Bringing live to poetry

Anyone can be a writer in the eyes of Cheryl Rossman.
The Orion Art Center’s 2003 Patron of the Arts, Rossman teaches a beginner’s writing/poetry class at the art center, and said there is a misconception that “writing is for the brilliant few.”
“It’s so far from the truth,” she said. “You don’t need to have a degree, or have a history or lineage of it…you can choose to be a writer.”
Rossman, a Lapeer native and Lake Orion resident, began writing in childhood and first got involved with the OAC with her poetry group nearly two years ago.
“Reggie Harrison had just become the (OAC) director, and I asked if she would have some space for poets,” Rossman recalled. “It was just the right time to do it.”
Rossman eventually turned leadership of the poetry group over to another writer, and said the group is now on their third book and their fourth or fifth group leader. They meet on Tuesday mornings at the OAC.
“I had gone to one annual meeting (of the OAC Board of Directors) prior to that,” she said. “I used to visit with Helen Cuniff, and she would say ‘You need to check out the art center.’
“The first time I was there was for her memorial.”
Rossman attended the meeting and put the OAC on “the back burner” until a group of writers wanted to get a group together.
“I thought of (the OAC) immediately,” she said. “Then I was treasurer for the board of directors for almost two years.”
Rossman oversaw the 2002 audit for the art center, which helped secure a recent grant.
“We knew we’d gotten the grant and I was looking for a part-time job…something I believed in,” said Rossman, who had worked in the past as a technical writer, underwriter and for a nationwide credit reporting bureau. “It would either be something in writing or renewable energy.”
So in October 2002, Rossman began as Harrison’s assistant at the OAC, but said she is now unsure of the future of that position because of her husband Kenneth’s illness.
“He’s been in the hospital for six weeks,” she said. “I’ll work part-time (at the art center), and suggest there be an assistant here for the day-to-day stuff.”
Rossman met her husband, an engineer and Oxford native, while they were both working in California. He eventually moved back to Michigan and Rossman followed about two years later.
“I was in the earthquake in 1987…I was ready to leave,” she said.
Rossman and her husband have two children; 11-year-old daughter Marissa and nine-year-old son Davis. Both attend Stadium Elementary School of the Arts, and it was at Stadium that Rossman and Harrison first met.
“She amazed me the first time I met her…I was amazed at her strength, and the way she carried herself…with so much going on in her personal life,” Harrison said. “Her poetry group started here the week I started. She’s displayed such dedication.”
Harrison said Rossman always follows through on her ideas, such as this past summer’s “Trout by the Creek,” which brought Stadium students out to the OAC to help restore picnic tables.
Rossman said she was “shocked” to learn she’d been selected as the Patron of the Arts for the 14th annual Snowflake Ball, the art center’s primary fundraiser which takes place on Feb. 1 at the Indianwood Country Club.
“I hadn’t even considered it,” she said. “I felt awkward because I knew I was going to resign from the treasury.
“It would be very difficult to select one person, especially in the last couple of years…I wasn’t sure I was worthy of that because I see the contributions.”
Rossman holds a Bachelor’s Degree in psychology from Eastern Michigan University, but says her heart and her focus have always been in creative writing.
“I’m flooded with things my daughter does, that I used to do. All the pencils ended up in my room,” she said. “My mom has kept everything, she has stuff I don’t even remember writing.”
Rossman has two aunts that are published poets, and said she hopes to be able to publish more works herself in the near future.
“My submissions for publishing are down, and that’s my personal challenge,” she said. “I’m ready to do that more…I’m not afraid of rejection.”
For now, Rossman said she is enjoying being a “poet among poets” with her class at the OAC.
“I love everything about it, really,” she said. “We get excited for each other’s discoveries. I’ve always enjoyed identifying with other poets.
“I grieve for people who don’t ever try writing,” said Rossman. “There’s so much you can learn and take from the writing process.”
For more information about Rossman’s writing class, or any of the programs at the Orion Art Center, call 693-4986, or go online at www.orionartcenter.org. The Orion Art Center is located at 115 S. Anderson Street.