The Maine Arts Commission recently celebrated the installation of Charlie Hewitt’s Hopeful sign at Hallowell City Hall—a message of optimism that first lit up NYC during the pandemic and now shines permanently in Hallowell, thanks to the generosity of the artist.

One of the most powerful moments of the event came from Hall-Dale High School student Robin Asch, who delivered a heartfelt speech on the meaning of hope and public art.

Hope is an Act

By Robin Asch

         My family still gets the newspaper.  To be honest, I think my family is single handedly keeping the Kennebec Journal alive.  We also listen to NPR. And talk about history and the news at our dinner table. But lately, I have been noticing that the news just gets more and more depressing.   No longer can I look in the newspaper or turn on NPR and hear a heartwarming story. No, all we hear is, death after death, crime after crime, and heartbreak after heartbreak. It is easy for everyone, especially young people, to get caught up in it all.   But being the daughter of a rabbi and historian I have somewhere to turn in times like these. And I turn to a Jewish proverb, “Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”  

 To me this proverb, in its essence, is about hope!  Hope is not, as we often use it today, interchangeable with wish.  It is not, “I hope I get a good grade on my math test.” Not, “I hope the Padres win the World Series.” Not even, “I hope the world will become a better place.”   Hope is seeing the world through a kid's eyes. Hope is, as Unitarian minister Victoria Stafford writes, the place “from which you see the world both as it is and as it could be, as it will be.” Hope is an act. 

It means stop with the complaining.  Stop posting about how horrible the world is. Stop telling me everything is bad. Stop cursing the darkness.   Instead light a candle.  Do something.  

That is what the sign behind me is telling us. It’s a call to action.  

But we have to hear that call. I have driven past City Hall many times but had never really noticed this sign.  I was so wrapped up in whatever I was doing, talking, listening to music, staring at my phone. I didn't even notice this reminder to be hopeful.   That to me is the other part about hope.  We have to look around us and see the light that is already there.  We must recognize that there are people who lit the candle before us and that there will be people to light the candle beside us.  We must recognize that the darkness may not be as dark as we perceive and fear.

Noticing the light in the world can help us be optimistic. As civil rights leader John Lewis said, “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic” Hope and optimism are inextricably tied.  They are the light in the darkness.  

So when you look at this sign, I invite you to be hopeful.    Be hopeful in all aspects of the word.  Stop with the complaining, the cursing.  Light your candle, light someone else's.  Look around.   See how dark the darkness actually is.  See what candles have already been lit, what work is already being done.  Look to the future with optimism instead of dread.  That’s what this sign means when it says: Hopeful.   

Thank you!