was really tight.

My goal was for our teenagers to interact with Lentini's teenagers. And so she got a local high school with an arts focus to come, and they were going to paint with our students.

Meanwhile, I did some research because they said they wanted something symbolic that represented the region. So I started going online and visiting museums and looking at different artifacts, and I found this image that I thought would work well as a mural. It was a Byzantine image, a stone carving. I thought the simple design would allow all skill levels to participate. So I took that image and drew it, and then I had one of my students create several color variations to scale. We sent those color palettes and designs off to the people at Badia Lost and Found, and then they chose the one they wanted.

 

Byzantine carving on display at the Regional Archaeological Museum of Agrigento

 

What were some of the challenges you faced?

We had exactly six hours to paint this mural. So I asked them if they could paint the background color before we arrived, leaving us just enough time to sketch out the whole thing and paint it. 

We rented a big tour bus to take the students around Sicily. When we arrived in Lentini, it was really funny because it felt like we were rock stars arriving in this little town that Americans and other tourists seldom visited. The local citizens' heads turned as the bus pulled in. Our bus got stuck on one of the small side streets, but the locals helped us get the bus unstuck through lots of gesticulation and advice. And so we were late, and then it started raining.

 

The student artists in action

 

Tell us about the experience when you got there.

We immediately got to work. They had their group of kids there; our kids hit it off with them immediately. It was really great. I was so happy to see that my goal had already been achieved through their interaction. As word got out in town that the Americans were painting on a side street, an English teacher brought her class over. There were tons of kids talking excitedly, exchanging stories and ideas about teenage life in Lentini versus life in California with views on art and soccer. It was beyond what I had hoped for. So I was super happy.

They also had commissioned a local muralist. She worked with the Lentini art students while I worked with mine. Our murals were face-to-face on different apartment walls. 

They asked the neighborhood, "Do you want a mural on your building?" And one family agreed to have our design painted on their apartment. 

The family, with two little boys, watched the progress with excitement. We got it done just as the sun went down. So it was great because even after that day, the Sonoma Academy students kept in touch with the Lentini art students they had made friends with, and then those kids met us on the last day in Catania. It was really heartwarming to see that connection. 

The artists beneath their finished masterpiece

What did you personally take away from this experience?

I'd love to do more community-based art projects so that people who don't frequent galleries or museums have art in their lives. Art is for everyone, and everyone should participate in the act of making something creative. So, I would love to collaborate more here and abroad. It's just a wonderful thing. 

 

Art from Hillary's recent Traveling Postcards exhibit

I actually just finished a project that I did for a nonprofit called Traveling Postcards, which supports survivors of gender-based violence through the healing arts. I curated a show in Washington, D.C., for the organization and went there in October to help hang the show. As part of the exhibit, my students helped with writing quotes from survivors and made collages that I turned into small butterflies that accompanied my giant one. 

I'm really interested in how art is a healing and community force. And so I want to keep doing projects like these. 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to my newsletter for more content and updates!

Jessica Tranchina's father didn't have it easy. Born and raised in Balestrate, Sicily, as one of nine children, he was a soccer player who didn't have enough money for shoes. When he came to the U.S. as a teenager, he couldn't speak English. Instead of college, he fought in the Vietnam War. Afterward, he worked as a house painter. 

"He faced a bunch of hardship that he doesn't talk about, and that just made him who he is," Jessica says. "And so we were raised with this example of someone with an amazing work ethic."

Her father eventually realized a passion for flipping houses, leading to owning rentals and having the money to send his whole family to Italy every two years. His grit and ingenuity inspired Jessica.

"My dad's an Aquarius, and my daughter, Giovanna, said to me, 'You're also an Aquarius, so you're a trailblazer, and you think differently than other people,'" Jessica says. 

As co-founder of Austin, Texas-based Generator Athlete Lab and owner of Experts in Wellness, this doctor of physical therapy has definitely blazed her own trail. She's also earned her stripes by competing in fitness events ranging from 5Ks to 50Ks, sprint triathlons to Ironman races, and strength challenges to figure competitions. 

Jessica took time out to chat about her practice and its inspiration. She also shared her goals and hopes for clients.
 

 

You have competed in a wide range of athletic events. How have these experiences shaped your approach?

I'm an eat-your-frog kind of person. When you do the really hard thing in the morning that you don't want to do, it makes the rest of the day easier and makes you more resilient. So, I do that in business, life, and sports. 

For anything that I tackle, I do the really hard thing or the hard training, whether in athletics or trail runs and triathlons and any competition that was happening. I call opening Generator Athlete Lab in 2018 my marathon or ultra run.

It's taught me so much about people in general, their psychology, and what makes them tick because it's way different than what makes me tick. I'm super competitive, highly driven, and motivated. I feel like it's served me well in life, but my biggest challenge has been learning other people aren't always like that.  

  

Jessica placed first in the 2009 Honolulu Triathlon.

What inspired you to create the Generator Athlete Lab?

As a practitioner, I knew early on—when I was 12—I wanted to be a physical therapist and follow the best mentors. I defended my dissertation at Boston University; I wanted the top degree. I knew I wanted to be the best.

 

Eventually, I opened my own practice in Hawaii in about 2006. Then, I brought it in 2010 to Austin.

 

I was practicing and seeing clients and would research recovery modalities and smart training. I did a lot of manual therapy and thought, "There is not a single space that exists for not just athletes to recover but also for my clients to recover and get the best manual care, training, and recovery."

 

So that's when I said, "I should build it."

 

Afterward, I thought, "Wait! What if people don't like this? This is absolutely crazy!" But when I opened it, people said, "Wow, this is crazy, but it's working."

 
Jessica's clients range from athletes to individuals looking to boost their mental health. 

Why did you choose to focus on recovery?

It was the one thing I didn't focus on personally. My only thoughts were, "Go! Train, train, train!"

 

Things started hurting for me, and I thought, "Why am I not even doing this?"

 

I started researching modalities that are science-backed and proven to work. They're great for longevity and mortality, heart health, and brain health.

 

It's not just athletes recovering for sport. We see a lot of injuries and people doing it for their mental health. And that has been the most rewarding part of it. I didn't even think of how amazing that part would be.

 

Originally, it was for inflammation and injuries, and now, people come to get off their antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs to sleep better and to be nicer to their kids. And that carries so much weight to me. It's very rewarding. 

 

Describe the protocols you and your husband, Delfin Ward, have designed.

We're known for our science-backed recovery protocol: 30 minutes in our infrared sauna and then in our contrast—hot and cold— tubs, along with medical-grade compression garments and vibration. There's science behind each step. We put them in that order, so when you come in for your pass or appointment, you get the full protocol we've designed.

 

You also own Experts in Wellness. Tell us about that business.

Generator Athlete Lab is zoned as medical, but we don't do physical therapy there because we don't want people to get confused. You can't bring your insurance card in and use that. It has a membership model or a pack. 

Since I still practice physical therapy, I've launched Experts in Wellness, where I hang my Physical Therapy license. I wanted to partner with a nutritionist, too, and we're starting to offer nutrition services and blood work panels to my clients. It's awesome.

 

What are your future goals?

We are going to expand Generator Athlete Lab nationwide. We're going to partner with like-minded people with the same mission as ours, truly compassionate people who want to help. And if we franchise, we franchise. Right now, that doesn't sound attractive to me because that sounds like fast expansion without me keeping my hand on the pulse. Our initial plan is to establish partnerships across the nation.  

 

What do you hope clients take away?

True healing. Not just physical healing but emotional and mental healing.

 

Jessica presents the concept of Generator Athlete Lab to her community.

 

What do you find most rewarding about your work, and how do you stay motivated?

I took off seeing clients for two years, probably the least motivated two years of my life. I've wanted to be a PT since I was 12, and I stopped seeing clients because I just wore the full-time business hat.

 

The business is doing really well, but it was not fully fulfilling me. Seeing clients really grounds me. Now that I started seeing clients again after a two-year hiatus, it has reignited every single fire in my life.

 

A quote by Pablo Picasso resonates strongly with me: "The meaning of life is to find your gift, but the purpose of life is to give it away."

That quote hit me so hard when I saw it because I was not giving away my gift. I'm a healer; that is my gift. My gift is to help. And I help in a lot of different ways. I help my team, I grow and lead my team, and my team helps our members. But specifically, I need to help people: individuals. 
 
 

If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to my newsletter for more content and updates!