Announcing 10 Artmonk chapters. Are you an artmonk?
Apropos of my recent posts on activism and monasticism, and the fact that I’ll be working on developing the San Francisco chapter, I repost this, written by the Labro artmonks:
The Art Monastery Project has launched Artmonk chapters in the following 10 cities: Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Reno, Bloomington, Indiana, Chicago, Buffalo, New York City. If you are an Artmonk and want to get involved, join your Local Artmonk Chapter on Facebook! If you think there is a lot of Artmonk interest in your city and it’s not on the above list, email info@artmonastery.org to set up a Chapter near you!
What is an Artmonk?
Our world has been shaped and enriched for millennia by what we could call “artmonks”: passionate people who reflect deeply about what they can give to the world and use their full creative inspiration and dedication to manifest this insight in the world, regardless of prevailing activities and obsessions of their historical time, place, and station.
The path of the artmonk has led not only to works considered grand, even world changing, but also to countless small works of caring and beauty. The scale of works does not define the path, but rather the path reveals the artmonk’s unwavering integrity, boundless creativity, contemplative awareness, and compassion for all beings, to whom we are fundamentally connected.
Are you an Artmonk?
Apropos of my recent posts on activism and monasticism, and the fact that I’ll be working on developing the San Francisco chapter, I repost this, from the Art Monastery website, written by the Labro artmonks:
The Art Monastery Project has launched Artmonk chapters in the following 10 cities: Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Reno, Bloomington, Indiana, Chicago, Buffalo, New York City. If you are an Artmonk and want to get involved, join your Local Artmonk Chapter on Facebook! If you think there is a lot of Artmonk interest in your city and it’s not on the above list, email info@artmonastery.org to set up a Chapter near you!
What is an Artmonk?
Our world has been shaped and enriched for millennia by what we could call “artmonks”: passionate people who reflect deeply about what they can give to the world and use their full creative inspiration and dedication to manifest this insight in the world, regardless of prevailing activities and obsessions of their historical time, place, and station.
The path of the artmonk has led not only to works considered grand, even world changing, but also to countless small works of caring and beauty. The scale of works does not define the path, but rather the path reveals the artmonk’s unwavering integrity, boundless creativity, contemplative awareness, and compassion for all beings, to whom we are fundamentally connected.
Are you an Artmonk?
Do you have a passion for a topic or activity that fills you with such delight and provides such meaning in your life that the “normal” concerns of the world (well paid jobs, shopping, mortgages and cars…) begin to seem more like distractions than meaningful goals? Is the the satisfaction achieved through this passion-work more comforting than that from your physical surroundings?
Then you may have the disposition of an Artmonk.
If you reflect quietly and with great compassion, does the clarity of contemplation reveal your passion to be one that would have a truly a positive impact on other beings? Will it harm none? Does it allow your creative spirit to take flight with unbounded enthusiasm, providing ongoing inspiration to yourself and to others?
Then you may have a mission worthy of an Artmonk.
Are you willing to commit to making changes in your life in service of this mission? Will you continue to reflect deeply and compassionately upon its impact in the world? Would you take a vow to make this an integral part of your life: to walk this path and support other artmonks on their paths?
Then you may be an Artmonk… or are ready to become one.
Join us in co-creating this international Otherhood, inspiring each other as individuals, celebrating our mutual connection, and transforming our world.
How are these principles manifest in the Art Monastery?
The Artmonks of the Art Monastery apply the intentionality of monastic living to the creative process. Through this approach, we commit our life and work to the intersection of three fundamental modes, each of which we consider essential to the existence we strive to create for ourselves and all humans:
Art & Creativity
Spirit & Contemplation
Ethics & Activism
Although we may train, study, or rehearse purely in one direction, we strive that all three modes inform our every process and product. We are not content with artistic virtuosity devoid of content or compassionate intention. We commit to contemplation, as it awakens gratitude and clarifies intention, and ritual, as it harmonizes the community and stirs the spirit; but our spirituality inspires self-expression and deepens our ethical connection to all beings. Finally, we acknowledge that great insight has little value unless it creatively generates tangible action in the world and transformation in the self.
Scarcity is upon us again today and we require new models of living. The last time the world descended into competitive scarcity, culture survived only in the then-innovative communal living model of the monastery. Monasticism was a sustainable model for creating meaning for its members and the world it supported through a radical model of daily life that contained not only contemplative practice but also artistic expression through art, architecture, and music and the preservation and furthering of knowledge. The Art Monastery explores a timely new model, drawing inspiration from three principles addressed by Medieval monasteries: art, spirituality, and ethics in living in the world.
ART & CREATIVITY: Creative expression and the experience of inspired art provides meaning to human existence. The habitat for this fruitful exchange is disappearing as cultural budgets suffer slashes worldwide, capital interests grow ever more powerful, and the life model of the professional artist becomes increasingly difficult. Art will only survive with new models that demonstrate how indispensable art is to people and communities (ensuring and inspiring demand) and address the practical needs of artists (fostering supply even with reduced demand).
SPIRITUALITY & CONTEMPLATION: We cannot ignore the needs of the human psyche to maintain connection to that which is beyond the self. Spirituality and ritual are some of the most innate aspects of the human experience and have inspired charity and ethical action for millennia. But as we see in the news and our lives, destructive actions that deny our fundamental interconnectedness are committed daily in the name of religion and values. Thus, artmonks strive for a spirituality and ritual life that flows from creative expression and a practice of contemplation to awakening compassion for our fellow beings.
ETHICS & ACTIVISM: We acknowledge that total commitment to these ideas requires concrete action. Compassion and creativity enable us to envision the world we wish to co-create. Without action, this transformation in the self and the world dissipates. Action, can be small or great, but we always have the power to do something.
Sustainable, ecological, communal living is an inherent aspect of both Medieval monasteries and our contemporary project. Living in sustainably and in harmony with the earth is the natural enactment of contemplating the impact of our lifestyles in the world. Living in community not only diminishes ecological impact, but provides a daily practice of facing personal patterns and learning to cooperate with other individuals.
The Art Monastery Project seeks to explore the path in which these values unite, and is interested in meeting like-minded souls to get on board.
Do you have a passion for a topic or activity that fills you with such delight and provides such meaning in your life that the “normal” concerns of the world (well paid jobs, shopping, mortgages and cars…) begin to seem more like distractions than meaningful goals? Is the the satisfaction achieved through this passion-work more comforting than that from your physical surroundings?
Then you may have the disposition of an Artmonk.
If you reflect quietly and with great compassion, does the clarity of contemplation reveal your passion to be one that would have a truly a positive impact on other beings? Will it harm none? Does it allow your creative spirit to take flight with unbounded enthusiasm, providing ongoing inspiration to yourself and to others?
Then you may have a mission worthy of an Artmonk.
Are you willing to commit to making changes in your life in service of this mission? Will you continue to reflect deeply and compassionately upon its impact in the world? Would you take a vow to make this an integral part of your life: to walk this path and support other artmonks on their paths?
Then you may be an Artmonk… or are ready to become one.
Join us in co-creating this international Otherhood, inspiring each other as individuals, celebrating our mutual connection, and transforming our world.
How are these principles manifest in the Art Monastery?
The Artmonks of the Art Monastery apply the intentionality of monastic living to the creative process. Through this approach, we commit our life and work to the intersection of three fundamental modes, each of which we consider essential to the existence we strive to create for ourselves and all humans:
Art & Creativity
Spirit & Contemplation
Ethics & Activism
Although we may train, study, or rehearse purely in one direction, we strive that all three modes inform our every process and product. We are not content with artistic virtuosity devoid of content or compassionate intention. We commit to contemplation, as it awakens gratitude and clarifies intention, and ritual, as it harmonizes the community and stirs the spirit; but our spirituality inspires self-expression and deepens our ethical connection to all beings. Finally, we acknowledge that great insight has little value unless it creatively generates tangible action in the world and transformation in the self.
Scarcity is upon us again today and we require new models of living. The last time the world descended into competitive scarcity, culture survived only in the then-innovative communal living model of the monastery. Monasticism was a sustainable model for creating meaning for its members and the world it supported through a radical model of daily life that contained not only contemplative practice but also artistic expression through art, architecture, and music and the preservation and furthering of knowledge. The Art Monastery explores a timely new model, drawing inspiration from three principles addressed by Medieval monasteries: art, spirituality, and ethics in living in the world.
ART & CREATIVITY: Creative expression and the experience of inspired art provides meaning to human existence. The habitat for this fruitful exchange is disappearing as cultural budgets suffer slashes worldwide, capital interests grow ever more powerful, and the life model of the professional artist becomes increasingly difficult. Art will only survive with new models that demonstrate how indispensable art is to people and communities (ensuring and inspiring demand) and address the practical needs of artists (fostering supply even with reduced demand).
SPIRITUALITY & CONTEMPLATION: We cannot ignore the needs of the human psyche to maintain connection to that which is beyond the self. Spirituality and ritual are some of the most innate aspects of the human experience and have inspired charity and ethical action for millennia. But as we see in the news and our lives, destructive actions that deny our fundamental interconnectedness are committed daily in the name of religion and values. Thus, artmonks strive for a spirituality and ritual life that flows from creative expression and a practice of contemplation to awakening compassion for our fellow beings.
ETHICS & ACTIVISM: We acknowledge that total commitment to these ideas requires concrete action. Compassion and creativity enable us to envision the world we wish to co-create. Without action, this transformation in the self and the world dissipates. Action, can be small or great, but we always have the power to do something.
Sustainable, ecological, communal living is an inherent aspect of both Medieval monasteries and our contemporary project. Living in sustainably and in harmony with the earth is the natural enactment of contemplating the impact of our lifestyles in the world. Living in community not only diminishes ecological impact, but provides a daily practice of facing personal patterns and learning to cooperate with other individuals.
The Art Monastery Project seeks to explore the path in which these values unite, and is interested in meeting like-minded souls to get on board.
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