The little child hauls an elephant;
The married lady and the man:
Honor and courage;
The Knight nourishes the sick.
One's life (especially a narcissistic artist) should be dedicated to the service of others. How else can we learn about our common needs. Once again, the Mockingbird has helped me interface with others when I need to describe my work in another context. Krishna/Lion helps me describe my work in a Jungian context but, when I worked with court-ordered Native American Youths at the Inter-Mountain Youth Center, I had to describe the workshos in a Behavioralist context. Only the mockingbird could handle that:
The workshops consist of self-reinforcing activities which should reduce stress through the catharsis of artistic expression.
Many appropriate behaviors that may apply to other situations are given positive reinforcement during the workshops.
They include:
Participation -
Students will participate in ways determined by the art therapist voluntarily.
Students will encourage and support each other for participating.
Students will take the activities seriously while still having fun.
Students will respect the art therapist.
Students will contribute to the group.
Exploration -
Students will be stimulated to explore new ways to experience sound.
Students will explore new ways to focus their attention.
Students will learn more about themselves as individuals while contributing to the group.
Students will learn new ways to experience art.
Students will apply new ideas to other explorations.
Self-Esteem - Students will develop better self-esteem by contributing to the production of quality art that is on the cutting edge of post modern art.
It is recommended that these goals be measured during the activities outside these workshops in order to evaluate the students general progress and the workshop's effectiveness as therapy. It is also recommended that the workshops themselves be as free as possible from the process of evaluation so that the students participating in the workshops may not feel the stress caused by being judged. Any undue pressure for the students to perform in a particular way may reduce the value of the workshops in regards to the reduction of stress as well as the self-reinforcing qualities of the workshops.
Although many appropriate behaviors will be practiced by the students and reinforced by the therapist, the workshops should be seen by the students as recreation and fun. A non-judgemental environment is essential, not only for the workshop's effectiveness, but also as a major quality of the very pluralist post modern performance that is being presented to the students. This art form follows the tradition of John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, etc.
Hopefully, the students will be trained to participate in a professional performance entitled, The Santa Fe Novena Project, occurring on the Institute for American Indian Arts/College of Santa Fe campus. If the students are allowed to participate, the experience should have a mojor effect on how the students perceive themselves especially in the context of the local artistic community.