Saturday, June 28, 2008

...which leads me to my next point.  i often hear people say, "so shannon, tell me again, what are you doing in Africa?"  typically, when i begin to talk The Arts Foundry, i feel this sly smile that starts at the corners of my mouth and then wraps clear around the back on my head.  i simply can't believe how fortunate i am to visit these places, meet these people, and interact on such a fundamental level.  

my last two trips to the continent have been with the Traveling School, an all-girl semester abroad program.  in addition to working as Academic Program Director, i have also taught history, literature, languages, and cultural studies.  my time with TTS proved to be a pivotal experience that has shaped my ideas about scholarship, international relationships, and healthy group dynamics.  my students, co-workers, and overseas friends have all contributed to the possibilities i now see as real solutions for many of the problems facing us in our rapidly globalizing community. 

back home in bozeman, montana, i am inclined to runaround with this wildly talented group of folks who paint, write, create music, build sculptures, make movies, perform, take photographs, and make graffiti, just to name a few of their talents.  i regularly look around at this crew of inspired souls and think to myself, well this must be a rare thing- so many talented people all sitting around this one spot.  what are the chances?  the only question for me was that, while we all spend so much time together whether skiing or fishing or some other recreational thing, it seemed like each of us were off working alone on our creative projects.  i wondered what it would be like if we were to take this wonderful camaraderie and harness it for the sake of our collective creativity.  as a couple of us brainstormed ideas for collaboration, we began to draw from the surrealists of the 20's and 30's who were notorious for cross-disciplinary expressive forms.  those folks sought and gained inspiration from one another, and in that way, achieved both individual and collective artistic goals.

we hatched a plan, dear gwen provided the space at b. civilized gallery in livingston, and the next thing we knew we had four writers, four painters, and four actors willing to give it a go.  we had a blast!  and i think everyone felt expanded and excited to work together while simultaneously following one's own unique ideas.  twenty-one people participated in our most recent group project, which included filmmakers, poets, sculptors, journalists, moms, horse shoers, and vandals.  there were over 150 people in the audience that night.

huh?  150 people crammed in there, all seemingly on the edge of their seats, witnessing our group effort?  it was sort of hard to believe.  i like to think that i live in this podunk town where ranchers and ski bums can share a beer at the local watering hole.  but it turns out, this style of podunk may have an artistic underbelly.  you just can't tell by looking at someone what they're capable of.  the response to these collaborative projects has been overwhelming.  people seem to want more.  in that case, i am very happy to take up the task.  but be ready.  i have one or two ideas.

uh, yeah and how does this have anything to do with Africa?

on monday, i fly to Mali, West Africa where i will spend a month setting up meetings with local teachers and Peace Corps volunteers.  i will be presenting my ideas for collaborative creative writing projects, and hopefully they will say, "oui, mademoiselle, we love this idea.  let us work together."  it is an exploratory trip in the finest sense of the term.  there is a great deal of uncertainty, but i am ready for it.  i traveled extensively through Mali on my own a few years ago and i am thrilled to go back.  this trip however has the excitement of purpose and drive.  beyond mere adventure, i may find something unexpected, something i do not yet have the ability to describe.  

if my new Malian friends like the curriculum i am designing, the plan is to return to Montana and implement it here with some local kids i know, then in January return to Mali and implement the program there.  (more about the curriculum itself later...)  i seek to create a space for American kids and Malian kids to understand themselves as all members of the same community, albeit one that has distant corners.  certainly we are individuals with our own visions of the world, but how lovely it would be if we could sit together while we take in the view!

that's the quick and dirty for now.  i should go pack, but really all i want to do is play golf.  i am thinking about taking my sand wedge with me.  c'mon, the sahara- world's largest sand trap.  i will update this blog as often as i can while i am in Mali, which might not be very often. 

thanks for reading! 

 

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

gearing up

it's beginning.  the last minute details, the butterflies in my belly, the wondering if i've lost my mind, again.  i mean, really, leaving bozeman now?  just as summer has begun?  surely better decisions have been made.  how does one just walk away from these blooming lilacs and one of a kind rocky mountain sunsets, the ireland-green foothills flanking the still snow covered peaks and the sun-tanned, happy wonderful folks of my community?

well, i guess africa just holds that kind of power, now doesn't it?