Missions statement for Renewal arts:
- Explore the arts as a catalyst for spiritual renewal.
- Enable individuals and society to experience art’s transforming power.
- Connect artists through a network of those who share this vision.
- Encourage work of artistic excellence.
The road to renewal
Decades ago Frank Buchman articulated a powerful idea. He anticipated ‘economic change, social change, national change, international change – all based on personal change’.
Buchman saw a role for artists as the bearers of the banner of spiritual regeneration in a world where political priorities had been misplaced and personal change was an untried commodity.
The gifts and skills of artists of all disciplines were called upon to underline the message of personal transformation at conferences and elsewhere: sometimes quietly in the background, sometimes with considerable fanfare. Painters, composers, actors, musicians and artists of every discipline gave backbone and credibility to ideas that might otherwise have been considered fanciful, impractical or irrelevant.
Art that touches the soul
In August 1997 at the Conference on Creativity in Switzerland, British author, and playwright Hugh Williams observed, ‘True art goes beyond ideas, argument, debate and propaganda to “thoughts that are too deep for tears” (Wordsworth). But it is at this level that real change occurs.’ At an arts meeting in Stockholm in 1998 Gunnar Söderlund put it thus: ‘If art is that which touches the soul then art is the most essential element for the future.’
Focussing primarily on the summer conferences at Caux, Switzerland, the arts team noted that it was ‘hard to imagine how Caux’s opportunities for reconciliation might be fully recognised’ without the ‘vibrant artistic presence’ that had so often complemented the discussions and lectures. Now, meeting frequently on both sides of the Atlantic, the team developed a specific plan of action: ‘To provide professional opportunities for artists to share their God-given gifts with others in the context of Caux’. In the year 2000, this plan progressed to the point that a conference dedicated to the arts was called, welcoming artists and those who simply cared to immerse themselves in artistic discovery. Some 300 men and women from across the world arrived in Caux at the end of July 2000 to enjoy, discuss and meditate on “The Arts in Perspective”.
The conference mission statement asserted that the arts ‘can be a catalyst for change, a grace, a gift, a responsibility.’ The conference provided an opportunity for participants ‘to share their experiences with arts ‘transforming power, voice deeply held beliefs and consider essential questions about the role that the arts play in our lives’.
It became clear that “The Arts in Perspective” conference was only a beginning: the birth of an arts idea that from that point forward would be known as Renewal Arts. Art of the highest calibre can refresh the mind and soul and can join, in a common spiritual experience, individuals who stand on opposing sides of a conflict. ‘Meetings and discussions are certainly vital to the resolution of world issues and the reconciliation of history, but there comes a time after much discussion when the soul looks beyond words in its struggle to heal.’
