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.
An Artmonk is someone who lives at the intersection of three worlds:
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 material concerns of the world begin to seem more like distractions than meaningful goals? Is 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 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
Earth & Reciprocity
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 part 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.
EARTH & RECIPROCITY
Sustainable, ecological, communal living is an inherent aspect of both Medieval monasteries and our contemporary project. Living in community not only diminishes ecological impact, but provides a daily practice of facing personal patterns and learning to cooperate with other individuals. 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. Read a statement of our values here.
