Artful Connections: With Charusmitha Ram and Betsy Johnson

Each evening features a host who kicks off with a presentation, performance, and discussion relevant to that evening’s theme and the host’s work. Then, guests can add their words, music, and art to the conversation. We welcome all to RSVP, whether or not they will be performing. Refreshments are available. 

This series is a collaboration between the Hopkinton Freedom Team and the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, with support from Riverside Properties, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Hopkinton Cultural Council, and Hopkinton Youth and Family Services. Through the arts and conversations, we aim to build and promote love, inclusion, and trust within the surrounding communities and help create a more beautiful and just world. 

This month, our co-hosts will be Charusmitha Ram and Betsy Johnson

Charusmitha is a passionate traveler, hiker, backpacker, artist, designer, day-dreamer, and a full-time mom. She used to be a regular working professional doing the everyday grind of driving to work, working late hours in a typical corporate job, and juggling other life commitments. All of that changed in November of 2023, when she decided to pause and listen to what the universe really wanted her to do. And so…the wanderlust adventures began. She started navigating the world at a more human pace, remembering to smell the flowers and taking new pathways to places that would only take her on foot, slowly, one step at a time.

Over the years, she’s hiked and backpacked quite a bit in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and is very close to completing 48 of the 4000-footers in NH. Her artistic focus over the past year has been printmaking, and she runs workshops at the HCA for adults and children. She’s also an Assistant Scout master at Troop 4, Hopkinton, and in 2024 went backpacking to Philmont, New Mexico, with a crew of 12 for two weeks. 

In April of 2025, she hiked Everest Base Camp and Chola Pass, one of the three mountain passes in the region. Her next adventure is to hike Mt. Elbert, Colorado’s highest mountain. 

Betsy is a poet and storyteller whose work draws on the wisdom of the natural world and a deep commitment to disability justice. As the parent of an autistic young adult (her greatest teacher), she finds daily inspiration and insight that shape both her advocacy and her art.

Betsy’s poetry moves between witness and wonder, tracing moments of beauty and struggle, and giving voice to what so often goes unsaid. Her piece, “Mathematics of Mercy,” which explores the realities and impact of Medicaid cuts, was recently read aloud on the floor of the House of Representatives. As an advocate, she supports autistic adults and families, trains educators, and consults with organizations on building more inclusive workplaces. Betsy also teaches future healthcare professionals in compassionate, person-centered care through the Operation House Call program at the Arc of Massachusetts, reaching students at UMass Chan Medical School and Tufts Dental School.

Her writing has appeared in journals such as Mamalode and in the anthology Flat Earth Diary. Across every page and project, Betsy’s work calls us to see more clearly, connect more deeply, and honor our shared humanity.