2018 Creative Forums Series
Nourishing the Inner Artist: Ongoing Conversations About Art & Creativity
*We will provide more details about tickets and other events/activities associated with these forums will be announced as the March 8 Kick-Off approaches.
*If you are interested in volunteering and/or joining the forums e-mail list, please contact Shanta Lee Gander at shantavns@gmail.com.
ACWC has gathered a lot of learning from the recent Healing with Arts Series. Current ACWC board trustee Sarah Bowen and former president Shanta Lee Gander have collaborated to plan a series of Forums for the spring of 2018 titled “Nourishing the Inner Artist: Conversations on Art and Creativity.” The series will explore questions such as “How do we nourish and sustain our creative practice?” “What does it mean to ‘nourish’ or ‘feed’ our inner artist?” “How do we nourish others through our creative work?”
Our intended audience ranges from experienced artists to people to are interested in expanding their creativity in everyday life; we hope to address concerns of professional artists while at the same time demystifying the concept that creativity is for the chosen few. We will be providing more details as we debut the series, but we wanted to give our members a sneak peek of what to expect for 2018. *ALL PROGRAMMING WILL TAKE PLACE AT 118 ELLIOT IN BRATTLEBORO, VT. 118 IS ADA ACCESSIBLE AND HAS THE CAPACITY FOR 140 PARTICIPANTS.*
I. Re-enchantment and Our Inner Child: Materials and Process
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018 LOCATION: 118 ELLIOT, BRATTLEBORO, VT
As adults we sometimes downplay thinking and having a childlike mind or entering a state of returning to our inner child. What can children or remembering our inner child teach us? This session explores tapping into our inner children through re-enchantment with the everyday items that surround us. How can the items in our everyday life be used as a gateway to play and our inner child as we unzip our creativity? We will explore all of the ways we can think outside of the box of adulthood, gain lessons from re-engaging with our inner child as a part of the creative process for creativity.
II. A Room of One’s Own: The Creation of Inner Space
THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2018 LOCATION: 118 ELLIOT, BRATTLEBORO, VT
Some of us may recognize this title from Virginia Woolf’s extended essay linked to a series of lectures she delivered. Woolf famously talks about the need for space if one is to create. This forum wishes to explore the creation of the creative space within ourselves. It has been scientifically proven that when we turn off our inner judge and allow our brains to relax, that is when some of the creative ideas happen upon us. As we explore some various dimensions of the creation of space, some of the questions we plan to explore include: What is required or needed in regard to creating space within ourselves to unzip our creativity or do our artistic work?
III. Sources of Inspiration: Creative Lineage
THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018 LOCATION: 118 ELLIOT, BRATTLEBORO, VT
Like families, various mediums of art are deeply rooted and tied to some form of genealogy. Who are the members of your artistic family? If you are a poet, you may be influenced by Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, or William Blake; or if you are a dancer, depending on the form, a dancer like Martha Graham or the dance traditions of certain regions of the world may be your lineage. And true to artistic or creative genealogy, the struggle remains to be will one create out of a sense of evolution and loyalty to their artistic lineage or does one wish to create out of a duty to revolution and breaking with tradition? Or is it possible to be influenced by a tradition without being aware of it? Some of the questions we hope to explore during this forum include: How do we as artists or creative people explore what our lineage is, and what are the implications for including it into our work? Can one create without a lineage? What are the boundaries on “borrowing” a lineage from another tradition or culture? In addition to artistic or creative genealogy, where do we draw inspiration for creating? Are you truly nourished by your traditions or do you just know them as a reference? Please join us as we explore the spectrum of artistic lineage and what inspires us.
IV. Art and Transformation: Inner and Personal
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 LOCATION: 118 ELLIOT, BRATTLEBORO, VT
How does our creative or our artistic practice lead to inner or personal transformation? Sometimes we set out on our creative journeys, we may only think about our art impacts others in the world whether it is sharing through dance, photography, or a sculpture, but we don’t often think about how our work shapes us. How does our art lead us to explore the shifts and changes within us as a result of our creative process or work? This forum explores art and transformation through the lens of inner worlds.
V. Creative Collaborations & Fruitful Connections:
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 LOCATION: 118 ELLIOT, BRATTLEBORO, VT
The creation of art is often focused on the artist or creative being in a solitary mode or space but collaborations and connections with other individuals (either within art or across sectors) can breathe new life and thinking to the work we are seeking to create. How does one seek out the fruitful connections or collaborations needed as it relates to creating art? What does not work or is often forgotten within creative collaborations? What are some words of wisdom or lessons learned regarding artistic collaborations?
