The Space of Spirituality in Art Ed

Welcome to our blog site for discussions on issues related to spirituality in art education. As the result of our inaugural Caucus meeting at The New York City Convention, this blog serves as an important tool to flesh out ideas, concerns and issues.

An artist and former high school art teacher, the spirit has nver been separated from work and life. Yet, four years ago while a doctoral student, I contemplated leaving the field of art education altogether. During my Master's degree at a research one institution, I felt as if I no longer fit... I was asking research questions that seemed to surpass the boundaries of the contemporary articles in our field which placed emphasis upon critical/social theory and visual culture. While these issues are relevant and should inform our perceptions, I felt as if the role of experience, arts based inquiry, and the role of art practice itself, had been forgotten. In my own dissertation, I illuminate the many ways that art functions for personal and social transformation. Yet, these spaces merge the object and the subject into a complex dance deeply rooted in the human factor. It is a third space that gives voice to the essentials of developing an inner life and dialogue that connects us to awakened consciousness, identity, wholeness, and interdependence.
I have had the priviledge of working as a teaching assistant at the Japan House, a cultural center dedicated to teaching "peace through a bowl of tea". As part of the Zen Aesthetics we discuss, MA is a very important concept used to discuss the quality of an energetic, pregnant, and life-filled space necessary within all traditional art forms.
Robert Pilgrim of Chanoyu Magazine, however, also speaks of this MA Space as a powerful cultural paradigm. Shown here is an image of the Kanji Character of MA, which I painted. It reflects the symbol of a gate with the symbol of the sun/moon inside. What this picture shows is powerful. Imagine our lives lived with the gates of our perception, always aware and open to the potential of of light within others. How would our relationships, and our communities change? The concept of MA represents the potentials for issues of spirituality, ethics, and process to be discussed, interpreted, and shared without our practices as artists, researchers, and teachers.