Mary Gordon, Suzzy Roche & Ellen LeBow At Rice Polak

On July 12, 2022, the Rice Polak Gallery hosted a very special event titled “Unprayed Prayers.” The event was a compelling collaborative blend of words, music and images by award winning writer Mary Gordon, musician Suzzy Roche of The Roches and acclaimed Wellfleet artist Ellen LeBow.

Writer Mary Gordon says:

More than fifteen years ago, I had the idea of writing prayers for those usually not prayed for. These include “The Wasteful”, “The Liars”, “Those Devoted to Sexual Love”. One of them was “For Those Whose Work Was Invisible” and this was set to music by Suzzy Roche. We collaborated on several prayer/songs/poems/meditations and I was then drawn to the idea of including scenes from the Gospels which are such perfect powerful narrative jewels. This is where artist Ellen LeBow came in. 

Suzzy, Ellen & I have worked together for more than a decade, discouraged by the fear that no marketplace would be sympathetic to our project. But we battled through that and have come together again, older, with new insights and new energies, new losses, new accompaniments to achieve this collaboration: three women no longer in our first youth, pooling our years of creation and living, to present this blend of words, music & imagery.

Artist, Ellen LeBow also reflected on the process of putting together this special event. She states,

The art of a writer is to distill language until it rings true to their readers, the art of a ring of musicians is to shape a piece of music until it ignites a fire between them and their audience. But a visual artist’s images are meant to be experienced in contemplation, devoid of words and sound, and brought into being in solitude. So I had to convince myself I had what it took to participate in a collaboration between the likes of writer Mary Gordon and musician Suzzy Roche to interpret Gordon’s collection of “Unprayed Prayers.” But then who could resist titles like, “In Praise of Liars” and “For Those Whose Work is Invisible.” What I couldn’t have anticipated was how much intensity, hope, dedication, and appreciation it would generate between the three of us as we approached the same thing in our own ways. In trusting the impact of another’s music and the stillness of another’s imagery to harmonize with the cadence of her words Mary was willing to allow a deeper, experience of her work by us as artists as well as by our shared audience.

“Unprayed Prayers” Video featuring Mary Gordon, Suzzy Roche, and Ellen LeBow

Read more about the event here: Finding Fresh Inspiration in Ancient Sources: Ellen LeBow, Mary Gordon, and Suzzy Roche look to the past for creative direction by Abraham Storer in the Provincetown Independent.

The artwork of Ellen LeBow will continue to be on display through Wednesday July 20 at Rice Polak.

Featured image above: “We Raise up Lamentation” by Ellen LeBow