Down at the ARTFarm

I just got out of the festival-planning session, and want to write a post quickly before Happy Hour, Lobster, Board Nominations, Cabaret and Fire-building eats up the remaining time.

During today’s post-lunch “free” session, I decided that I wasn’t physically prepared for the rigors of volleyball, so instead I came in late on Marcella Trowbridge’s ARTFarm workshop within sight of the big Totem pole with the dragonfly on top. I missed the live music activities, but got to take part in the “group juggling,” which involved tossing balls back and forth and was both soothing and energizing.

Apart from the fun-and-games activities, the purpose of the workshop was to talk about doing ensemble work in communities, with the most common examples involving students in housing projects, or neglected in school as underachievers. Partly Marcella organized the discussions this way:

WHERE (do the companies do the work): Schools, shelters, prisons, special needs classes, community centers, senior centers, museums, protests
WHAT (do the companies do):* Life skills, ensemble-building, curricular skills, spreading joy, unlocking imaginations, creating original performance pieces based on the students’ lives, encouraging them to find their voices, listening, giving attention and affection
* This prompted some interesting points about that what the company actually does may not be how they describe the activity to a funder. I believe Marcella quoted a colleague who said, “You have to sell the math, but give them yoga,”
HOW: Theater class, poetry, movement (“hand stands!”), storytelling, discussions, writing, analysis, audience awareness

PITHY WORDS OF WISDOM:
“Be wary of the missionary complex”
“Meet ‘em where they are, take ‘em someplace else”
“Authenticity” (i,e, be yourself, because they can tell if you’re faking)
“Give the audience the dignity of their own response”
“Find your teacher-clown” (not just the teacher within you, but the more vulnerable, less didactic “teacher-clown”)
“Don’t be afraid to fail: dare to suck!”

What struck me about all of this – and some of the participants alluded to this – is that even though a great deal of this is considered “touchy-feely” by outsiders, the touchy-feely activities get practical results. They're not just fun: they work. And they work because they're fun. Even the most hardened anti-arts jerk will have trouble disputing a strong bottom line.

Okay, time to strap on the lobster bib.