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Mia and I grab seats in the half-shade outside Tatte. Amid the wind and sun, we chat about Mia’s PhD program, her love of languages, live painting, human connection in a digital world, and the relationship between audacity and curiosity.
Samuel: What brought you to the DMV?
Mia: I was accepted into a PhD in Neuroscience at Georgetown. I moved to Columbia Heights my first year, and the rest of the years I’ve spent across the river in Arlington. I graduated on Sunday! I’m excited to finally travel; I have a special place in my heart for Spain, so I’ll be going back there, but DC will stay home for a little bit longer, at least, because of the community and relationships and third places I’ve built.
Samuel: How have you built that community while being PhD-levels of busy?
Mia: There are really three spaces: Georgetown, yoga, and art.
Samuel: I was just looking at your Instagram and thought it was fascinating – how did you settle on live painting as the specific art form that speaks to you?
Mia: I’ve been a watercolorist my whole life. I was so blessed – my parents saw me drawing when I was four or five and got me into art classes. During the PhD, I knew I didn’t have time to be doing commissions, but I needed an outlet that was both art and social. I have the ability to chat and do art at the same time, so I put a table up outside Courthouse Metro one day and just started painting portraits of people. One thing led to another; it was kismet. Someone came up and said: “I’m having an opening of my spa, will you paint there?” I did that, got a wedding from there, got another wedding from there, and it’s grown naturally since. I’m hoping to fill all my weekends with live event work.
Samuel: This feels like an artistic process that is really antithetical to, say, images people are making using generative AI. Is that human side of the creation process explicitly on your mind here?
Mia: Yes. of course. In many ways, AI-generated art threatens my work and my art.. And yet I believe continuing to make art as a human is the antidote. I find many people align with this perspective. I think that’s why people are so interested in my current art…I’m starting to build workshops around cafes and other places in the DMV and I wasn’t sure there would be a lot of interest because, of course, people can learn on YouTube. People can make a card with ChatGPT. But I think people want analog skills, in an analog environment.
They’re wanting to put the phone away and remember the moment it was made. That humanness has always been important [to art], but now people are realizing it in a more collective way. I love how people are responding in this countercultural way to AI. They’d rather support a local artist.
Samuel: Back to the PhD – and congratulations on graduating, by the way – what was your dissertation on?
Mia: I looked at language in the brain, specifically bilingualism – knowing two languages from a young age. My dissertation looked at how bilingualism impacts grey matter, the physical structure of the brain. One quick finding of mine is that there is an interaction between socioeconomic status and bilingualism. In other words, knowing a second language affects the brain differently [based on] whether somebody’s coming from a low resource environment versus someone with higher resources. This is a fascinating path for future research. However, more generally in bilingualism research, the findings are mixed. I have to say, honestly, as a scientist, it’s not as straightforward as “learning a second language makes you smarter.”
But here’s what’s not mixed: learning a second language opens doors. Every language you unlock, you can talk to more people in this world. That’s more knowledge that you can have. It helps you reflect on your own language. You build relationships. It’s a practice in vulnerability. There’s a proverb in yoga and Buddhism that if you don’t have time to meditate for 20 minutes, you should meditate for an hour. I take that approach with language and art. My boyfriend’s learning Spanish. There are some days where he says: I don’t want to practice. Those are the days you have to. Those are the days you grow.
Samuel: What is feeling alive for you Jewishly right now?
Mia: The values of chutzpah and ruach: having the audacity and curiosity to try things. I’m at this inflection point where I feel like I have to be the bravest I’ve ever been right now. I have this PhD but I’ve decided not to pursue a postdoctoral [fellowship] right away. I’m betting on myself. I find that I need to rely on qualities that, to me, are very Jewish. Values and questioning and the “what if?” are really important to me.
Samuel: What do you see as the relationship between audacity and curiosity?
Mia: What underlies both audacity and curiosity is vulnerability. If you’re going to be audacious and ask for something, that’s a vulnerable thing. Admitting you don’t know something is very vulnerable and scary, and that’s why it’s a Jewish value. We’re in scary positions and have to hope and try anyway.
Samuel: You mentioned a special relationship with Spain. What’s the story there?
Mia: I was an au pair in Barcelona. I taught a family English, and they taught me Spanish. I’m learning Catalan now, and am also very interested in Ladino. Right after college, I was on a Fulbright scholarship teaching English in Madrid. I made art on sites and symbols of Judaism in Spain. One of my lifelong goals – and I’ll divulge it here because I want to speak it into existence – is to do more work to preserve Jewish history in Spain. There are tangible things that could easily deteriorate or go away, and it’s time that we work on preserving that. Sephardic history isn’t well known enough.
Samuel: Okay, a few quick ones. What’s your dream live painting event?
Mia: The Italian Grand Prix. I’m a Ferrari fan and would love to go to Italy.
Samuel: What are you feeling proud or accomplished about right now?
Mia: I’m proud of people who are doing things their way. Maintaining boundaries. For example, my sister works in construction and has carved out time to go back to dance, which she loves. I applaud that commitment to self-preservation. Looking more internally, I suppose I’m also proud of myself for finishing the PhD while also maintaining my art and yoga practices.
Samuel: What’s something you’re bad at?
Mia: I am struggling with feeling like I’m letting people down. I find myself often moving out of anxiety for what someone else might feel. I think this comes from being a student for so long. There is a unique pressure to always being graded. However, I’m working on letting me be the assessor of whether something is good or bad for me.
And on a different note, I love to cook but am terrible at baking. Following those specific recipes down to the letter suffocates me.
Samuel: You can invite any three people to Shabbat dinner. Who are you bringing?
Mia: I’m going to pick people I really admire. The first would be Dr. Ruth. The week she passed away, I actually had writing her a letter on my to-do list. Just to say how much I appreciated her – and she passed away. That’s a life lesson for me, to do things sooner rather than later.
Samuel: Did you write the letter?
Mia: No.
Samuel: What would you have said?
Mia: That I admire her. That I appreciated her sharing her story. My mom became an OBGYN because of her. And I’m inspired by her chutzpah. She also seems cheeky and funny.
I’d also invite Hedy Lamarr, who I’ve read about and just watched an amazing documentary, Bombshell, about. She was an amazing inventor. She’s the reason we have GPS. She was more famous for being an actress, but she was brilliant.
And, because I love to laugh, I’d invite Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.
Samuel: Last one. Finish the sentence: When Jews of the DMV gather…
Mia: Kismet happens. Relationships are made. Life trajectories zig and zag in a way that enriches people’s lives.
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