Belonging through Art with Tanya Davis (Episode 7)
Charlotte Donlon talks to author Tanya Davis about art and belonging.
Learn more about Belonging through Art™ here.
Here’s the Chicago gallery Tanya mentions during our conversation, and below is a photo of the painting she discusses.
Charlotte Donlon talks to author Tanya Davis about art and belonging.
Learn more about Belonging through Art™ here.
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Why It Matters: In a world marked by daily disconnection, erasure of stories, and social numbness, art remains a powerful force for building belonging. This episode with Tanya Davis explores how art helps us hold space for each other’s stories, honor our histories, and remind ourselves—and each other—that we matter.
Belonging isn’t just a feeling; it’s something we actively create together through creativity and community.
>>> Art offers a way to resist isolation and erasure. Tanya shares how, even when the world feels overwhelming and disconnected, coming together with like-minded people through art provides hope and sustains us.
>>> Acts of joy—like attending concerts, viewing meaningful paintings, or sharing music—can be forms of resistance that strengthen both individuals and communities.
>>> Art enables us to be “witness bearers”—to see, honor, and share each other's stories. Tanya’s experiences in galleries and community projects show how art can make people feel seen and valued, reinforcing that everyone’s story matters and that we all have a place in the collective narrative.
After Listening to This Episode, You’ll Walk Away With:
A renewed sense of how art can help you reconnect with yourself and others, even when the world feels heavy.
Ideas for integrating art into your daily life as a practice of belonging—whether through music, visual art, writing, or community events.
Encouragement to honor your own story and the stories of those around you, knowing that sharing and witnessing art can foster deeper, more resilient connections.
This second mini-season features conversations with three individuals who are doing significant work in ways that promote ideas connected to belonging through art. I hope you enjoy hearing from them.
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About Tanya Davis:
Tanya Davis is a wife, mother, grandmother, philanthropist, and author whose life’s work is giving and pouring into the lives of others.
Twenty years ago, Tanya, her husband Stephen and their seven children established the William & Mary Davis Foundation with the mission of providing opportunities to those who reside in under resourced communities and advocating for those whose voices are not heard. They also support organizations that align with their mission. The foundation provides financial support, and educational experiences for individuals for the purpose of empowerment-financially, emotionally, spiritually.
The foundation supports organizations that embody this mission including Daystar University (Nairobi, Kenya), Fox Valley Christian Action, Young Life Teen Mothers, Orange Hands, Women at Risk International, and By the Hands, Haymarket Center, MFS, GEMS of St. Sabina, East Tennessee Freedom Schools, Chicago Foundation for Women, DuSable Museum, and many others.
Tanya’s desire to enrich the lives of others also led her to launch Purpose by Design, a mentoring retreat for girls in under-resourced communities, in 2010. Each year, Tanya and a group of volunteers host 10-20 girls for a long weekend of enrichment workshops – from health and wellness to college prep and goal planning. Recently, the organization partnered with Foolproof to provide financial literacy empowerment for young women. In addition, Tanya is a sponsor for Tuskegee Next, which allows high-risk youth to earn a pilot’s license through an intense 10-week program. Tuskegee Next has been featured on CBS Weekend News and recognized by the original Tuskegee Airmen members as well as Illinois Governors and city-wide officials. The program has helped to license over 76 young adults in 7 years.
Tanya has authored four books: May I Please Speak with My Father, I Don’t Want to Shame My Daddy’s Name, Urban Monks and Mystics (co-author), and Threads: A Tapestry of Life in the Black Community of Shiloh and Beyond. She has also served as a publisher for numerous other books on various topics and as a guest contributor for online organizations.
A 38-year resident of Wheaton, Illinois, Tanya was the Chair of the Board of Fox Valley Christian Action and Development Chair for Haymarket Center, an addiction center in Chicago. She also serves on the board of Metropolitan Family Services, DuPage Health Coalition, The Walter Cronkite Committee, and is a founding member of Magnolia Moonshots 2030. She is also a member of the Chicago Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Tanya holds a bachelor’s degree in counseling from DePaul University with an emphasis on narratives and a master’s degree in narrative medicine from Lenoir-Rhyne University. She believes in the power of story, and being an active listener in another person’s story is how we will grow in empathy and love for each other. She has facilitated narrative workshops that bring people together to share their stories.
Episode Transcript:
Charlotte Donlon (00:00):
Welcome to the second mini season of all of this and more with a group of episodes on belonging through art. I'm so glad you're here for a conversation that's especially meaningful to me, one that explores how art can help us find belonging even in times when the world feels disconnected and uncertain. In this episode, I'm joined by Tanya Davis, an author, artist, and community builder whose work centers on the power of story and the importance of being seen and heard. Tanya and I dive deep into what it means to belong, especially through art. We talk honestly about the challenges of feeling disconnected in a world that seems numb to inequality and loss. Tanya shares how despite the daily barrage of difficult news and the erasure of stories and history, art remains a powerful force for connection and hope. We also discuss our shared work with belonging through art, a project that brings people together to celebrate creativity and community.
(01:02):
Tanya's perspective As a writer, facilitator, mother and grandmother reveals how art can be woven into every part of life. This conversation matters because belonging isn't just a feeling. It's something we build together. Through art, we can hold space for each other's stories, honor our histories, and remind ourselves and each other that we matter. I hope this episode encourages you to find your own ways of belonging through art. Let's jump in with Tanya Davis.
Welcome to all of this and more. I'm so glad to be with Tanya Davis again, and this time we are talking about belonging through art. Tanya, how are you doing?
Tanya Davis (01:43):
I am great, and how about yourself?
Charlotte Donlon (01:46):
I'm good. It's good to see you. Let's start with a few questions from my quick belonging checkup, and anyone who's listening or watching you can find this quick belonging checkup in the show notes at allofthisandmore.com. We won't go through all the questions, but I'll ask you a few of them.
Are you feeling generally connected to or disconnected from yourself, others, the divine and the world right now and why? We're just going to jump in with some deep encounters.
Tanya Davis (02:21):
Yeah, I'm feeling disconnected somewhat because of the way the world is responding to inequality and people in general, those who are under-resourced. It's like there's a numbness in people that they can't seem to make connections with. How we all, how in one person's affected, we're all affected. And so I'm really wrestling with that, and I feel disconnected because of that. And I've learned how to separate the divine from people's behavior. I mean, I'm working on it. Some days I lament and I go, really? You're going to just keep letting this happen? I know you have the power to stop it. And yet, so I don't feel like that's a disconnect either. It's just a way of, it's just an understanding of that we can do that with the Divine.
Charlotte Donlon (03:25):
Did something in particular, recently…
Tanya Davis (03:28):
There's something daily. I mean, if you turn on the news, if you are on Instagram, any social media platform, there is something daily being thrown at us that makes me just want to throw my hands up. Whether it be the erasing of history, the erasing of story, funds being cut for museums, funds being cut for people who need resources the most. There's something every day. So it's not like you have an opportunity to bounce back and go, oh, okay, that was just for a moment. It's every day if we are paying attention to what's going on around us.
Charlotte Donlon (04:14):
Yeah, it is every day and it is constant. And it's not going to end anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
No, it's not going to end anytime soon. And just when you think, oh, maybe this is the bottom. Nope, it's not.
Charlotte Donlon (04:27):
So what do you think, have you had thoughts on, for those of us who care about the collective and the common good, especially with regard to art and engaging with art and encountering art, what do you think we need more of right now in the face of this?
Tanya Davis (04:50):
I think we need more coming together, connecting among our shared, among being like-minded, those who are like-minded, that provides us with hope. And it actually keeps me going because I don't feel crazy. You feel like, am I saying this or not? And finding that connection with people. Even if you're in a room and I was at a fundraiser, and of course everyone's smiling, happy, is it Gala? We're all smiling, and in my mind I'm thinking, okay, things are really happening around me. Things really happen around me. And we're sitting here smiling, and I had someone come up to me and you cut bad language. And they said sometimes, oh. And they said, what the fuck, Tanya? Can you believe this? We're here trying to get money for people who don't have the resources, and everyone's smiling like nothing's happening. I said, thank you for saying that. It just gives you that spark to just keep going, to know that you're not the only one feeling that way.
Charlotte Donlon (06:09):
Yeah. That you're not the only one aware. You're not the only one worried or trying to be mindful of what's happening in our country and beyond.
Tanya Davis (06:23):
Yes.
Charlotte Donlon (06:27):
It is weird how I notice it when I'm flying. When I'm traveling, everyone's just acting like everything's okay, and I'm like, everything's not okay. And I guess it's because that's the only time I'm around so many people, and being around that many people that are acting like everything's okay is kind of weird.
Tanya Davis (06:49):
It is really weird. And this was a lot of people, like hundreds of people in a room, and I know we have to keep moving. And yet I think there's a difference when you're feeling hopeful and then you have that feeling where everybody's like, oh, there's nothing wrong. I think you can feel the difference. Yeah, I just think you can feel the difference.
Charlotte Donlon (07:15):
Yeah. So I know that one thing that helps you sort of return to yourself and have a better sense of belonging to yourself, and even I would say to God is the Toni Morrison documentary. Have you watched that lately?
Tanya Davis (07:32):
No, I have not, but I need to because even when I'm not watching it, I think about it. I think about it all the time, and that's probably because I need to ground myself a little more because it is, it's very reflective, it's so meditative and it just calms you. And so it's coming to my mind, so I need to go and watch it again.
Charlotte Donlon(07:58):
Well, maybe we both need to watch it this week and report back to each other and check in with each other on how we're doing.
Tanya Davis (08:05):
Yes.
Charlotte Donlon (08:06):
So thanks for being honest about how you feel disconnected right now and how it's affecting you. I really appreciate that because I know you and because of your book that I've read, music is really important to you. So right now, what are some songs that you are turning to that are on repeat, that you're singing along with, shouting along with?
Tanya Davis (08:32):
Yes. So it's summer, and so my playlist changes in the summer, and right now I'm listening to May's featuring Frankie Beverly. And their songs are, which are so appropriate right now. I'm in my feelings when I listen to it. It's called Joy and Pain, and that's the name of the song, because I think we're constantly living with that container. So I'm glad that it's a part of my summer playlist every year. And the words are joy and pain or sunshine and rain. Sometimes the things that make us happy make us sad, and at the same time you can dance to it. So that's one of my favorites. And the other song that's also a maze featuring Frankie Beverly song is Happy Feelings. And so both of those songs make me happy when the sun is shining. And also, it's like a cultural favorite too. Frankie Beverly and Maze, they bring up a lot of memories and people dancing. And he's passed away, and I've been to a concert, but going to a maze featuring Frankie Beverly concert, everyone is dressed in white and people are dancing in the owls, dancing with their partners. It's just an amazing show. So that is always a part of my summer playlist. And this year, cowboy Carter, I love Beyonce's new album. I love it because of the cultural relevance. It combines history. You can have fun with it. And so those are the songs I'm listening to right now.
Charlotte Donlon (10:09):
Are you going to her concert by chance?
Tanya Davis (10:12):
Okay, so yesterday for Mother's Day, my birthday is on Friday. I learned that on Sunday I'm going to the concerts.
Charlotte Donlon (10:23):
That's amazing.
Tanya Davis (10:28):
I'm in shock. Yeah. My son is taking me, I'm like, okay,
Charlotte Donlon (10:33):
Well, I'm excited for you. I know you'll enjoy it. And maybe you know what my hope for you is that you'll have at least for a few hours, a break from that feeling of disconnection while you're at the concert, enjoying music with people who love Beyonce too. So I love live music. I think that's one reason I do feel less alone when I'm at a concert. What about you?
Tanya Davis (11:00):
Oh yeah, I do feel less alone. I mean, for once it feels like it is just a whole collective experience of hope. And keep in mind, Charlotte, that I don't feel disconnected from friends. That's where I'm finding my joy and my hope. It's when I'm out of my circle is when I feel disconnected, like connecting with you over dinner. I was like, oh, my heart is so happy. And the good times we're able to share and be authentic. Those are the times that I cherish and hold on to and they keep me going. They fill my joy tank.
Charlotte Donlon (11:32):
I hear you. But we aren't with our happy people all the time. We have to go into the world.
Tanya Davis (11:39):
I know. I wish we could be.
Charlotte Donlon (11:44):
So thanks for sharing a little bit about your personal belonging through art things right now, because you and I working on some belonging through art projects, we were going to start a nonprofit and those plans are on hold for obvious reasons, and we sort of have a new way forward that hasn't been announced yet. But what are your thoughts on that? What are you excited about? What are you hopeful for? In our work? You and I are co-founders along with Bettina Bar Giles, and we're about to crank some things up. What are you thinking? What are you hopeful for?
Tanya Davis (12:23):
I am hopeful for the ability to connect with other artists. I'm excited about the learning that I will do through the process of this. I know how important art is. And as our environment shifts, I'm reminded of another Tony Morrison quote where she said, now is the time for the artist to get to work. And I'm seeing that even with whether it be my book threads where people are just thirsty to hear history and they understand that history is being a race and they're expanding their hearts to learn. I'm excited about those opportunities. I'm excited to showcase other artists for doing that work because art is the way that we'll make sure that we are not erased, that history is not erased. So that's what I'm excited about.
Charlotte Donlon (13:18):
Thank you for making me more excited about what we're doing. I want to back up a little bit with just the phrase belonging through art. When you hear those words, what comes to mind? Even throughout different seasons of your life, what has belonging through art looked like for you in the past, present, and future? And what does that mean to you? I think it's okay for it to mean different things to different people. And I'm interested in what it means to you.
Tanya Davis (13:46):
Just saying “belonging” means that it's a part of you. That we all have a place that our stories matter. It means that we're not alone. It's just like when I started the master's program in Asheville and I didn't feel like I would ever go back to Asheville. And then to hear someone say, Hey, your people are here. Writers are here. You're not alone. I felt like I belong to something. And so I'm looking forward to others to have that feeling as well, I'm a part of this. This is a part of me, this is my community. And to have the opportunity to celebrate people and to say, your art matters. Your story matters. You belong. You belong. We are your people.
Charlotte Donlon (14:44):
I love that. And I love the sense of connectedness, the sense of we're in this together. What about the different art you've encountered through the years? You mentioned the few songs earlier that reminds you that you aren't alone, that you are connected to yourself, to your full self, to the people who love you to your place. Is there any art that helps you feel connected to Chicago and Wheaton?
Tanya Davis (15:19):
Charlotte? I was in a black art gallery last month, and as I was walking out, there was a painting on the wall, and it was a painting of President Barack Obama who at the time wasn't even a senator, and there was a group of black women praying around President Barack Obama with his eyes closed. And I stopped in my tracks and I just went, my gosh, I was there. I was there. And the guy said, you were there. I said, yes. That is not some AI picture. I was there. I felt like Forrest Gump at the time, how you get dropped down in something in Forrest Gump. I mean, he was in every situation. And that's what I felt like. And it was like this connection of when I moved to Chicago and from North Carolina and I realized I had this history here that I have a place here. And to know that he was not running for Senate yet, and to be a part of that moment was just powerful. And I think we all have moments like that. We just don't realize it. I felt like I was a part of something really big at that moment.
Charlotte Donlon (16:50):
That story is fantastic. And I've actually seen the painting you're talking about because you showed it to us at your talk at the library in Asheville about your book, and it was so powerful to see it and to think about that intersection of time and place and purpose and art and how a painting could evoke so much in you and in others who see it and others who weren't there who could feel the gravity of that situation even sort of separated from it, not as close to it as you are.
Tanya Davis (17:32):
Yes, yes. And so I love the term witness bearer, and that's what art does. It allows you to be a witness bearer in the story and in the art of others.
Charlotte Donlon (17:44):
That's a great, great phrase. Witness bearer, how do ideas connected to belonging through art and whatever that phrase means to you, work their way into your writing, your volunteer work, and your role as a mother and grandmother?
Tanya Davis (18:01):
Well, I call myself a narrative writer. So I believe that everyone's story matters, right? And I like to create platforms where people can process and share their stories and feel like they're being heard. And even if we don't know each other, form a bond which can be done in an hour and 15 minutes. And so that's how it works. Its way into my writing. Someone read my book last week and they said, I'm so invested in your characters. They were like, when I read that story about you and your daughter, I wanted to just pop her on the hand. Or How is man and Denise doing? They felt like they belonged. They were part of the story, and they felt like I was able to allow people to be seen in the story. And in my volunteer work, I also like to incorporate belonging through art.
(18:54):
We do art worship. And so we have the young women, their ages 13 to 17, sit quietly and process their story, process what is being brought before them. And then they do that through art. They do it through writing at the same time. And also do that in a drug treatment center where we do art projects and the clients are able to share their stories. And then I make sure those stories are seen and heard through their art at different fundraisers. So that is another way that I do that. In terms of being a mother, I had to laugh when you asked the question because they're like, I know you're going to make us write. There's a constant, well, I want to know how you're feeling. And so they always feel like, ma, I don't have time for this today. But at any rate, when they want to write or when they want to hear a thought, I say, come on, let's take a moment to sit down and write my grandkids.
(19:57):
I keep art projects around. I keep acrylic paint. I keep poster board so that they can draw and write and express themselves. And actually, my granddaughter, she said, I want to be a published author. And so I said, okay. So for Christmas, she created this book and I took it to Kinko's and Oh, you can't really see it. Oh, it's called Mommy's Babies. And so I took it to Kinko's and I said, please perform a miracle. I wrote down what she wanted me to say, and she did her little, you can't see it, I'm sorry. Oh, there. And she did the stick figures at the bottom. And so for Christmas, I printed off like 10 copies of these, and she's seven years old. And she said, okay, everyone, I have a surprise for you. I officially am a published author, and she gave everyone this book and everyone was so happy. So that's how I do it as a grandmother.
Charlotte Donlon (21:05):
That's awesome. Have you taken her to any museums yet?
Tanya Davis (21:10):
No, not yet. I haven't taken her to any museums yet. We are just now, there's 11 grandkids and she's the oldest. And so I'm still trying to find that balance because when one wants to go, everyone wants to go. So we're still working on the museum thing.
Charlotte Donlon (21:26):
Well, and what about the art you have in your home? Do your grandkids ever make comments about it or notice it? Do you ever catch 'em looking at it?
Tanya Davis (21:36):
Not yet. Not yet. And I just acquired a piece that I need to take them into my dining room. They don't go there so they can see it. I think they're so used to seeing art on the walls at their homes as well, that they're not quite thinking about it yet.
Charlotte Donlon (21:53):
Okay. That's interesting. I have some stuff through my parenting with artwork that I can send you that you can try with them and see what happens just like 10 minutes at a time and just kind of see, because they usually have really good thoughts about art.
Tanya Davis (22:11):
I would love to have that. That'd be great. And this is my latest piece. I don't know if you can see it on the camera.
Charlotte Donlon (22:19):
If you'll send them to me…
Tanya Davis (22:21):
I’ll send it to you.
Charlotte Donlon (22:22):
Send it to me. Who is the artist? Tell us about it and then I'll put it in the show notes online.
Tanya Davis (22:29):
The latest piece is by Ernie Barnes, and it's called 99 a hundred from His Beauty of the Ghetto Collection. And I love this piece because you can't really see it, but it's a jump. Well, I don't know if you can see that. Yeah, I can see it. That's amazing. And he put a lyric underneath it that I thought is, so we did this in our workshop on Saturday. It was around joy and how to carry joy and sorrow in the same container. So he put this quote underneath it, this lyric to the rhythm of the rope. The girls chanted green, green ice cream, stick your nose and Carol sing yellow, yellow. Kiss a fellow till his lips are big and mellow. Blue, blue, howdy. Do tell your sweetheart, I love you, white. White. You can't fight. I will jump this rope all night. One, two, there is no time to think about being poor when you're having fun.
Charlotte Donlon (23:27):
What does that painting, is it a painting? It's a painting?
Tanya Davis (23:31):
yes.
Charlotte Donlon (23:32):
What does it bring to mind? Where does it take you when you look at it?
Tanya Davis (23:39):
It brings to mind a quote by James Baldwin that I am meditating on right now. And James Baldwin said, out of joy came strength. Strength that was fashioned to bear sorrow. Sorrow brought forth joy forever. This was Ezekiel's will in the burning air forever, and the little will ran by faith and the big will ran by the grace of God. And that's from go telling on the mountain, his book, go Tell On the Mountain. So it was a reminder to me that joy is what gives us strength, and we have to access that joy. And so when I look at that painting and I read that chant by the little girls, it is just a good reminder of that to access my joy. Go jump rope, go run through a fire hydrant. Even during this times, you wonder, should I have joy? Is there anything to be happy about? I have to remember that joy is a form of resistance that will give me the strength to get through the sorrow that is here and that will come.
Charlotte Donlon (24:50):
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on that. And I mean, I think another way we can have joy is by putting ourselves in the way of the art that reminds us to have joy. So I'm so glad that you're able to have that piece in your dining room. Is that the new one that's in your dining room?
Tanya Davis (25:07):
That’s the new one.
Charlotte Donlon (25:08):
Yes. And I hope that it brings you many opportunities to access your joy in the midst of all of the difficulties that we are barraged with day after day, that we know are happening. And if they're not happening to us individually, they are happening to us collectively. And I know that you agree when one suffers, we all suffer and that we are affected by all of this.
Tanya Davis (25:40):
Yes, yes. We all are affected. It's not some of us. It's all of us that are affected whether we realize it or not.
Charlotte Donlon (25:48):
So maybe the acts of joy as resistance can be collective too. Maybe when those of us who put ourselves in the way of joy, maybe that can spread in mysterious ways that we aren't aware of and affect the collective as well.
Tanya Davis(26:06):
Oh, that's beautiful, Charlotte. Absolutely. I agree with that. Yes.
Charlotte Donlon (26:10):
Well, that just gave us one more reason to belong through art and to look at beautiful paintings and go to concerts if we have the opportunity to do so. Or even just listen to that summer playlist that you listen to every summer. I love the ritual of that, by the way that you listen to the same one every summer and sort of your musical liturgical year of these are the songs that you're listening to now, and they're the same songs you've listened to for summers, the past, and how that helps those songs help you connect to the Tanya from last summer and the summer before that, and the summer before that. Do you have any thoughts on that practice?
Tanya Davis (26:55):
Well, first of all, thank you for saying that. I never thought of it that way. You just gave me a lot of insight into that. But yes, it is a practice to be able to do that and to smile and to have that consistency. It is a nourishing ritual to listen to May's featuring, frankly Beverly, and have the smile on your face. And I would encourage everyone to find those songs, to wake up with a theme song every day to find those songs that make your heart happy, to resist with music, to resist with belonging through art. I mean, that in itself is a form of resistance, is to say, I belong. I belong through art. And so that's what I feel that I'm doing. You make a choice to do that. And so I'm choosing joy in this way by doing that.
Charlotte Donlon (27:49):
Thank you, Tanya. This has been such a good conversation and I'm excited to see which man season I ask you to be a guest on next time
Tanya Davis (27:59):
Guest. I love it. Look, Charlotte, you're easy. This is an easy thing to do.
Charlotte Donlon (28:04):
Awesome. I'm glad you can learn more about Tanya and her writing and her work at all of this. Send more.com and the tanya davis.com.