2009 Courses

Sculpture: Constructions and Accumulations

Lynn Aldrich

THIS OPTION CURRENTLY HAS 1 SPOT AVAILABLE.

This is a class about looking for metaphors in nature (landscape, the environment, biology and the natural sciences) and joining them to appropriate materials in order to create very physical works (constructed sculptures or wall works) that also allude to visual poetics or transcendence. We will look at art history, contemporary art and issues, and the human condition, in order to develop concepts that engage today’s viewers, yet are grounded in our faith. Students are asked to complete one work by week’s end for a friendly but rigorous class crit and exhibition (it will be fun and enlightening!) We will focus on developing “low-tech” methods of construction or accumulation, sharing ideas about fastening and hanging devices, adhesives, supports, and stacking or arranging forms. Each student is asked to bring a quantity of two or three interesting, strange, or beautiful materials, along with a small support and/or some small tools or devices for assembly. Please see the materials list for what to bring. There is a lab fee of $20, and you might find yourself wanting to purchase items at the local art store or hardware store in Santa Fe as your ideas develop. A class trip will be arranged for that purpose.

Seminar
Culture Making: Meaning in the Material World

Andy Crouch

THIS OPTION IS CURRENTLY IN WAITLIST STATUS.

The simplest definition of culture comes from writer and producer Ken Myers: what human beings make of the world, in both senses. Which is to say, culture is always meaningful and material, both sense and stuff. We will explore the "meaning-making" project of culture through encounters with five dimensions of the material world, ranging from the natural world to worlds sustained largely by human imagination: landscape (desert, mountains, sky, and sun), music (classical, folk, and popular, especially drawing on the black gospel tradition), architecture and urban design (buildings, streets, parks, and zoning decisions), visual art (through visits to selected exhibits in local galleries and museums), and writing (including pieces written in the course of the week by seminar participants). In these natural and cultural domains we will ask what meaning is being cultivated, what meaning is being neglected, and how Christians can find their voice and vision in the culture-making project. There is a $40 lab fee for this workshop. Participants will receive a copy of Culture Making: Recovering our Creative Calling, by Andy Crouch.

Poetry Workshop

B.H. Fairchild

THIS OPTION IS CURRENTLY IN WAITLIST STATUS.

This will be the usual sort of poetry workshop. Close attention will be given to the work of each participant, and constructive critical comments will be offered by both the workshop members and myself. I am especially interested in workshop commentary that not only will address specific problems but also will shed light on larger craft issues. Please submit 5 poems by regular mail so that they arrive at the Image office by July 1 AND email the same pages to jmullins@imagejournal.org. You will be sent your classmates’ manuscripts by email, to print, read in advance, and bring with you to the workshop.

Drawing from Life

Barry Moser

THIS OPTION IS CURRENTLY IN WAITLIST STATUS.

Drawing from life, both human and other forms, and copying the masters have been twin modes of learning how to draw (and how to draw better) for centuries. In this class we will do both. Using very simple and limited media—pencil, markers and the like—we will focus on life studies, from a simple egg to the full nude human form. In doing so we will study the figure work of the Old Masters (Rembrandt, Velasquez, etc.), tracing and copying their drawings as a means to finding our own way to understanding how to draw the figure—or the egg. No previous experience is necessary or required. There is a $20 lab fee for this workshop. Please see the  materials list for what to bring.

Poetry Workshop

Marilyn Nelson

THERE ARE A FEW SPOTS OPEN IN THIS WORKSHOP.

We will read and discuss your poems in depth during our workshop, offering constructive suggestions that we hope will lead to your re-visioning of the poem. We may consider a few poems by contemporary poets, seeking insight on matters of craft. Please submit 4-5 poems of short to moderate length by regular mail so that they arrive at the Image office by July 1 AND e-mail the same poems to jmullins@imagejournal.org. You will be sent all of the workshop manuscripts by e-mail to print and bring with you to the workshop. Additional handouts will be provided.

Songwriting Workshop

Over the Rhine

THIS OPTION IS CURRENTLY IN WAITLIST STATUS.

Musicians and music lovers of varying backgrounds and proficiency are welcome to participate in the songwriting workshop. (Participants are not obligated to sing or perform.) If you are interested in performing at the workshop, please submit a CD of three original songs, preferably recent works, to the Image office by June 1 to help the instructors prepare for class. Simple, sparse recordings are welcome. Workshop participants will be invited to perform acoustic versions of their material at the workshop (at the piano or with acoustic guitar). The rest of us will listen, discuss, and possibly help rework the songs presented. We will strive for camaraderie, laughter, and the occasional surprising insight. Along with discussions of the songs presented, we will listen to recordings of notable songwriters of the last 100 years, and explore a wide range of topics related to music and words, writing and creativity, recording and performing. We will also attempt to do some songwriting and collaborating throughout the course of the week. There is a $30 lab fee for this workshop.

Fiction Workshop

Valerie Sayers

THIS OPTION IS CURRENTLY IN WAITLIST STATUS.

Our workshop will examine the ways that voice and vision inform contemporary fiction focusing (implicitly or explicitly) on questions of faith. Every participant will submit one short story or novel excerpt in draft form (up to 6,000 words) for group discussion. Because we will focus our attention on the writer’s aims for the piece, and on supporting each other’s efforts to revise and reconsider, we’ll consider all the work submitted “in progress” rather than final product. We’ll all have a chance to describe our fictional influences and aspirations, and we’ll welcome a broad range of aesthetic approaches. So that we’ll have a common body of literature to discuss in the context of our own work, we will also discuss several published stories (details to come). Please submit your draft story or novel excerpt by regular mail so that it arrives at the Image office by July 1 AND e-mail the same pages as a Word attachment to jmullins@imagejournal.org. You will receive all the manuscripts by e-mail, to print out, read in advance, and bring with you to the workshop.

Plein Air Painting

Joel Sheesley

THERE ARE A FEW SPOTS OPEN IN THIS WORKSHOP.

For five days we will engage the terrain, its vegetation, light, and air as components of landscape painting. We’ll be painting outdoors using oil paint. All levels of training and experience are welcome. A French easel or some other suitable easel/paint-box combination, transportable and adapted for outside use, is required. There is a $35 dollar lab fee for this workshop. Please see the  materials list for what to bring.

Play & Screenwriting Workshop

Mark St. Germain

THERE ARE A FEW SPOTS OPEN IN THIS WORKSHOP.

This workshop challenges anyone interested in storytelling through dialogue: seasoned script-writers looking to enhance their process, the fiction or nonfiction writer wanting to explore a new medium, and performing artists wanting to write. The workshop is open to those with manuscripts in progress as well as beginners.

Whether you are a writer in the middle of a project, an artist waiting for inspiration, an actor wanting to explore, or someone who has always wanted to write, you already possess, deep inside you, everything you need to bring forth your unique voice. Through a series of exercises and by sharing our work with each other, our sessions will give you a roadmap to your subconscious and lead you to the wonder of the unconscious mind and the thrill of creation. We will explore the craft of writing and revision, from character development to dramatic action, style, stakes, and structure. You may bring a project in process or you can begin a new piece. Students working on film scripts are welcome; the class will focus on dialogue and dramatic story. Feedback is nonjudgmental, reflecting back to you what you have written, to demonstrate how to develop and deepen your work through your own choices, thus finding and maintaining your distinctive view and voice. If you are working on an existing play or screenplay, fully or partially written, or have a specific idea you’d like to explore, please submit these and a brief statement outlining your goals by regular mail to the Image office so that it arrives by July 1. Students will bring copies of their own manuscripts to hand out in class.

Spiritual Writing

Lauren F. Winner

THIS OPTION IS CURRENTLY IN WAITLIST STATUS.

St. Augustine, Martin Buber, Henri Nouwen, Anne Lamott: four different writers with different audiences, different voices, different goals. Still, all four can be said to participate in that capacious genre we call “spiritual writing.” In this class, we will work toward mastering technique, from dialogue to pacing, always keeping an eye on the larger questions of the genre—what is spiritual writing, what are its ethics and mores, what literary forms are best suited to telling spiritual tales, how does doing spiritual writing do work on our spiritual lives? Workshopping each other’s pieces is the center of this class, so please submit ten to twenty double-spaced pages by regular mail so that they arrive at the Image office by July 1 AND email the same pages to jmullins@imagejournal.org. (NB: There is, of course, plenty of spiritual poetry and fiction, but we’ll stick to nonfiction prose in this class.) You will be sent your classmates’ manuscripts by email, to print, read in advance, and bring with you to the workshop. We will also study samples of contemporary spiritual writing.