[Adta] Expressive Arts: Opening the Door to Beauty

[Rebekah Windmiller]

Dear Friends,
As I am beginning work toward my dissertation in expressive arts, my 
thoughts turn to beauty --  my thesis topic.  Have you ever wondered 
about the importance of beauty in your life and the world around you? 
How does the experience of beauty change you? Sometimes I think beauty 
has been obliterated from our culture when I see the way we are all so 
busy and focused elsewhere. It can be hard to remember that in the 
moments of stress, worry and chores, beauty may be the antidote we 
need. 

The experience of beauty requires a willingness to see it and space to 
allow yourself to be changed by its power. Elaine Scarry writes: 

Beauty ....is life-affirming, life-giving; and therefore if, through 
your careless approach, you become cut off from it, you will feel its 
removal as a retraction of life.

 In the expressive arts, beauty is at the core of what we do. Since 
beauty belongs to sensory experience, we spend time in the arts, 
opening our sensitivity to hearing sweet music, listening closely to 
thoughtful poetry, seeing color/line/shape in art and grounding our 
experience in our bodies through dance.  By tuning into our senses, the 
world around us opens and we become available to moments of beauty in 
our daily lives -- and we are changed by it.

Beauty cannot be forced or cajoled. We must simply be perched and ready 
for its arrival. I hope you can be with us as, together,  we open the 
door to beauty and discover what can happen.

Rebekah 


nycEXPRESSIVE ARTS STUDIO
a living laboratory for artistic research
brooklyn, ny
_______________________________

INTRODUCTION TO EXPRESSIVE ARTS: OPENING THE DOOR TO BEAUTY
Sunday, September 17  2-5pm
Workshop Fee: $30

In this workshop, you will experience the expressive arts by exploring  
movement, visual art and poetry.  As we progress through these various  
disciplines, a heightened sensitivity to the art-making  process is 
nurtured and a deepened creative encounter affirms your experience. By 
opening our aesthetic sensibilities, we make space for beauty and then 
follow its path to discovery.  This  workshop is a good entry point if 
you are curious about expressive arts  and want to get your feet wet or 
if you are familiar yet longing to play. Experience in the arts is not 
necessary.


READ MORE ABOUT EXPRESSIVE ARTS ON nycEAS' WEBSITE: 
www.nycexpressivearts.com

Rebekah Windmiller, MA, REAT
Director, nycExpressive Arts Studio
646-522-1550
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 3688 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.adta.org/pipermail/adta/attachments/20060826/9f3952b1/attachment.bin