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.