Creative License
Local arts-based enterprises not only uplift artists, writers, and other creators, but also strengthen communities. Some may not survive without support.
by Bill Donahue

“The arts connect us all,” says Hayden Saunier, an actor and poet from Bucks County. “It’s such a clean and clear form of communication between human beings. That’s the real importance of it.”
 
Although she now lives on a 40-acre farm in Bedminster, Saunier came of age in her hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. She later moved to New York, where she made her living as an actor doing live theater; she counts Viola in Twelfth Night and Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as among her favorite roles. She traces her love of theater to her high school days, when she reveled in every opportunity to create and collaborate with people of all backgrounds.
 
“Theater uses all the arts,” she says. “You have to learn a whole lot of different things in order to participate in it. You have the nerds and the artists and the jocks, and theater brings them all together in a way that nothing else does. Everybody plays their part, and as long as you’re doing your job, you’re part of it.”
 
Saunier’s interest in poetry blossomed later in her acting career, when she was doing theater productions mostly in Philadelphia. She would write backstage and in between shows.
 
“I always think theater led me to poetry; it’s an aural art,” she says. “You feel it in your body and in the sounds you put out into the world. It was a natural move [from theater to poetry]. Certain Shakespeare plays you can’t beat because you have these wonderful words in your mouth.”
 
Poetry has been kind to Saunier. An abbreviated list of accomplishments to date: Bucks County Poet Laureate honors (1991); multiple poetry prizes and published books, including Wheel, her latest, released by Terrapin Books in 2024; and membership in a tight-knit community of fellow poets, writers, and artists in Bucks County and beyond.
 
Her poetry can best be described as evocative; with a deft hand, she deconstructs quiet moments and ideas that seem simple but are actually quite profound. She prefers to write about “the miraculousness of daily life.” In Wheel, for example, she riffs on a theme: the cyclical nature of the world, including “the rat-a-tat-tat of the daily upheavals and chaos in this age,” as she puts it.
 
Life on a Bucks County farm has been a boon to her work. Being so close to nature has given her the gift of noticing even the slightest alteration to the landscape—“the world keeps going; nature pays very little attention to us”—and helped her reflect on love, grief, and the never-ending cycle of change.
 
Besides writing verse, Saunier lends her time to organizations devoted to uplifting the arts and local artists. In 2020, she joined the committee for the Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County, whose mission is “to foster, strengthen, and promote Bucks County’s diverse arts and cultural community, build arts alliances, and enhance the Bucks County arts experience.” The council does so through local programming such as First Thursdays. Hosted at Freeman Hall in Doylestown on the first Thursday of every month, First Thursdays enable local writers to read their poetry or prose aloud, and then engage in an intimate conversation with attendees.
 
Other events include a Spring Exhibition and a Member Art Show. The council also runs a “30 Days of Inspiration” program, using social media and its own website to promote original work from poets and visual artists, paired together, for every day in the month of April. The council is always looking for opportunities to expand the circle, so to speak; Saunier hinted at the possibility of doing more to support local musicians, for example.
 
Saunier has also become involved with Volta: Center for Writing Arts on the Newtown campus of Bucks County Community College. Volta serves as an incubator, of sorts, in which writers can work together to sharpen their skills through workshops, readings, and other offerings. Such programs underscore the connective power of the arts, which Saunier believes is especially important in times of upheaval and uncertainty.
 
“It’s important to speak up and go up against whatever the official story is,” she says. “Art can do that in a funny and ironic way; it doesn’t have to be angry. It speaks in so many great slams, and it can poke holes in the big balloon of ego that happens around you.”
 
Support for arts organizations is more essential than ever, according to Saunier. Without the involvement of people who care, such organizations could easily wither and die. Communities would likely lose some of their vitality as a result.
 
“It’s important to keep these small organizations going and support them,” she says. “So much good work is getting discovered and developed in them. I think people don’t have the volunteer time they used to have, which is unfortunate, because those are the things that rejuvenate us. We seem to be living in a time of tremendous exhaustion, not tremendous leisure, and we’re losing some of our quality of life.
 
“For me,” she continues, “I want to keep being able to write and write well, and to experience all these other creative things that human beings are capable of doing.”
 
Paint the Town
Art is for everyone, regardless of age and ability. Many of us abandon our artistic interests once we hit adulthood, but it’s never too late to pick up a paintbrush, write a story, or find some other way to rediscover the creator within. Start by checking out art-specific enterprises such as Yardley’s AOY Center (aoyarts.org), Furlong’s Art in the Barn (artinthebarn.life), Lansdale’s Eclipse Center for Creative Community (eclipsec3.com), and Haverford’s Main Line Art Center (mainlineart.org), among others. If you’re more of an admirer or collector, the Philadelphia area hosts some truly sensational festivals and events devoted to the arts, including the ones listed below.
 
Manayunk Arts Festival
June 21 and 22
manayunk.com
 
Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show
August 16 and 17
mtgretnaarts.com
 
Doylestown Arts Festival
September 6 and 7
dtownartsfestival.com
 
Kennett Arts Festival
September 20 and 21
kennettarts.com
 
Mt. Airy Arts Festival
September 27
allenslane.org/mt-airy-arts-festival
 
Photo courtesy of Hayden Saunier
 
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, April 2025.