In the summer of 2008, her friend, Boundless Gratitude, invited her to co-host the monthly Saturday Afternoon Gallery Acoustic (“SAGA”). Her deepening involvement with that event helped her to see that the Frank Bette Center opens not only its doors to the SAGA artists and performers, but its heart as well.

Sarah Dunham’s speaking voice is lilting, so it comes as no surprise that she is a singer. Her musical path began when she was born in Granview, Ohio where she grew up in a very musical household. Her grandfather played and taught classical piano. Her mother was a cellist who played in the local orchestra. Sarah grew up singing in the church choir and strumming folk songs on a guitar her brother to gave her when she was just 14 years old. Three years later she went to a Bob Dylan concert for what turned out to be a defining moment in her life as she enthusiastically embraced his exciting mélange of music and social activism.

It was while feeling a tought of homesickness for her community of Berkeley that Sarah wrote her first song, “Lonely Mind”, at the age of 22 while on a trip to Mexico. She admits that she sees most of her songs as private messages to family and friends, and which until fairly recently, she performed mostly in her own living room.

Having moved to California and then living in Oakland in the politically tumultuous 70’s, she joined the Berkeley Oakland Women’s Chorus, a group of 16 like-minded, socially active women who sang together a cappella. The Chorus performed at various demonstrations, political rallies and on picket lines around the Bay Area. A high moment for Sarah came when her Chorus performed one of the songs she had written - a tune entitled “Having a Baby Blues” at the Santa Rita Women’s Jail. She had given birth to that song while spending time as a new mother on a commune in New Mexico. It was exciting to see that even though she shared little in terms of life experiences with these women, they nonetheless loved the song and asked the Chorus to sing it as an encore .

In the summer of 2008, her friend, Boundless Gratitude, invited her to co-host the monthly Saturday Afternoon Gallery Acoustic (“SAGA”). Her deepening involvement with that event helped her to see that the Frank Bette Center opens not only its doors to the SAGA artists and performers, but its heart as well. Singers and performers have the opportunity to play and sing there with beautiful art displayed all around them. Stage fright that might be felt in another venue melts away in the warm environs of the FBCA. Calling herself shy, Sarah gravitates towards this warmth, feeling inspired to continue to write songs and eager to share those songs in the intimate setting of SAGA.

The Frank Bette Center has encouraged Sarah not only in the area of performance, but also in community outreach. She has collaborated with our webmaster and she is now putting out the monthly SAGA newsletter which appears on our website. Her involvement with the Center has truly become an important part of her life on many levels.

Still stretching artistic wings, Sarah is now listening to Celtic and Classical guitar greats for inspiration; and once again, falling in love with her old Martin guitar. And she is currently in the process of doing what so many of her generation are doing: learning to get her art out there onto the web. Her first song scheduled to hit the internet is a song she wrote that was inspired by a bridal shower she attended for her son’s bride: “Joy, Joy for the Girl Who Loves My Boy”. You will be able to check her out soon on a website near you!

While saying that she has never considered herself to be a visual artist, Sarah’s exposure to the Frank Bette Center has provided her with new insights into the creative process and she now intends to sign up for an art class - her first ever - at the Center. Ultimately, Sarah believes and she states: “ . . . the Center provides a seriously expansive and inclusive vision of creativity; understands, develops and supports ongoing connections between community and artists; encourages each and every idea for collaboration, appreciating at the same time our unique talents and inclinations to serve. It is evident that the statement ‘unleash your creativity’ is embraced at every turn.”