Human Stories, Boldly Told
Ralphael Plescia turned an unused building into a quirky, cultural goldmine. But what will become of it all when he’s gone?
After losing his grandmother, sister, father and daughter in the span of six months, Ralphael Plescia turned his grief into art. Nearly fifty years later, Plescia’s larger-than-life sculptures and drawings have become an obsession, filling every nook and cranny of his private museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. His project has one overriding vision: to tell the real story of Biblical creation by rendering characters and tales lost to history. Over the years, the giant works of art have become part of the building itself as Plescia hollows out underground tunnels and builds bridges to make space for more of his creations. Now reaching his twilight years, Plescia is coming face to face with the reality that when he dies, his legacy may die with him. “There’s a 98 percent chance that one day none of this will be here and I wasted my life,” he reflects. “We all have a choice of wasting our own life the way we want.”
Illustrator Ryan Raphael gives us an inside look into his process when creating the art for the Narratively story Inside the Queer-Centric Frat That Dared to Question What a Frat Even Is.
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Amy Vilela lost her daughter when she couldn’t afford the medical bills. When her Congressman told her he wouldn’t support universal healthcare, Amy said, “I’m running.”
Cori Bush is a registered nurse, a pastor and a mom. After taking to the streets to protest police killings, she looked in the mirror and said, “why not politician, too?”
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Paula Jean Swearengin has seen West Virginia’s land exploited, its people fall ill, and its politicians do nothing. So she decided to do something herself.
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