Meet Gowri Savoor | Visual teaching artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gowri Savoor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gowri, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
A River of Light grew from my passion and commitment to community art and bringing people together in celebration through the vehicle of lantern parade. When participants attend community workshops to build lanterns (vessels of light), and process through the streets with them after dark, we form a literal river of light—a visual spectacle that creates joy, wonder, and a incredible sense of connection.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a visual artist and a teaching artist, and love creating and teaching in equal measure. As an artist, I build sculpture, and am obsessed with maps and mapping systems. I also do illustration, and write for children. My passion project is Tiny Hero Tales, where I share drawings, micro-stories, and magical titbits, and invite the reader into the kind of world that gave me so much joy and escapism as a child. I’m also the co-founder of Teaching Artists Connect, a non-profit organization offering professional development training to teaching artists, particularly at the beginning of their careers.

I’m most proud of my business, A River of Light, which I run with my husband and sculptor, Angelo Arnold. Over the years, I’ve helped facilitate over 50 parades across the US and UK, and I love to partner with new communities to plant a ‘seed of light’. Through this process I teach people how to build lanterns from recycled and sustainable materials, then bring them together in celebration for an awe-inspiring lantern parade at night. Sometimes they are small and charming luminaries constructed from willow, at other times they’re giant constructions such as dragons and spaceships that are carried on backpacks.
The parade is always a moving and visceral experience that invites people to be transported into a moment of magic and delight. Through this work I am able to share my skills, help people feel empowered through artmaking, and connect with their public spaces. It’s a truly unique interface between art, light, community, and joy, and there’s no greater feeling. We all need a little magic in our lives.

I’ve realized over the past two decades of being a self-employed artist that I’m really good at juggling projects and always have several on the go at one time. It’s part of the hustle and I’ve learned to embrace it. My journey started as a community artist in Manchester, England where I grew up. It was love that brought me to Vermont in 2007, and I’ve never looked back.

One thing I am mindful of is the importance of staying authentic and to keep doing the thing that you love, no matter how hard it gets. Art and creative engagement are vital, healing, and a powerful tool for social change. I see it every day, and there’s nothing else I’d rather do.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This would have to revolve around my 3 favorite passions: food, art, and nature. We’d probably stay local and have brunch at Scratch Kitchen, pop into Sugar Koi for an afternoon ice-cream pick-me-up, and finish with dinner at my favorite mom & pop Mexican restaurant, El Amigo.
We’d definitely make space for some art, and visit the gorgeous galleries and grounds at the North Carolina Museum or Art, or pop over to Durham for a trip to the Nasher Museum. While there, we’d wander through the Sarah P. Duke Botanical Gardens, or head to the Downtown Cary Park for hot chocolate and watch the stars around one of their many fire pits.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
As a relative newcomer to the Triangle, and to North Carolina, I’d love to put a shoutout to my community of Cary, and in particular Denise Dickens, Public Art and Exhibitions Manager at the Town of Cary. It’s rare to find a partner who is willing to take a chance on a new project—especially during Covid—and it’s because of that chance in 2020 that we were able to start Cary’s Under the Silver Moon Community Lantern Parade which is now heading into its 5th year.

Website: www.gowrisavoor.com; www.ariveroflight.org; www.tinyherotales.com; www.teachingartistsconnect.org

Instagram: @gowrisavoor

Facebook: Tiny Hero Tales

Image Credits
Image 2: Gowri teaches a large-scale workshop. Photo by Angelo Arnold
Image 3: The Confluence Water Paddle. Photo by Kelly Fletcher courtesy of Vermont Performance Lab
Image 5, 6: Under the Silver Moon Parade. Photos by Brian Magee
Image 7, 8: A River of Light in Waterbury. Photos by Gordon Miller