In pursuing a vision, I am open to how the shape of it changes as people engage with it.
The justus cafe Advisors gathered for the first time in conversation on Zoom at the beginning of January 2022. The Advisors are a group of powerfully imaginative, creative and active people. Our conversation influenced the direction for movement, and actions I could take.
Jessica Bolduc (Executive Director of the 4Rs Youth Movement) offered an invitations for us to sit in as guests on an "unconference" gathering of young indigenous and black creatives as they forge a course for "shared work" and collaboration facilitated by Tuesday Ryan Hart. For those of us who were able to sit in, it was a "naturally occurring learning journey", an opportunity for us to just show up in the dialogue, soak in the creative energy and passion, and reflect on what we can learn from them.
In 2012 Beth Mount, in collaboration with Tom Kohler, Ashley O'Brien, and an incredible network of people connected to Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy, created a learning "Journey to the Beloved Community" (the title for Beth's story quilt exhibit at the Telfair Museum). It was a powerful immersion into the experience of "the art of social change".
Patti Scott (my partner in life and work) and I were privileged to be part of this journey. Together we edited a short video of our impressions.
Following the event, Beth created a closed "The Art of Social Change" Facebook group. The group has remained active and grown to more than 1100 members. The Facebook group has kept a thread of imagining alive.
The justus cafe is an extension of this thread. And so in conversation with Beth, we have renamed the Facebook group to..."justus cafe...Celebrating the Arts of Social Change". If you are interested, click the link to join. The Facebook group is a first attempt to connect with a wider group of people who care about the arts in social change.
I imagine creating opportunities to invite people into the justus cafe's curation of artist profiles, podcasts, blog posts, and gatherings for dialogue, celebration, and engagement.
The first prototype will be an invitation to the group to engage in a group Zoom conversation about perspectives on "what are the arts of social change?". Stay tuned.
We will continue to explore possibilities for creating learning journeys into communities where arts of social change can be experienced, harvested, and shared in the justus cafe.