My encouragement to you is to write your personal mandate. Whether you are in arts or accounting, being able to articulate what you believe and support is important. Whether you are faced with big decisions or seemingly insignificant decisions, use your mandate to guide you. Live intentionally.
My Artistic Mandate
The
Vision:
When I dare to dream about my possible future, I see myself
doing very physically engaging, thought provoking, truth revealing, and,
sometimes painfully, piercing work. I
acknowledge this need in me as an innate desire to create: this mandate is my
resolve to nurture my creative passions.
I want to tell stories with the entirety of my body; movement as a
language is a knowledge I wish to cultivate. It is important to me to be a part of creating
new Canadian works of art because I believe Canadian artists have unique
stories to tell and must do so in creatively and aesthetically stimulating ways.
I place great importance on older,
established artists mentoring younger ones.
The
Mission:
I believe in the power of story telling. I believe that it has the ability to
transform lives—both the act of doing theatre and the act of participating as
an audience member. I believe story
telling is an integral part of all cultures and must be cultivated and
respected. Stories are powerful because
they reflect to humanity what we can become and what we should beware of
becoming; truths
revealed that we might not have otherwise known. It is this truth telling that I wish to
develop to the best of my ability in myself and then use to empower other
people.
The
act of making art exposes a society to itself.
Art brings things to light. It
illuminates us. It sheds light on our
lingering darkness. It casts a beam into
the heart of our own darkness and says, “See?”- Julia Cameron
The
Mandate:
As an artist, I commit myself to:
-
Life
affirming work- art that is redemptive, upholds hope, asks difficult questions
without feeding easy answers, and challenges the status quo.
-
Collaboration-
working/exploring with other artists to create a collective piece of art. This includes artists from other
disciplines. I commit myself to
cultivating a spirit of collaboration, whether it is a devised piece or someone
else’s words.
-
Mentorship-
I will find mentors both in my profession and personal life
to guide me and encourage me when I get discouraged.
I will seek out those younger than me and invest my time and my self
into their development and well-being.
Art
lies in the moment of encounter: we meet our truth and we meet ourselves; we
meet ourselves and we meet our self expression.
We become original because we become something specific: an origin from which work flows – Julia Cameron
Artistic
Values:
I value…
1.
Redemptive stories.
This does not necessarily mean stories with happy endings,
rather, it means that the story as a whole does not reflect a despairing and
hopeless worldview.
I believe in the hope, truth, beauty, and light that humans are capable
of creating.
2.
Art as worship
May my art making always be a fragrant offering to the One
who calls me to create. I trust that if
I am open to the power of the resurrection in my life, that God will and does
come and join the creative process.
The driving force of God that plunges
through me is what I live for – Martha Graham
3.
My
Passions, Intrigues, and Abilities
I will pursue
that which inspires, captivates, and motivates me without hindrance or worry of
what the future brings. This is not
abandonment of responsibility but an acknowledgement of a gift and a commitment
to the worthwhile nurturing of the impulse that spurs me to create.
4.
Other
Artists
Although
isolation is a necessary and healthy part of the creative process, one who
stays continually isolated amongst their work is no longer a help to themselves
or others. I recognize my need for
others and obligate myself to the artistic community around me.
The horror of life and an
ecstatic awareness of the joys of living, may be true, of every creative
intelligence—and from the resultant conflict may arise the state of mind that
impels an artist towards aesthetic activity
- Martha Graham
