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Contemplative Arts
Contemplative Arts comprise a number of secular disciplines
and activities, including flower arranging and photography, that
integrate art and culture with everyday life. Each of these disciplines
represents a genuine contemplative path; together they bring beauty,
vividness and wisdom to our lives and culture.
Shambhala Art
Shambhala
Art is art that springs from clear perception and pure expression.
To artist or non-artist, the creative process often seems mysterious
and magical. How do we give a physical reality
to some ephemeral inspiration or abstract truth? How do we create
forms that communicate some essential nature beyond the limits
of their container? The
Shambhala Art Program's purpose is to explore the creative process
and the product we call art from the point of view of clear perception
and pure expression. It is about the source of inspiration,
how the creative process manifests and finally how what we create
communicates that inspiration. See also www.shambhalaart.org.
Meditation for the Artist
May 14-July 2
Wednesdays 7-10, 8 sessions
(some on campus, some off campus field trips)
Art Center College @ Night, South Campus, Pasadena.
ACN-018W-01, Noncredit, No prerequisite.
Tuition: $415 www.artcenter.edu/atnight 626.396.2319 or e-mail: acan@artcenter.edu
Meditation for the artist involves applying the disciplines of mindfulness and awareness to your creative and viewing processes. Art making and art viewing are inherently contemplative activities and naturally benefit from meditation. Bringing mindfulness and awareness to your process encourages clear perception, true spontaneity, and unselfconscious pure expression. It naturally dissolves creative blockages and reveals the source of creativity. With the viewing process, meditation develops your intuition, felt sense, sharpens your native intelligence, and leads toward an experience of the sublime. This eight-week course will teach meditation and include contemplative exercises to awaken both the creative and the viewing process. During the first four weeks, perceptual exercises, meditation instruction, and non-objective brush and ink painting will assist you in experiencing the creative process with fresh eyes, fresh senses and an open mind and heart. During the second half of the course, felt and thought sense exercises, object arranging, and field trip(s) to museums will assist in opening up to a contemplative viewing process that will take you beyond your current boundaries.
Instructor: Steven Saitzyk is an Adjunct Professor Liberal Arts and Sciences at Art Center College. He is International Director of Shambhala Art, a nonprofit arts education program designed to integrate meditation into the creative process: www.shambhalaart.org. He completed a Buddhist Seminary and has practiced and taught meditation for more than thirty years. He has a B.S., CSU; M.T. Los Angeles, Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. Consultant in the artist's materials industry: www.trueart.info. Exhibiting painter. Former owner, Ashé Artist's Materials. Former Biochemist. Publications: Author of Art Hardware: The Definitive Guide to Artist's Materials. Columnist, Site Local Magazine. Instructor: California Institute for the Arts. Member: National Art Materials Trade Association (NAMTA), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), The Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA).
Shambhala Arts Festival
The Shambhala Arts Festival is an international event during which the entire Shambhala community is invited to celebrate the arts based on Shambhala/Dharma Art principles at their Centers. This festival day is an opportunity to gather artists and help establish the roots of enlightened society. Shambhala Art explores the creative and viewing processes and the product we call art from the viewpoint of a meditative discipline. It is a viewpoint that encourages us to see things as they are, rather than how we imagine they are.
Kalapa Ikebana
In 1982, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche formed a new school of
ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) inspired by his own training
and vision. Kalapa Ikebana, as this school is called, promotes
the study and practice of flower arranging, often working closely
with masters of other schools of ikebana.
Kyudo
Kyudo means the way of the bow and can be described as a form
of standing meditation. Under the direction of Shibata Kanjuro,
Sensei and senior instructors, students learn an ancient form of
archery using traditional Japanese bows. Kyudo is a form of meditation
practice, not sport, and hitting the target is not considered important.
The purpose of kyudo is to purify one's heart and mind to awaken
the natural dignity of being human, beyond the obstacles of ambition,
aggression or confusion. See some photos from our practice sessions.
Miksang
"You develop strength in your sight, so that when you look
at the Great Eastern Sun you don't become blinded by it. Having
developed a dharmic eye, you will be able to see the Great Eastern
Sun.
Maitri Five Wisdoms Practice
This practice is based on the principles of the five buddha families,
each of which expresses a particular style and attitude of openness.
Maintaining a posture associated with each family in five specifically
designed rooms heightens the characteristic patterns of energy
of each family, so that both the neurotic and sane aspects of the
student's personal style becomes apparent.
Mudra Space Awareness
This awareness practice is based on postures and movement from
traditional Tibetan monastic dance. Simple yet demanding, these
techniques train students in synchronizing body and mind, in relating
with space, in maintaining awareness during intense activity, and
in communication
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