Tony Caponi
About 10 years ago I made a mistake I have regretted to this day. I turned down a minimum wage paying job working for Tony Caponi.
Anthony Caponi was an artist. He passed away this last fall 2015. He was in his 90’s, humble, and accomplished. As an Italian immigrant who was a boy under Mussolini, and a veteran of the United States military; an art chair at Macalaster College — and an accomplished sculptor. His underlying theme was nature, but nature beyond the material and if you go to the Caponi Art Park you will experience much of his vision and spirituality.
Around 2005 my sister was working in a promoter capacity at the Caponi Art Park. She is in art business and works mostly for non-profits and independent artists. So, with that, I was one of her main go-to volunteers for manual labor for the events at the park. Moving chairs, tables, setting up the sound for plays, the electric, drinks, parking. All that. And during this time I got to meet Tony Caponi and make his sculpture part of my time in his park. His works are built into the landscape.
I really liked volunteering there. I got to see a lot of wonderful shows, like Shakespeare in the Park performances, avant-garde music, children’s activities and Elizabethan Festivals. I learned that you do NOT call Elizabethans “Renaissance” people or they will get very angry at you. I learned how to operate golf carts in strange landscapes. And I continue to go to some of their events in Eagan, Minnesota making the 2 hour drive from Eau Claire these days since I moved from St. Paul.
During this time I was transforming my business, when my sister said Tony needed help. It would have been working closely under his direction driving a bobcat, using my muscles and helping him build his craft. The decision weighed heavily on me because I needed some cash flow, but the art helper job paid very little, and I also needed time for my business and software. But I knew I was passing a good chance up. In the end I said no with many, many regrets.
Imagine from a design aspect what I could have learned from a famous, established artist. And from working with such a great man with great vision, in an organization with great people like his wife and my sister. In this video you can see a bit of what he accomplished.
Design. Tony was hands-on. Not some person staring into the sky, but hands-on. There is so much to learn from doing and he helped me understand that.
In college I got to work around a very famous physicist named James Cronin as his class lab preparation technician. He won a Nobel. I think about my time for those few quarters alone with him and our small discussions and how much I learned about his attitude and humility and vision. Being around Tony was like that; you weren’t awed, you weren’t belittled; their existence wasn’t predicated on any sort of such ego. They were forces and you learned because they did, and you did.
There’s not really a lesson here, just some stories. In my perspective there are some chances you have to take; jobs out of reach to experience interviewing for even if you do not get them, not being afraid. There’s always more than one right way to get things done and plenty of room in this world for everybody. Doing a good job, not half-assed, if possible and being responsible. Getting things done enough. And I tried myself to be smart and learn from people, and to listen.
Do you like design? Then go do some.
Do you like to code? Go code.
It is too bad our industry does not appreciate accomplished, seasoned hands-on. I guess it doesn’t have the metrics to show this matters; but onsite we know it because of the fewer mistakes made and greater successes. It also makes me cringe to see up and coming developers thrown into hard situations like quarterbacks too young to start in the NFL. We have a great industry and should enjoy it more. I certainly do, by choice.
“. . . a child learns more from what he does than what he hears, more from demonstrated behavior than what he is told.” – Anthony Caponi, Meaning Beyond Reason