Response by Tatiane Andrade, recipient of the Social Change + Anthropsophy grant

Dear Friends of Think OutWord,

I would like to thank you all so much in the name of Aramitan for trusting and supporting me with this grant for the project Preparacao Jovem. It is with great joy that we can now start implementing and taking this project further in Embú-Guacú (the suburb where Aramitan is located, in the south of Sao Paulo) and that I can personally, thanks to your support, dedicate myself 100% to this work.

Every day we realize how our thoughts become actions through our work and it is now empowering to be supported in this way by Think OutWord from the other side of the World.

We feel proud for having been chosen for this grant and also for being part of this active bridge that strengthens the social impulse of anthroposophy.

We hope this is the beginning of a long lasting partnership between our work in Brazil and your work in the States and OUR work for the world.

Muito obrigada!

Yours truly,

Tatiane Andrade e o grupo Preparacao Jovem-Aramitan

Wanted: Initiative!

THE CREDERE FUND RECIPIENTS OF 2008

When we put out a call for applications in September, with the deadline only two months away, we knew we weren’t giving people much time. We hoped the grants would embolden at least a few people to take initiative and pursue their inspiration, to create projects that otherwise might never see the light of day. We were astonished when we received 14 powerful applications. Then the question arose: who would we give these two small grants to?

Giving money away is both an exciting and sobering experience. 14 seedlings raised their heads and we had water enough only for two. So we went out and got more water…though still not enough. In the end, we are awarding the two original grants. We also raised enough extra money to offer a third grant and a loan! But some very deserving projects are still in need. To meet this need we’ve created a “Circle of Support” to highlight those projects that we believe are ready to be undertaken even if they don’t receive the full grant amount. Please donate to one of these projects right now, no gift is too small! Also, please keep up with the progress of these projects here on the Credere Blog, where all the recipients will be posting occasional updates. Thanks for your interest and support!

Recipient of the 2008 “Social Change + Anthroposophy” grant:
Tatiana Andrade ~ Youth Preparation Year

Tatiana Andrade grew up in a dangerous and violent area of San Paulo, Brazil and met anthroposophy through the Association Monte Azul (http://www.monteazul.org.br/). The relationship with Monte Azul changed her life and she resolved to develop a program to help young people with similar backgrounds to take charge of their lives, transcending and breaking free of the violence around them. The Youth Preparation Year is a one year training for youth aged 18 to 25 that encourages the exploration and understanding of identity and globalization, and develops the skills necessary for young people to make a positive contribution in today's society. The program will be based on a balance of theoretical work in the mornings and practical/artistic work in the afternoons. Tutors and professionals from various initiatives will be involved with the project.

"With our project we want to rescue children and young people in high-risk situations, providing them with the opportunity of growing and developing; acquiring physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual strengths that will prevail in adulthood and will allow them to lead full, autonomous and caring lives"

Recipient of the 2008 “Art +Anthroposophy” grant:

Emily Hassell ~ The Space in Between

The Space in Between is a sculpture project concerned with material reality and the space in between material reality. Using figure as her inspiration, Hassell (www.emilyhassell.com/) will explore complex questions of relationship – both physical and spiritual.

"I am looking at how to create figurative sculpture that shows both the internal and external origin of change, turning points, relationships and ties that are created in physical and nonphysical planes."

A series of sculptures will be created. One or two of these will become publicly-owned, roaming sculptures, available for non-lucrative exhibition, to be used for Think OutWord events, or to be placed within the community at large. In this way questions of art and ownership can also be explored.

"If our body, (and everything else), is mostly space, with only minute physicality, are our senses the only medium creating the sensation of aliveness? What part of us, if we are mostly space, is realizing and experiencing "aliveness" within ourselves? If what we feel as our bodies is our heart beating and our lungs breathing and our senses sensing, and the heart beat and breath of all living things are as one universal beat and breath, how do I respond through artistic expression?"

~~~

Recipient of the new (and one-time) “Social Art + Anthroposophy” grant:
Jordan Walker and Lachlan Grey ~ The New Forms Project

The New Forms Project (www.newformsproject.org/) is a joint collaboration that started with the question "How does one lead an extraordinary life"? Through diligent research and the constant practice of "permanent conference" (a term coined by the artist Joseph Beuys to express the process of continuous conversation with alternative perspectives) Jordan and Lach will help create a Social Sculpture which will exhibit emerging forms of thought, art, ritual and science, and engender an experience of the radical potential of the human being.

On their upcoming travels from New Zealand, to the Goetheanum in Switzerland, to the Burning Man arts festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada (for which they have found independent funding) they will create this sculpture through dialogue and collaboration with the individuals they meet. What they ultimately envision is a modular, sustainably-powered structure that will present sacred, aesthetic technology, focusing especially on water and the Flow Form technology developed by John Wilkes. Their artistic, technical and social backgrounds recommend them as ideal candidates in the imagination and creation of such a Social Sculpture.

Recipient of the new (and one-time) “Entrepreneurship Loan”:

Simeon Amstutz ~ Assenza Painting Course
“When one creates something artistic, it is not just paintings or crafts that are being produced, but it is in a very tangible way community building…this is why a big part of community needs to center around art in the widest sense. Venerable communication is to be a part of everyday life.”

Simeon, an artist from NY, is organizing a week-long painting course to be taught by Freddie Buchwalder, one of the carrying faculty at the Assenza Painting School in Basel Switzerland. The course is envisioned as financially self-sustaining and as the first of many such courses to be offered yearly.

“In making this course possible, it is my intention to broaden and develop the painterly impulse of Beppe Assenza in the northeastern United States. From there it will hopefully permeate and solidify its presence in the contemporary art scene as well as in the anthroposophical community at large.”

Circle of Support:

Annie Sauerland ~ Ayni Aynak: A Palestinian-Jordanian film festival and youth exchange
Annie Sauerland (25 years) has made it her work to build bridges within, and to, the middle-east. Living in Lebanon and Palestine, she has worked with the Goethanum to form an Independent Study around the question "What is the spirit of Islam and what is its task in the world today?" Ayni Aynak (http://ayniaynak.blogspot.com/) is the latest expression of this active searching. Literally translated as "Eye to Eye," Ayni Aynak is a Palestinian-Jordanian youth film festival aimed at bringing young filmmakers together for a week-long festival, not only to show and share films, but to provide a space for dialogue where these young people have an opportunity to share their points of view. Each Jordanian participant will host a Palestinian participant in his home, providing a rare opportunity for these young people to share cultural and life experiences with one another.

"Our activities and concepts are built up around the principle of addressing head, heart, and hand in an equal way, as well as giving each participant the opportunity to go through, and honor, a process within himself while also going out into the world with action." Donate to Annie

Kristin Lee ~ Peacemaker: An American Process and Vision towards Global Peace
In this project Kristin Lee delves deeply into the little-known legend of the great social/spiritual leader of the Iroquois people - Peacemaker. Through a creative retelling of this story in the form of an epic poem, Ms. Lee, herself half Iroquois, strives to provide "a vision of global brotherhood/sisterhood based on mutually-supportive independence, individual and social health, freedom and right thinking." Peacemaker was pivotal in the creation of the Iroquois Confederacy, an advanced form of rights awareness and governance in early North America which would eventually be a powerful influence in the creation of the U.S. Constitution and the forming of American democracy. Out of this powerful story it is perhaps possible to find essential images for a reimagination of the true impulses behind America's innovative social and political forms, and engender an experience of the true spirit of America - discover that which is our own uniquely "American Philosophy of Freedom." Donate to Kristin

Christianne Sinoo ~ Children's Creativity Project
Christianne proposes to spend one month at the Al Jaleel center in Lebanon, a refugee camp serving children who have been traumatized by the Israel – Lebanon war in 2006 and the Lebanese political complex. Her proposal is to bring curative artistic work, handcrafts, music, and theater activities to the children as a way to help them process and overcome the violence around them, think about their future in a more positive way, and leave an impression of the western world that involves peace, beauty and laughter rather than conflict.

"Although the activities will be taking place in the duration of a month, the project aims to bring the experience of art to the children on a long-term basis. Therefore I wish to stock up the Center with a basic supply of art material, skills, and inspiration that can be active further on after I leave."

Additionally, "I plan to give inspiration through activities like planting a tree and painting a wall of the center courtyard together with the children. Furthermore, I am aiming for an open event in the end where the local community is invited…"

Christianne is 19 years old. She is from Holland and is currently studying at YIP (the Youth Initiative Program) in Jarna, Sweden. Donate to Christianne

Martina Angela Muller ~ Wall of Light
"Wall of Light is an installation that consists of softly moving, diaphanous, luminous layers of light with slowly drifting, transparent, organically inspired shapes that create new overlapping forms every second they move. The effect is supposed to suffuse our usual concept of a fixed and non-transparent world with impenetrable border to create an impression that there is a spiritual and luminous world beyond our sense perceptions. The viewers should be able to stand in this space of light and movement and have an almost 'magical' experience of beauty of light, color and form in a less material way."

The installation will involve fabric, sculpture, painting, and mobile lighting, and will be premiered at the Art Collective Studio 345 on Warren Street in Hudson in the summer, 2009.

"This project would be a stepping stone to innovative creations with light in larger spaces. It has been an ongoing question of how one can liberate the visual arts from the painting/museum/gallery pattern and make actual living spaces for people more artistic, creative and ultimately more spiritual…At this point in my artistic career I am imagining solar powered light/movement/water installations that could enliven residential and corporate living spaces."

Martina Muller (www.martinaangelamuller.com/) lives in Harlemville, NY and is a founding member of the Art Collective Studio 345. Donate to Martina

Luke Fischer ~ Crossings
Crossings is the working title of a book of poems that Luke Fischer (29 years) would like to collate and publish. Inspired by his intensive engagements with Anthroposophy, Goethean Science, and phenomenological philosophy, and having recently received his doctoral degree for his philosophical interpretation of Rilke's poetry from Tubingen, Germany, Mr. Fischer will now focus on his own poetry, submit it to journals, and find a publisher for his work. His poetry seeks to reveal the spiritual dimensions of nature and the world. He says: "Poetry is a way in which I seek to approach this dimension of reality and communicate it to others… Poetry springs from a place of unity between self and world, and in addition to communicating spiritual inspiration can play a significant role in healing this rift between nature and spirit." Donate to Luke