Arts & Spirituality Retreat

Arts & Spirituality Retreat

July7 - 11, 2010

You don’t have to be an expert in painting or writing to come to the Arts & Spirituality Retreat! Beginners will learn and those who know a little will polish their talent. Participants will also be challenged to engage in spiritual reflection and practice through the use of art and prayer practices to enhance art and faith. Choose one workshop for the weekend: Water Color Painting, Creative Writing, or Biblical Story-telling. The conference fee does not cover all the Water Color Painting costs; some materials will be provided. Some tools you will need to bring with you. Just follow the link

LEADERS

John Hancock, Director and Water Color Instructor
    Born in 1956, John has lived throughout the Southeast and Midwest. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. Before moving there in the fall of 2000, he lived in Wilson, NC. Besides making art and teaching, he takes an avid interest in walking through old neighborhoods and the countryside, enjoying bird watching, reading, and cooking.
    John has more than 30 years of community and academic experience in the arts. Currently,he is an Associate Professor of Art at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Professional activities include curating exhibitions of contemporary works. The two most recent exhibitions, one titled Virginia Paper, was a statewide show dedicated to a survey of new art being made on and of paper, and the other a show of contemporary aqueous media.
    "As an artist I am always creating new work and working at getting exhibitions. In previous years I served as a judge for the Raleigh (NC) Art commission and on the Board of the Arts Council of Wilson (also in NC). For the past few years I have also served as a judge for the College Board’s national review of AP Art Portfolios and as Lead Judge for the NC Governor’s Schools Art program. Most of my work is in watercolor or includes watercolor with other material. During the past thirty years I have approached watercolor from many directions, I have always done so with a passion for color and design. I have worked in wide variety of methods including painting, printmaking, and book arts. I have also experimented with environmental installation and conceptual/performance pieces. And I have been working on large scaled drawings on mylar and small assemblages that reflect my interest in both natural history and family history. But most of my work is on paper. The visual content, the subject of my work (mixed media drawings and aqueous paintings), comes from a contemplative exploration of nature. I suspect that our/my relationship with the natural world is far more profound than I usually realize.
    Within the past few years, John has two pieces placed in the permanent collections of the Fine Arts Center of Rocky Mount (NC) and Blue Ridge Community College. Currently, he has two solo exhibitions of his work on display, one, an exhibition of mixed aqueous paintings on panels (Interrupted Visions, Small Wonders) and the other in the main gallery at McGuffey (Natural Family History). In recent years he received four awards based on his work (Adirondacks National, NC Watercolor Society, and two from the North Carolina Arts Council).
    John began serious study of art in Wichita, Kansas in adult-professional classes with Betty Dickerson. He received his B.F.A. in Art from Valdosta State University (Valdosta, GA) and later completed an M.F.A. in Painting at East Carolina University (Greenville NC) John taught his first painting and art history courses in 1979 and has been teaching continuously as a college art professor since 1985. Over the years he has conducted courses in drawing, watercolor, oil painting, design, and art history.
    He has also taught workshops, classes or conducted residencies for the following institutions: Barton College, North Carolina Wesleyan College-Raleigh, Johnston Community College, Southeastern Community College, Wilson Technical Community College, Wayne Community College, Rocky Mount Arts Center, Arts Council of Wilson, Onslow County Arts Council, Onslow County Public Schools, and Seymour Johnson Arts Center.

Debbie Parvin, Creative Writing Instructor

Debbie Parvin is a Quaker poet and freelance writer. Over 100 of her poems have been published in a variety of magazines and journals, and she has been a featured speaker at writing retreats and poetry conventions. Her book, When Stones Speak, was chosen as Book of the Year by the Alabama State Poetry Society in 2001, and she was Alabama Poet of the Year for 2004. Debbie wrote church school curriculum and CWF resources for Christian Board of Publication for over a decade. She lives with husband Bob and three cats in Winston Salem.
"Writing can be a spiritual exercise. It can be therapy. It can be revelation. It can be prayer. It can be ministry. It can also be fun, fun, fun. In this workshop, forms and techniques of writing are investigated, but not for their literary value alone. In the beauty of Christmount’s mountains and forest, we seek self-expression and the awareness of God-with-us. This workshop is highly participatory, so come ready to share your faith, your thoughts, and your lives. Come prepared to write. This workshop will be designed to be friendly to experienced writers as well as to those who want to give writing a first try. Come, seek God the 'write' way."

Rev. Linda Whitmire, Biblical Story-telling
Linda is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She has served as primary speaker for Christmount events on six different occasions. Among her gifts are those of storytelling, making Biblical accounst come alive, and pastoral counseling. She is the founding chaplain for Campbell-Stone Apartments in Atlanta and a popular preacher and teacher.
"Alone of the books of faith from the major religions of the world, our bible is one of story: the collective stories of a people and the God who called them into being, into covenant, into wholeness. These stories were shared and passed down through the generations orally long before ever they were written down. Even then, they were read out loud to a primarily illiterate community and experienced orally. In biblical storytelling, we seek to recapture the power of that oral tradition.

In our Arts and Spirituality workshop we will explore some of the stories of our faith, growing them as we reflect of how they touch our lives, praying them, then learning how to bring them to life for others by sharing them orally. Memorize? Oh-h, there are great tricks of the trade! You will be amazed at what you can do!! Dramatize? But of course! Those who hear will hear as if it is for the first time. Discover a power and a presence in stories we have never encountered before? I guarantee it!

I have performed at two international storytelling festivals as well as been a group leader for workshops at such. Also I taught a biblical storytelling workshop at our Disciple Women's Retreat in Georgia and my 'students' performed for others and were terrific! At my home church in Sandy Springs, we have a group who have been studying and learning and telling the sermon texts in our Sunday morning services for over 15 years. It is quite powerful."

Rates: include lodging in Guest House motel room, all meals (Wednesday supper-Sunday breakfast), and conference

fee.

Single:               $437.75
Double:             $314.75
Locals:              $76.00 + meals
Registration deadline: June 20

Tentative Schedule

Wednesday
3:00     Registration
6:00     Supper
7:30     Orientation, introductions
8:15     Break into workshop for introductions and brief overview
9:00     Worship
               Fellowship time

Thursday, Friday & Saturday
8:00   Breakfast
9:15   Morning devotions
9:45   Morning Workshops
12:30  Lunch
1:30 Workshops (Saturday, all afternoon free)
4:00 Free time
6:00   Supper
7:00   Workshops
9:00   Worship

Sunday
8:00   Breakfast
9:00   Wrap-up Workshops
10:30  Worship