Winter 2012-2013 edition - Bainbridge Island Arts & Humanities ...

and social practice
Amidst the broad spectrum of engagement revealed
through this community of artist-educators, core
themes also surfaced: Firsthand involvement in
creative practice helps people transcend embedded
limitations of communication; teaching artists act
as conduits for student discovery and facilitators of
the learning process; and regardless of the artistic
discipline practiced, teaching artistry attunes
participants to a transformative magic that shapes
the way they look at the world.
These consistent themes have broad implications.
When teaching artists ply their crafts, they cultivate
real listening; they hear the desires of their community
of learners and involve them in the process. This act in
turn cultivates a form of learning stewardship, a grassroots
investment made by participants who find and
voice their strengths.
Eric Booth, an international leader on the topic of
teaching artistry, articulates the importance of this
transformation in his book The Everyday Work of Art:
“We need to attend to the artistic experiences
throughout our lives… In doing so, we reclaim
many dwindling passions; we awake dormant
skills with which to construct good answers to life’s
hardest questions. We all have a natural knowledge
of the processes and perspectives that artists
use, even if we have not focused our efforts on
developing these skills the way artists have.”
This conviction is not restricted to conversations
about the arts. Across the board, in discussions ranging
from environmental concerns to social justice, creative
engagement is the constant.
The fusion of learning and teaching, individuals and
communities, and the affirmation of the core impact
of arts in society I experienced during the Oslo
conference had a profound impact on me. I came
away both grounded – by a greater commitment to
my own work and its ability to support community –
and buoyed by witnessing firsthand ways in which
the methods of teaching artistry support an embracive
way of navigating the world.
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND ARTS & HUMANITIES COUNCIL
“[The arts] are a very human way of making life more
bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or
badly, is a way to make your soul grow….”
~ KuRt VoNNEGut
I was reminded of the words of Kurt Vonnegut, who said,
“[The arts] are a very human way of making life more
bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly,
is a way to make your soul grow."
And in these days of reconfiguring economies,
remembering how to work together, and advocating for
the cause of humanity, it is critical that we all draw upon
these innate creative and inclusive capacities.
Kristin Tollefson is an internationally recognized artist and teaching
artist who is also the program coordinator for the Arts & Humanities
Council’s Arts in Education program. She lives on Bainbridge Island.
photoS, LEFt to RIGht: Richard Ndunguru, of tanzania, leads an international group of conference
participants in a call and response exercise. his program, theater for Development, moves community
participants toward social change through the act of storytelling. Photo: Maria Antwort. Marit Moltu's
participatory yarn installation; Kristin tollefson appears sixth from the left. Photo: Maria Antvort. In
hilary Easton's dance workshop, participants choreographed works to illustrate lines, angles, curves, and
moments of stillness. Photo: Kristin tollefson.
With many thanks to our Arts in Education sponsors and partners:
THE SUQUAMISH TRIBE
ARTS & HUMANITIES COUNCIL
CURRENTS WINTER 2012-2013 5