A Recap of The Maker's Space and the year of the Pandemic 2020-2021

 

What a year we all have had!  What are the new ideas and concepts that have emerged from this time of slowing down and listening to our Maker? Here is what was created from The Maker's Space.

After reading the book, Culture Care, by Makoto Fujimura, I thought that this would be a timely topic to take up with the Art Community to explore how our creativity could help heal divides in our world.  The movement that has begun from the theories of Culture Care is appropriate for everyone to consider how they can be "makers" instead of just "takers" from their communities.  In the first few chapters, we considered all of the different subcultures that each of us are a part of because of our various interests or because of who we are as a humans...gender, race, ethnicity.  We considered our differences are what make up a diverse and creative world made by a creative Creator.  We walk on the borders of many different subcultures, so how can each of us bridge these different subcultures creatively?  Art is one way to bridge cultures of different languages, with the language of art.  But art is only one way, and each of us have our own ideas of reaching out to one another.  We can all listen to our Maker to discover how our own unique giftedness can bridge cultures so that our cultures can flourish.

The Maker’s Space Community Art Group held video and in-person book/art workshops on the book Culture Care by Makoto Fujimura this year from Sept.- March.  Our on-line videos of 5 sessions can be found here on our website www.themakersspace.us, as well as our in-person workshop which was conducted at Vail Christian Academy High School with a mother-daughter group.  In January, another book club wanted to study the book, and after having taught these sessions, I wanted to participate in the discussion.  The concepts of Culture Care are a very timely discussion in our society as we try to heal our divides of different cultures, here in our country and globally.  Makoto Fujimura’s theories that we can engage each other as creatives and artists to walk the borders of the different cultures we are all a part of is inspiring for creating new ideas of bridging.  The Maker’s Space is a place that encourages slowing down and listening with art to hear the creative voice of the Creator.  Our book group also was brimming with ideas of how we could slow down and engage others around us who are different from ourselves.  That was how the collective idea of encouraging artists to exhibit in an online gallery-www.ArtConnects.net was born.  This would be a way that we could build an estuary for emerging artists to help them continue to do what they were created to do, which is bridging cultures, help healing, and promote dialogue with their art. This project will launch May 29 and run through June in 2021.  It has 5 themes for art created for this specific time in our culture.

Vail Christian Academy High School
Mother-daughter book/art study group