Whatever Demetrius Murphy does, he does with passion.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Demetrius Murphy, an active member of the community and a poet, sits in a studio at the New York Institute of Dance and Education, where he is a member of the advisory board..
Demetrius Murphy, an active member of the community and a poet, sits in a studio at the New York Institute of Dance and Education, where he is a member of the advisory board..
And he does a lot.
Murphy, an assistant vice president for First Niagara Bank, also sits on the boards of more than half a dozen organizations in the community. He's the vice president of the Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre.
He volunteers as an assistant lacrosse coach for the Auburn modified team. And alongside longtime friend Sean McLeod, Murphy is a founding member of Change International, a local organization to facilitate communication across cultures.
Working with Change cultivated in Murphy an affinity for the arts that he works every day to circulate.
“I fell in love with how art changes lives, opens you up and brings you in touch with the world,” Murphy said.
Murphy became involved in most of these groups within the last six months.
In November 2006, he started his first professional job in Auburn at First Niagara following several years of working in Syracuse and Ithaca.
“The passion and love I have for this community brought me back,” Murphy said. “I had a good experience growing up here.”
With such an active role in Auburn's arts community, Murphy hopes to help create an arts council that spans all the communities in central New York. The collaboration between them, he believes, could greatly benefit area arts - such as the two-week New York Dance Festival organized by the New York Institute of Dance and Education, of which Murphy is an advisory board member.
Murphy also serves as a member of Leadership Cayuga and sits on the executive committee of the Auburn-Cayuga chapter of the NAACP, as well as the boards of the Booker T. Washington Community Center, Branches (the former Family Wellness Institute) and the local Human Rights Commission.
Murphy believes his role within each organization is to offer balance. He provides financial insight where needed as he acquaints himself with the purpose and expectations of each board. As a “neophyte” learning his way around their packed meeting schedules, Murphy seldom stresses.
“They all meet at different times,” he joked, though he acknowledges that his wife, Beth, and their three children - Braxton, Helena and Dejah - may disagree.
In addition to promoting the arts, practicing them is a priority of Murphy's. He composes poetry in his scant spare time and shares this hobby with several family members.
After finishing his homework as a middle and high school student, Murphy would write poems during homework time at his kitchen table.
Studying African history as a student at SUNY Albany familiarized Murphy with the poetry of Maya Angelou, whose talent for finding empathy in readers amazed him.
Many of Murphy's works also express emotions in words that he leaves to the reader to interpret with a positive mind. Poems like “Serenity” and “Where Are We?” convey heartfelt sentiments and face the reader with pointed questions about race and heritage.
To preserve the purity of his emotions, Murphy always keeps a pen handy.
“I never sit and think, when it hits I write it on the paper,” he said.
It wasn't until Murphy presented his poems to McLeod that he started seeking out a way to publish them.
Since high school, Murphy has complemented his passion for poetry with lacrosse, first as a player at Auburn High School and Albany and later as a coach for his hometown teams.
For 10 years, he assisted head coach and lifelong friend Steve Crosby with the varsity team while their players frequently ventured to sectionals.
“Demetrius has a great deal of energy and enthusiasm and he brought that to practice each and every day,” Crosby said. “The players responded to that.”
While some may consider sports and arts in classes unto themselves, Murphy has found much common ground between the activities.
He's seen McLeod assist athletes such as Quendel Ellison and improve their movements through dance training techniques. At Albany, Murphy took ballet and aerobics classes with his lacrosse teammates as part of their workout routine.
Murphy left his volunteer coaching position with the Auburn varsity team when a job opportunity with J.P. Morgan Chase cut down on his availability.
“I'd have been inconsistent, and for the kids, that's a bad example,” Murphy said.
Murphy began his career in business with a sales position at Panasonic and continued at Chase as a bank manager and, most recently, at First Niagara.
“It's difficult for people to really manage their day to day finances, they're so busy and they have no time to look at them,” Murphy said.
Murphy puts the same effort into helping people at the bank as he does on every board to which he belongs. Even in business, he stays passionate.
“Sometimes people say I wear my heart on my sleeve, but I don't think that's bad,” Murphy said. “People need to see you for what you are.”
Murphy, an assistant vice president for First Niagara Bank, also sits on the boards of more than half a dozen organizations in the community. He's the vice president of the Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre.
He volunteers as an assistant lacrosse coach for the Auburn modified team. And alongside longtime friend Sean McLeod, Murphy is a founding member of Change International, a local organization to facilitate communication across cultures.
Working with Change cultivated in Murphy an affinity for the arts that he works every day to circulate.
“I fell in love with how art changes lives, opens you up and brings you in touch with the world,” Murphy said.
Murphy became involved in most of these groups within the last six months.
In November 2006, he started his first professional job in Auburn at First Niagara following several years of working in Syracuse and Ithaca.
“The passion and love I have for this community brought me back,” Murphy said. “I had a good experience growing up here.”
With such an active role in Auburn's arts community, Murphy hopes to help create an arts council that spans all the communities in central New York. The collaboration between them, he believes, could greatly benefit area arts - such as the two-week New York Dance Festival organized by the New York Institute of Dance and Education, of which Murphy is an advisory board member.
Murphy also serves as a member of Leadership Cayuga and sits on the executive committee of the Auburn-Cayuga chapter of the NAACP, as well as the boards of the Booker T. Washington Community Center, Branches (the former Family Wellness Institute) and the local Human Rights Commission.
Murphy believes his role within each organization is to offer balance. He provides financial insight where needed as he acquaints himself with the purpose and expectations of each board. As a “neophyte” learning his way around their packed meeting schedules, Murphy seldom stresses.
“They all meet at different times,” he joked, though he acknowledges that his wife, Beth, and their three children - Braxton, Helena and Dejah - may disagree.
In addition to promoting the arts, practicing them is a priority of Murphy's. He composes poetry in his scant spare time and shares this hobby with several family members.
After finishing his homework as a middle and high school student, Murphy would write poems during homework time at his kitchen table.
Studying African history as a student at SUNY Albany familiarized Murphy with the poetry of Maya Angelou, whose talent for finding empathy in readers amazed him.
Many of Murphy's works also express emotions in words that he leaves to the reader to interpret with a positive mind. Poems like “Serenity” and “Where Are We?” convey heartfelt sentiments and face the reader with pointed questions about race and heritage.
To preserve the purity of his emotions, Murphy always keeps a pen handy.
“I never sit and think, when it hits I write it on the paper,” he said.
It wasn't until Murphy presented his poems to McLeod that he started seeking out a way to publish them.
Since high school, Murphy has complemented his passion for poetry with lacrosse, first as a player at Auburn High School and Albany and later as a coach for his hometown teams.
For 10 years, he assisted head coach and lifelong friend Steve Crosby with the varsity team while their players frequently ventured to sectionals.
“Demetrius has a great deal of energy and enthusiasm and he brought that to practice each and every day,” Crosby said. “The players responded to that.”
While some may consider sports and arts in classes unto themselves, Murphy has found much common ground between the activities.
He's seen McLeod assist athletes such as Quendel Ellison and improve their movements through dance training techniques. At Albany, Murphy took ballet and aerobics classes with his lacrosse teammates as part of their workout routine.
Murphy left his volunteer coaching position with the Auburn varsity team when a job opportunity with J.P. Morgan Chase cut down on his availability.
“I'd have been inconsistent, and for the kids, that's a bad example,” Murphy said.
Murphy began his career in business with a sales position at Panasonic and continued at Chase as a bank manager and, most recently, at First Niagara.
“It's difficult for people to really manage their day to day finances, they're so busy and they have no time to look at them,” Murphy said.
Murphy puts the same effort into helping people at the bank as he does on every board to which he belongs. Even in business, he stays passionate.
“Sometimes people say I wear my heart on my sleeve, but I don't think that's bad,” Murphy said. “People need to see you for what you are.”