…is the culmination of a six-week integrative workshop on creativity and spirituality. Workshop participants, from a variety of backgrounds and life stages, were invited to explore personal narrative and transcendent influence through various daily and weekly artistic practices and aesthetic exercises. The resulting show is a collection of artifacts from this process-oriented group experience. The following lines, written by course facilitators Adam Klein and Mark Scandrette, served as a guiding mantra:
“Created to be creative
We enact our destiny
Embracing the Energy of the Spirit
To risk making beauty
With our whole lives”
Assumptions that guided our exploration:
1. We believe that all human beings were made to be creative—to fulfill a destiny of naming our experiences and speaking new things into existence.
2. We believe that there is a vital link between creativity and integrative spirituality.
3. We believe that imagination shapes who we are becoming.
4. We choose to blur the lines between art-making and artful living.
5. We are inspired by the archetypal themes of development found in the ancient accounts of the life of Jesus of Nazareth: identifying context, experiencing union, confronting shadows, enacting destiny, navigating resistance & embracing community.
6. We believe that art-making and personal transformation require an equal commitment to intentionality and consistency of practice.
EXHIBIT DESCRIPTIONS:
SHADOW & DESTINY PORTRAITS: In this series of staged photographs, participants were asked to personify, first, a version of their shadow self; and second, a pose that embodies their image of a more actualized self — one that is more deeply connected to the Spirit and free to love.
–Photography and styling by Melody Gates.
CURIOSITY BOXES: Since the age of the Renaissance, cabinets of curiosities have been a popular means of displaying exotic items of discovery. For this exhibit participants were asked to create a curiosity box that includes items that remind them things they need to nourish and sustain them on their journey.
STORY & SECRET BOOKS… displayed in various ways throughout the room are individual collections of writing, drawing and photography exercises. Opening these books may feel a bit like a transgression akin to reading someone’s personal diary—but they are offered as a glimpse into the process of reconciling the story of our lives with a larger ancient-future story of creation, alienation, redemption and collaboration.
AESTHETIC: Steampunk is a sub cultural romantic/futuristic aesthetic.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Robin Allen, Laura Kirk, Dani Scoville, Ryan Walton, Jennie Cooper, Meg Garner, Rachael Wussow, Kristen Sinclair, Karen Sinclair, Julie Harris, Amy Foote, Melody Gates, Jeff Hinn, Leah Snyder, Jeremy Cross, Darian Ahler, Sarah Montoya, Grace Schram, Lauren Stocker, Hailey Scandrette, Noah Scandrette, Jonah Moshammer, Mark Scandrette, Adam Klein, Emily Cross, & Melissa Hinn
CURATORS: Melody Gates & Darian Ahler
MUSIC BY: Mick Leonardy, Rick Slone & Brian Holtzman
SPONSORED BY: ReIMAGINE!: A Center for Life Integration. We are a collective of artists and activists that fuel initiatives to integrate Christ-inspired spiritual formation, creativity, community-building and social action. We believe personal integration comes through revolutionary thought, experiential learning and transformational relationships. (See www.reimagine.org)
