In Our Own Words

What will happen as a result? How will this project further your personal, artistic and intellectual goals?

 

“Project Breathe – aptly named! Most of the creative process deals with narrative, or story, in some way and connects our physical and spiritual beings. Because we are both physical beings, located in space and time, and spiritual beings, not bound so much by space and time, the ability to express and understand our stories depends on our ability to explore, understand and use the connections between location (landscape, for instance) and the creative process. The space to exhale and the time to reflect are also an important part of the creative process. Women in the group include faculty and staff, all of whom are interested in creating (including painting, designing, photography, writing, choreography, crafting, weaving). All are interested in the intersection of time, location and the creative process. All live very busy lives in which they wear several different “hats” and have very little time to reflect or space in which to exhale. The result is that those places within us that nourish the creative process become depleted.”
Elaine

“With the historical Gruoch as my muse for creativity, the sacred feminine, and the threshold between the physical and metaphysical, I welcome the chance to reconnect with my interior self, my own breath, my creative energy and my artistic community in the meditative isolation, extreme landscape and, paradoxically, collaborative alliance of my sister travelers, as we decompress and return to the world of avant-garde art at the Fringe Festival.  I embrace Iona as a crucible of my theatrical, performance, written and visual artistic impulses.” 
Ellen

“I am keenly interested in pre-Christian history and the spirit of nature (female) as a metaphor for creative wisdom. My artistic work has long explored the threshold between primitive myth and the collective unconscious. Iona is a place where the past exists together with the now. I am seeking to connect with this energy through communion with the island and surrounding environs and will record this journey through writing, personal reflection, photography, and my own artwork.” 
Elizabeth

“I am hoping to take retreat at The Duncraig House, the “Quiet House”, on the Isle of Iona in Scotland, where countless travelers have made pilgrimages to this particular geographical location that is referred to as a “thin place”, a very special and mystical place filled with history where the material and the spiritual worlds seem to join.  It is here that I propose to do the honorable work of entering into silence and stillness so that I may slow down enough, and turn my attention inward long enough to the still, small voice of my own being.  I strongly believe that in this space of quietude and emptiness much may be revealed that is simply not possible while engaged in constant activity, meeting criteria of the highest standards, and constantly measuring life by timelines and calendars.  I desire and dare to spend some time in the timeless.”  
Trish

“I am a visual artist whose work explores the relationship between art-making and spirituality. Since 2001, my entire body of work has been based on the concept of the “thin place,” the point of balance where the material and ethereal worlds meet with equal but opposite force. My work mirrors my spiritual exploration to find harmony and unity in a world of duality. This trip to Scotland to visit sites that have been considered “thin places” throughout time is a dream come true. I look forward to the opportunity to slow down, savor the silence and physically experience the boundary between what is known and unknown. This trip will allow me to artistically explore this concept from a different perspective.”
Virginia

Begin with purpose
Respond to what comes your way 
Exist in collaboration 
Allow for space and silence
Trust in the possibility of the journey
Hear the language of stillness
Emerge in alliance.
Vicki

 

 

How does this project relate to your career?

 “There can be no art apart from the ability to imagine.  Imagination dwells in the unseen realms and then appears as a muse as it interfaces with our more rational, technical, analytical skill sets as we teach our finest classes or create our most moving works.  With gratitude at the onset, I take this opportunity to apply, and be considered as one of six UNCSA artist faculty/staff stewards for this suitably named “Breathe” grant.  I seek this time and place for the purpose of retreat so that I may enter into the space within myself that is the stillpoint of my profession as a teaching artist.”
Trish

“My role as an administrative manager in the School of Design and Production is to keep data, paperwork and funds flowing smoothly so that the school can provide an excellent education for our students. This work continues at a rapid pace twelve months out of the year. As the University goes through difficult economic times, creative problem solving and managing change are essential skills yet there is little time to “fill the well.” The energy that goes out is rarely replaced. This trip will re-energize my creative capabilities so that I can best serve the university community in times of change.”
Virginia

“I believe that great movements in art begin with community and interdisciplinary work can revolutionize our creative process. My career is built upon my ability to take a diverse group of images, ideas, sounds and movements and combine them to immerse the viewer in an experience far beyond passive observation.  I am personally interested not in where we go and what we do, but in the interaction of the group and what we find wherever we are and how we weave it all together.
Vicki

“The push me-pull you exigencies of a daily schedule made up of heavily enrolled courses, fulfilling the duties of Chair of Faculty Council and Faculty Assembly alternate, the administrative, communications and planning minutiae of being Project Director for The Kenan Writers’ Encounters, writing and publishing scholarly articles keep the flame on high for the half of me that is dedicated to teaching, academics and the life of UNCSA.  The half of myself that is an actor, director, writer and more, that is the part of myself that feeds my energy and creativity flickers in a state of low pilot.  The project being proposed holds the promise of reinvigorating my writing and performance arts, a creative reinvestment that can only also spill over into my teaching abilities and sensitivities and my appreciation of the thin fringe out of which the new is born.”
Ellen