by lisaborinmiller | Nov 30, 2017 | Project 108
My art practice felt stagnant. There were creatives around, but we weren’t talking about creativity. ‘Non-artists’ seemed hungry for creativity too. I realized that life is a process constructed in each moment, through focus, imagination, creativity, and serendipity. This felt relevant and accessible, like a good place to start awakening creativity. I began with G.I. Gurdijeff’s idea that:“To gain anything real, long practice is necessary. Try to accomplish small things first.” The first step I took was this project of a series of gestures to begin to rethink my relationship with creativity. The first gesture? Open heart for art meetings.
THE FIRST MEETING: Tues. Jul 19, 7-10: 15 pm | 4th Floor Lounge, Lloyd Hall, The Banff Centre
Practicing (or trying to practice) artists, lots of yummy snacks, good conversation, and ideas shared. Sometimes we struggle to keep our meetings happening regularly, but overall we have been meeting about once a month. There is still enthusiasm from the group. People come and go from our community and it has been very encouraging to see new faces turning up.
An update from 2018…
I moved away from Banff in 2012 after meeting my future hubby. The meetings stopped when I moved and I focused on other projects and ways of bringing community together. You’ll have to check out the other projects for more on that!
If you are looking for ways to bring people together, open heart for art meetings or any other conscious community meetings are a fantastic way to start.
by lisaborinmiller | Nov 30, 2017 | Project 108
Collections & Collaboration | Wed. Jul. 27 11 am 2011 | Other Gallery, Glyde Hall The Banff Centre
www.banffcentre.ca/event/5475/lunch-truck.mvc?d=2011-07-27+11:00
Instructions:
Acknowledge some hopes and fears to yourself. With a pencil, mark one envelope with the word ‘hopes’ and the other ‘fears. Place seeds and sticks in your envelopes. Your hopes will be planted and fears burned. You are welcome to take hopes for sending to others or planting on your own. Fears will make good fertilizer.
Thanks to all 58 people who contributed hopes and 45 who contributed fears to project 108, 2.
A NOTE ON FEAR: Lake Minnewanka, Sept. 2011 | a cloudy evening, a good friend, and a lot of fear
I lived with the hopes and fears in my new apartment for a couple of months while I settled into a new job and new surroundings. I wanted to find a sense of calm before I burned the fears. After a weekend of solitude and reflecting on my own heart-felt desires and worries, I went to Lake Minnewanka, or ‘Lake of the Spirits,’ as someone later pointed out. A friend and I sat together under a cloudy late summer night sky. We watched as the envelopes marked ‘fears’ dissolved in flames. That night I dreamt that I was putting out fires. The hopes are in safekeeping for spring planting.
by lisaborinmiller | Nov 30, 2017 | Project 108
This was a seemingly simpler approach, but when good initiatives are in place I think it is important to join in and support them. There was a call for the Banff Community Art Committee in October. I took it as an opportunity to commit to an important initiative already in place in town. I meet with the committee about once a month to discuss public art in Banff!
by lisaborinmiller | Nov 30, 2017 | Project 108
The details: Paper plates, string, drawings and stories by the After School Program students
What a fun day with the After School Program! 18 excited students and talented young storytellers/designers got to work on creating mobiles. First they thought about a memory or story they wanted to share. Next they drew pictures relating to their stories and cut out images and words to hang on the mobile. They wrote about their story on the base of the mobile and strung on the pictures. The results were outstanding! One student wrote about learning to sew with her Grandmother, and another about his father teaching him how to goal tend. I most excited about sending kids home with these demonstrations of their thoughts, feelings, and appreciation for loved ones. Some stories were imagined memories, but very special just the same!
by lisaborinmiller | Nov 30, 2017 | Project 108
A call for miracles.
Project Instructions: Have you ever experienced a miracle (we’ll think about them as being acts of wonder) or what about a memorable coincidence? Send your story to lisa@lisaborin.com. Your submission will become part of a larger collaborative project coming.
An update: People have so many amazing and miraculous stories to share. A few of the incredible submissions are below. If you are reading this, please feel welcome to submit your story. One day, it might make a beautiful book.
My mom always wanted to have a girl. she grew up on a farm and had to do all the woman’s work and always wanted a little sister to play with which never worked out. Instead she had five younger brothers. After having two boys, she was pregnant with me and went to the hospital wearing white socks with pink stripes for good luck, not knowing what the child is going to be. I was born and I am a girl. She had an operation after that so she couldn’t have kids anymore. The first few years of my life I was very spoiled, until… my sister was born. A happy miracle!!!
(Brooke)
Its’ a miracle that sun and the moon shine and that the stars exist too and also that we can imagine these things in dreams and that we have dreams and sometimes we get to feel real love
(Tara)
Life is a miracle! Every day is a miracle that we can feel and smell and see and walk and breathe! I grew up in East Germany. I live the place and I love that life can change unexpectedly in a positive way. Watching the wall falling down and the people embracing each other is a beautiful miracle for me. I was too young to understand but when I watch historical footage on the TV or listen to people’s stories, I am getting emotional and think of how much this change of history has impacted my life! I am experiencing many things my parents weren’t able to experience such as travelling, living abroad, studying and creating art, even having and finding a voice… Life is never easy, but full of miracles, coincidences and love!
(Manu)
A week before my mother passed away I had the crazy feeling I just needed to be there with her. I would wake up every night visualizing our last conversation. My intuition lead me back home.
I dropped everything – middle of exams and final paper of my last year of university – and flew across the country. I feel thankful every day that I – without realizing it at the time – had committed to being there for the dying process. Allowing myself the time to say good bye and giving my mom the permission and support needed for that process to begin.
(Monique)
