An invitation: to women who are interested in joining me (Virginia May) in an arts based co-operative inquiry (ABCI).

The launching question for the inquiry will be:
“How do we (a diverse group of women who feel deeply connected to the earth) use the arts to facilitate social an environmental change in service of a sustainable future?”

Copies of the proposal will be available for review.
(I would like to extend a special invitation to several women whom I have met who live in the South West and my Native American Sisters in the San Francisco Bay Area. The details of how this project might integrate or facilitate participation in a distributed geographical area will be decided by the participating women.)

Please contact me with any questions, suggestions, or concerns.

What: Please write a short auto biography (one paragraph) that will be included in the proposal submitted to The CIIS committee. This will be the first submission of the proposal, the 1st of several steps to formalize the project and does not in any way commit you to participation.

Please include what ever you feel is pertinent such as; age, gender, race, ethnicity, where you live, your connection to nature, and so on. Please also mention your attraction to using the arts as a form of inquiry (arts can be – poetry, ceramics, painting, collage, dance, fiction, etc.).

When: I will be submitting the draft to my committee on or before Thursday Feb 5th which is the day I am leaving for a trip out of the country.

Where: Please send to my email vmay42@yahoo.com. If you have a photo of yourself that you could include that would be great too.

Example from the proposal:
“Individual perspectives that stem from the co-participants’ class, race, and gender will of course influence the outcomes of the study. For example; I am Caucasian, lesbian female, raised in an upper middle class family. I am 55 years old, single mother of two adult boys. My relative privilege enables me to pursue a post-graduate degree in mid-life; choose to live in a rural county and the luxury to focus my attention on environmental rather than social issues (although I believe that social and environmental issues are intertwined). I have been involved in various forms of visual arts from a young age and perhaps feel more confident than others using artistic materials. I have lived and worked in Sonoma and Marin counties for approximately 25 years. Both counties have major population centers along the Highway 101 corridor and most residents live in a rural or suburban environment.”

Additional Information and Description of the Inquiry:
I believe that making art is a critical human activity and creates a dynamic link between social and environmental systems. My theory is that Western civilization has, to a great extent, forgotten how to use art in this way.

To take part in this ABCI means that the participants will consciously engage in a learning process that will expand our understanding and support the development of and increasing respect for earth based wisdom. We will do this through gathering information through direct encounters with nature, art, and each other. I hope that the shared experiences of the study will deepen our relationship to our local ecological systems and awaken and inspire us to take action towards achieving a sustainable future.

Expectations:
As a facilitator my role is to establish the necessary rigor for meaningful outcome through facilitation and guidance in areas where participants do not feel comfortable; including inquiry skills and procedures. However the experience and expertise of all participants are a welcome and needed contribution to a successful and meaningful group project.

The participants must have or be willing to develop an active art practice; have an interest in ecological sustainability; and be motivated to develop co-operative inquiry skills including the ability to engage in some kind of critical self-reflection; meaning we are able to communicate and express our internal learning processes.

The group will be informal and open to new members until there is a core group of interested participants willing to make a commitment to the project over an agreed upon timeframe not to exceed six months. It is critical that participants have a high level of commitment to the project for their own personal reasons.

In the course of the inquiry participants will be gathering information contained in art, autobiographical journals and photographs, creative writing, tape recordings, and video documentation of rituals and group reflection processes as agreed upon by the participants.

With Reverence,
Virginia May

The Painted Door
421 2nd St
Petaluma, CA 94952
cell 707-338-6873 gallery 707-762-3296
www.the-painted-door.com