Workshop
Inspired Expression w/ Holly Near
Saturday February 21, 2009
$10 - 2:30pm
For advance tickets click here. (30 people limit)
How often have you heard the beginning of a good idea but it was too boring to stick around for the conclusion? Have you ever faded out on a passionate speaker who was so rhetorical you found yourself drifting to your shopping list? Have you tried to explain how you feel about a controversial subject and become inarticulate? Discovering what we believe at any given moment and then expressing the ideas through our discipline of choice is the complex task of social change artists and activists.
Artists can only write the song that they have in their heart and in their experience and then hope that it moves someone. However, great song writing does not have to be left to chance. There is craft. There is purpose. There is clarifying the effect one wants to have on the listener. There is the use of humor and suspense and history. There is the arduous task of finding poetic image to perfectly replace rhetorical.
At best we inspire and at worst we bore. Whether we write songs or letters to the editor or teach or talk to folks in the neighborhood, there is craft to telling a story that invites people to lean in with an open mind. Creative communication invites community to its highest potential. In this workshop Holly Near will take the group on that delightful journey from flat idea to inspirational expression. Like athletes, activists can practice to improve our game.
The workshop is open to writers, activists, artists, composers, and lyricists who focus on the arduous task of finding poetic image to perfectly replace rhetoric. You may bring a song or piece that you are currently working on to get feedback. Bring pen, paper, and/or laptop. Workshop will be 2-3 hours, depending on number of participants. Advanced registration is encouraged. There is a limit of 30 people.
