CLAT Step 5 - Spark Creativity

Question 1

Goal of Step 5: Spark Creativity

Answer 1

Our goal is to help you design an activity that will result in new artistry in a genre which, when performed in a community event, will likely produce particular kinds of effects in those who experience it and thereby provide a chance for the community to move toward a kingdom goal.

Question 2

Process of designing a sparking activity

Answer 2

1. Think about what a sparking activity is.
2. Identify opportunities to capitalize on and barriers to overcome.
3. Decide on the type of activity.
4. Design a new activity or modify an existing one.
5. Perform the activity.

Question 3

1. Think about what a sparking activity is - 4 main points

Answer 3

• A sparking activity is “anything anybody does that results in the creation of a new artistry.” (192)
  
  • can be simple/complex, large/small, one-time, one goal/multiple stages, multiple goals, etc.
• 6 Elements of a sparking activity to include in CAP:
  
  1. Title and summary
  2. Participants
  3. Check CAP for any info about the community or genre needed for the activity to succeed & fill in any gaps
  4. Resources needed
  5. Tasks to perform to complete the activity
  6. Big-picture analysis: 1) CLAT steps included in the activity; 2) CLAT steps already done outside the activity; 3) future plans for doing any missing CLAT steps
• Prepare to Draw on Familiar Methods of Composition from the Community
• Think carefully about the Meristem (artists need to be the most skilled, with a positive community reputation)

Question 4

Meristem

Answer 4

Think Carefully about the Meristem, the growth point in a plant comparable to the artist(s) who will produce new creative works; so they must be nourished, protected

• the community should find someone with good artistic skills (respected)
• but also respected socially (character, reputation)
• Considerations about commissioning a non-Christian: Neeley (1997), Wedekind (1975)

Question 5

2. Identify Opportunities to Maximize and Barriers to Overcome

Answer 5

Discuss opportunities, barriers (using PMEC Force Field Analysis tool), and then ask:

• What might help us spark a rich flowering of new works in this genre? How could we draw on these opportunities when designing a sparking activity?
• What might stop us from achieving this flowering? How could we overcome these barriers when designing a sparking activity?

Put results in the CAP

Question 6

3. Decide on Type of Sparking Activity (list of 7):

Answer 6

1. commissioning
2. workshops
3. showcase events (festivals, concerts, etc.)
4. mentoring
5. apprenticeship
6. publications
7. creators’ clubs

Question 7

Commissioning (def)

Answer 7

Commissioning: to charge an artist or group of artists with the task of creating a new instance of an artistic genre for an agreed-upon purpose.

• consider commissioning in almost all circumstances
• often the most direct way to spark creativity because it requires as few as two people in dialogue
• consider compensation, how much influence the artist has in the end

Question 8

Workshops (def)

Answer 8

Short events that gather people together to make progress on a given task (arts workshop is basically the CLAT cycle in abbreviated form)

Question 9

Workshops - 5 things to remember

Answer 9

• Pray for long-term impact
• People to invite:
  
  • community leaders/gatekeepers
  • artistic experts
  • content experts
• Outcomes (among others): written descriptions of community genres; at least one new local artistic work or recording; written plans for sustained creativity in response to community needs
• Methodologies: use high engagement, participatory approaches like Learning that Lasts
• Elements: promote group cohesion, establish theological grounding, encourage spiritual transformation & inspiration, do 7 CLAT steps

Question 10

Showcase Events (def & 1 source)

Answer 10

Festivals/contests that highlight creativity in local artistic genres (look for existing events, or introduce new ones)

• e.g., Barz (2003) using kwaya contests, Tanzania, to highlight creativity

Question 11

Showcase Events 5-phase process

Answer 11

1. Imagine/plan (ask lots of questions about what types of arts, what kind of budget, competition elements, recording/ documentation….)
2. Promote/network
3. Compose/prepare: will artists have time and resources to create and practice their performance?
4. Run the event
5. Evaluate/plan: relate to 7 CLAT steps and discuss possibility of future events

Question 12

Mentoring (def)

Answer 12

Transmitting artistic tradition through long-term relationships and reciprocal learning!

Question 13

Apprenticeship (def)

Answer 13

Experts transfer their skills to other community members; successfully draws on familiar educational forms, sustainable schedules, and adequate time to reach a level of competency

Question 14

Publications

Answer 14

Increases long-term success of ideas/artistry:

• consider: target audience; editors; system for distribution; system for ongoing publication; feedback tools for improvement
  
  • e.g., Hodges (2007)—created an advisory panel and publication around Nada Dasar, the “central tone of melody and harmony,” like Jesus Christ. It was a forum to discuss musical issues in the church

Question 15

Creators’ Clubs (source)

Answer 15

King (1999): coined term new song fellowship, akin to sub-Saharan African groups that practice each week to improve songs of certain genres—these compose new Scripture songs

Question 16

Creators’ Clubs - 3 things to consider

Answer 16

• Meeting places and times
• Group goals and expectations for members
• If a Christian group, essential to integrate spiritual formation

Question 17

4. Design a new/modify an existing activity (organized according to kingdom goals) – 3 Big Picture analysis

Answer 17

Refer often to the Big-picture analysis:

• CLAT steps included in activity
• CLAT steps already taken (outside of the event itself)
• Plans to address missing CLAT steps in the future

Question 18

6 Sparking/Kingdom Goal Categories

Answer 18

• Identity/sustainability
  
  • valuing identity
  • teaching children
  • using media
• Shalom
  
  • healing
  • reconciliation
  • rest/play
• Justice
  
  • social justice
  • education
  • literacy
  • economic opportunity
• Scripture
  
  • translated
  • oral
• Church life
  
  • corporate worship
  • study/remember Scripture
  • Christian rites
  • witness
• Personal spiritual life
  
  • prayer/meditation
  • Bible study
  • spiritual formation
  • applying Scripture

Question 19

Identity and Sustainability – def

Answer 19

Promote positive cultural identity through 1) cultural celebrations; 2) documenting; 3) publishing

Question 20

Identity and Sustainability - 6 Sparking Activities & 2 sources

Answer 20

1. [valuing identity] encourage them by filling in gaps in CAP from Step 1, Meet the Community
2. [valuing identity] organize festival
3. [valuing identity] commission new work in older genre for existing showcase event
4. [using media] develop multimedia collections of local arts (increases status/visibility, available for future transmission)
   
   1. Seeger & Chaudhuri (2004)
5. [using media] publish recordings and research in various form and contexts (website, booklet, academic article)
6. [teaching children] identify/mend ruptures in transmission from older to younger people
   
   • Saurman and Saurman (2004)

Question 21

Shalom - (3) Sparking Activities & 5 sources

Answer 21

• [healing] trauma healing workshop
  
  • Hill, Hill, Bagge, & Miersma (2016)
  • Hill & Hill (2012)
  • traumahealinginstitute.org (2012)
• [healing] commission local artists to address community health problems
  
  • Barz (2006)
  • [[Watters & Hill (2012)]]
• [rest/play] special event to play traditional games [reconciliation] “alternatives to violence” workshop

Question 22

Justice – (7) Sparking Activities & 3 sources

Answer 22

• [social justice] hold workshops that allow marginalized people to be heard—look for genres with identity/power, [[cf. again]]
• [education/literacy] commission an alphabet song
• [education/literacy] commission local visual art for books/literacy materials
• [education/literacy] promote literacy through local arts presentations
• [education/literacy] integrate local arts into methods for teaching reading
  
  • [[Saurman (1993)—music combined with lyrics is the most effective verbal tool for accurately retaining/recalling information]]
• [education/literacy] turn orature into literature
  
  • [[Wendell (1982)—4 levels of materials, based on closeness of cultural background/experiences]]
• [education] integrate arts into educational curricula
  
  • Saurman (2010): find ways to integrate traditional knowledge and materials into various subjects (e.g., cultural studies, reading, writing, science, math)

Question 23

Scripture - Sparking Activities (def & 2 activities)

Answer 23

• use of arts in translation can:
  
  • (1) increase understanding types of texts (songs, stories, poems, proverbs)
  • (2) help in producing oral translations/versions of the Bible
• Scripture translation workshop
• Commission an oral narrative performance of Scripture

Question 24

Church Life - (9) Sparking Activities & 2 sources

Answer 24

• hold a corporate worship workshop
  
  • Krabill (2013)—use especially “foundations” section
• help preachers and teachers incorporate more local arts into what they do (bring special attention to art forms with significant verbal content)
• hold an artistic genre workshop—largely ignores Steps 1, 2, & 7, and just doing it all together on the spot, as a group, condensed CLAT process
• hold a song (or other genre) composition workshop on worldview themes—specifically addressing the ways the Bible is challenging current cultural views
• organize an all arts celebration, showcasing gifts of artists within the Christian community (don’t forget full group, audience participation activities such as improvised dramas with spect-actors, sing-alongs, dancing, and traditional dress)
• study the Bible in more than one form as a group—print Scripture, song, poetry, drama, recordings
  
  • Hill & Hill (2010)
• improve a current church ceremony, ritual, or practice
• hold a contest for new ways to memorize Scripture
  
  • Hill & Hill (2010)
• commission arts for community events—Scriptural content performed at a familiar community event [thinking of Brian’s example of commissioning songs from the parable of the house built on the rock for his house dedication]

Question 25

Personal Spiritual Life - (3) Sparking Activities & 2 sources

Answer 25

* encourage Christians to commune with God through multiple arts (arts prayer walk/retreat) * mentor someone in integrating long church traditions of arts into their relationship with God * **Calhoun (2007)** * **Tickle (2007)** * commission a verbal art form of resolve that will help people apply Scriptural truths to their lives (e.g., African-American “I Am Determined to Walk with Jesus”)

Question 26

6. Perform the activity and describe the results

Answer 26

Do what you planned. Hold your plans lightly. Listen to God. Learn from mistakes. Enjoy the process. Describe what happened in the Community Arts Profile. Enough said.