Friday, March 7, 2008
New York, New York: Part 1
Hey! I'm just back from New York City, where I - along with nine other Keynote marketing team members - attended the 2008 International Arts Movement Encounter and the Campus Crusade for Christ Creativity Summit. And if those titles sound cool to you, wait 'til you hear about it all!
(Note: You'll see that I've linked the names of many of the people and groups I mention to their websites for you to check out for yourselves!)
Wednesday, February 27
The excitement begins early, as we meet at a Starbucks (go figure) in Indy at 6:30am! The ten of us pile ourselves and our things into two of Keynote's mini-vans and off we go toward New York City. As one of the "road managers" for the trip, I help navigate and plan the trip, and 700 miles and 14 hours later, we are all safe and sound at our places to stay in the Big Apple.
Thursday, February 28
A few Keynoters go to help set up the conference before registration begins at 5pm that evening. I take advantage of the extra time and get a good night's sleep, meet a friend for lunch in Manhattan, send some postcards, and walk around the city.
Later, I make my way down to Tribeca (near the World Trade Center site) where the conference is. The "Encounter," as they call it, begins with a superb performance by the Los Angeles Collaboration, a piano and violin duo from LA. The evening also includes a panel discussion on the theme of the conference: generative creativity.
Friday, February 29
This morning we hear from some unique people. Jason Huntley, a winemaker and founder of Waters Winery, speaks to us about the art of winemaking and how his faith is a part of his work. Jeff Speck, a non-Christian city-planner and urban designer, talks to us about the idea of community and how it can generate art, and how most American cities are not being designed with this in mind. We also hear from David Kipen, one of the directors of The Big Read, a reading program working to get people reading and talking about reading in communities across the nation and around the world.
In the afternoon, we see a screening of the film Hard Road Home, a documentary about Exodus, an organization run by former prisoners for former prisoners, helping them adjust to "real life" after getting out of prison. A very cool movie about a ver cool organization. Macky Alston, the film's director, and Julio Medina, a Christian, the director of Exodus, and a former prisoner himself, and were both there to speak and answer questions following the film.
During the evening session, we saw performances by singer-songwriter Brooke Campell and playright/actress Danai Gurira. Critic Terry Teachout spoke on what makes things beautiful and the importance of beauty, and a panel continued the discussion. We also saw a unique display of art in which musician Jerzy Sapieyevski played the piano, Makoto Fujimura, the founder of IAM, painted, and Miguel Sanchez Romera created culinary art. (I'll show you part of this performance in my next entry!)
Saturday, March 1
As if Thursday and Friday weren't enough, Saturday is packed full of more great stuff! The morning includes performances by the TM Sisters and the Varnish Cooks, panel discussion on creativity in business and design, and a presentation about a foundation helping up-and-coming artists.
The afternoon is begins with another film screening, this time Warchild, a fictional story about a non-fiction situation, where people in former Yugoslovia are searching for their children following years of war there. Another very good and very moving film. We also find time to squeeze in discipline-based workshops. I attend one on Communication Arts, in which we discuss issues that come up being Christian and being a media artist.
The IAM Encounter comes to a close that evening with a poetry reading by Irish poet Michael O'Siadhail, an inspiring address from Makoto Fujimura, some discussion on empathy and how it can inspire art, and a brilliant performance by composer/arranger Rob Mathes, who shared some of his latest beautiful music with us. Led by Rob, we spend the final moments of the Encounter together singing "Be Thou My Vision," a beautiful and appropriate end to a wonderful, enlightening experience!
Sunday, March 2
So, how does any of this apply to us? That's the question we're discussing today with the forty or so Campus Crusade staff members who attended IAM. There are people from Campus Crusade's regional offices, campus ministries, overseas ministries, Jesus film ministry, and obviously Keynote there. We spend the day in large group and small group discussion about what it should look like being artists and being Campus Crusade staff at the same time. We conclude the day with a nice dinner together out at a quaint Italian restaurant in Queens.
Monday, March 3
The Campus Crusade staffers gather one last time. Today, we are surprised to hear from Makoto Fujimura (the IAM founder) who shares his vision for us as artists and Campus Crusade staff. It's very cool to hear his uniquely creative perspective on things. A few of us grab lunch with Brian Horvath, a former Keynoter, now the executive director of IAM, and then begin our return home.
Braving the roads and traffic of New York City in the late afternoon (which is nothing short of a nightmare), we make our way from our hotel in Queens to the others' hotel in Brooklyn - a trek that Mapquest suggests should take about 20 minutes, but takes us an hour and a half! We then head out to Harrisburg, PA, where we stay the night at one of our Keynoters' dad's house.
Tuesday, March 4
The journey comes to an end. We roll out of Harrisburg around 8:00am and roll into Indy around 6:00pm. We've come full circle. Most of us are pretty tired mentally and physically from the non-stop nature of the conference, and from all the driving and navigating we've all had to do.
And that, believe it or not, that is just a short summary of my experience! Whew! I could go on typing for days and still not tell you every detail. Right now, I feel like I'm trying to pump a swimming pool full of content from the conference into my head through a slim plastic straw. It's going to take a while before I fully process everything I experienced and everything I learned.
So, congratulations for making to the end of my tale! That's an accomplishment in itself. Thanks so much for thinking of me. You'll have to check back soon for my next entry, where I'll put up photos and videos from my experience for you to see! Until then, adios!
(To learn more about IAM, visit their website at www.internationalartsmovement.org)
(To view my photos and videos from the trip, check out Part 2.) |
