The 2011 Credere Committee is pleased to announce the following grant recipients:
ART & ANTHROPOSOPHY
An Outdoor Play Space in Palestine for Children and Their Community - Yael Hameiri
Awarded $1,200
Born and raised in Israel, Yael moved to New York City when she was 20 to find her own way in the arts, and through architecture to carve a new path of involvement inspired by what she saw and learned growing up in Israel. Her hope has been to develop work that is socially dedicated and responsible, as well as creatively significant, both within and beyond Anthroposophical communities; to make a contribution in the understanding of how spaces are thought of, created, and used. The evolution of the project goes back to a research and visual reading of spaces in the Gaza Strip, through which she developed a vision for a new way of thinking about space.
The project is an artistic, educational, urban and architectural research into the possibilities of space for play in relation to child development in general and in areas of trauma, specifically. An exhibition of the project will open on September 15th, 2012 at the Anthroposophical Society Center Point Gallery in New York City. The exhibition will be a platform for communication around issues of space and education, as well as the means to develop a meaningful design prototype, and hopefully open up dialogue about play, and space in relation to play. This grant is intended to contribute to the costs of creating the architectural prototype model for the exhibition. It will serve as an initial concrete step for the actual physical play space to be created at a later phase of her overall project, which already has a designated place and some foundation sponsorship.
Eurythmy to a Wider Audience - Virginia Hermann
Awarded $1,200
Virginia Hermann, a recent graduate of the international ‘Impulse’ eurythmy training and member of the Austin Eurythmy Ensemble, is very passionate about bringing eurythmy to wider public audiences and in particular to the young people. She applied for a grant to create a eurythmy performance with 2 of her colleagues from the Austin Ensemble, fellow musicians and speech artists, in conjunction with workshops that will allow especially the youth to deepen the experiences gained from the performance.
Virginia is a very accomplished artist and her vision is best expressed in her own words: “I am hoping that we will be able to begin building relationships with the community of schools and youth groups, bringing awareness and sparking interest in the art of eurythmy and fostering dialogue about its place in the arts and its paradigm of social renewal of culture at large… Furthermore, it is very important that young children and students be exposed to this kind of artistic work as a countering force to the detrimental effect of our society and the hardening and isolating aspects of a public education stripped of many artistic outlets and unconcerned with spiritual development.”
The Guardian of the Threshold - Barbara Renold
Awarded $500
In the summer of 2012, the Threefold Mystery Drama Group will continue their work with the Mystery Dramas, bringing the third play, “The Guardian of the Threshold” to performance within a 4-day conference from July 18 to 22, 2012 in Spring Valley, NY with a 6-week rehearsal period leading up to the conference. This follows the work done in 2009 on the first drama, “The Portal of Initiation” and the work in 2011 on the second drama, “The Soul’s Probation.” There will be some professionals and some amateurs involved in the production. About 25 to 30 actors are involved in each production.
To make the performances and conferences accessible to all, everyone who asks is allowed to join the conference and performances at whatever price they themselves set. This makes it possible for many young people and retirees to attend.
SOCIAL CHANGE & ANTHROPOSOPHY
The Children’s reCreation and Education Project - Juliana Vieira Costa
Awarded $1,000
In March 2011, Juliana Vieira Costa created the Children’s reCREATION and Education Project, through the Aramitan Association in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Twice a week, 15 children from the surrounding area of Sao Paolo come to Aramitan to participate in drawing, music, handcrafts, games, theater, and reading, all inspired by Waldorf pedagogy. The Project also offers a safe space, healthy food, and showers for children who would otherwise go without these basic needs.
The community has expressed a wish for the project to take place five days a week, but currently funding falls short. Juliana is volunteering her time, working on weekends to support the Project, and continuing her training in Waldorf pedagogy. Her work with the project, she says, “is based on the respect and on the true understanding of an individual’s special destiny, using this understanding as a basis for learning how best to help the person on his or her path through life. Aramitan’s aim is to offer a path of transformation of the individual, and therefore society, through promoting love of the human being and providing opportunities through education, culture, and heath for material, social, and spiritual development, stimulating everyone involved to act consciously with freedom and with love.”
Semi – Muti (Seminars – Work Camps) - Tatiana Andrade
Awarded $1,000
Three years ago, Tatiane Andrade applied to the Credere Fund and became one of the Fund’s first grant recipients. This year, the Fund is honored and inspired to support her as she continues her work with youth. She will organize and facilitate a conference involving about forty young people ages 16 to 28, that will take place in early 2012. In her words, “It is a support conference for youth to explore and understand the pictures of identity and globalization, and to develop skill to make a positive contribution to today’s society…As thinking, feeling and willing should be developed equally, we will work with science, arts, economics and practical pictures to encourage clear thinking and feeling to act responsibly, thereby promoting the development of the individual as well as the community.”Mornings will be devoted to lectures and discussion, afternoons to working in the community, and evenings to artistic and social activities.
Tatiane is president of the Aramitan Association, a socio-cultural development center in Sao Paolo, Brazil that engages both local and international youth in practical activities and study with the aim of awakening social consciousness and capacities to affect social renewal.
Common Hands Farm Project – Dan McManus and Tess Parker
Awarded $600
Common Hands Farm Project, like Think OutWord, operates through a peer-led learning model that will enable students, first and foremost, to learn about sustainable farming practices and participate in the successful cultivation of vegetables. The farm will consist of a core team of 3 to 4 individuals. The core team will host a group of 4 to 5 participants over the course of a three-month learning program. Garden work is the base of the program, just as meditation is foundational to many spiritual practices. Beyond daily farm tasks, they will host classroom time, group discussions and assigned reading, film showings, as well as lectures/workshops led by guest teachers and mentors.
The foundation of their program and curriculum mimics both social threefolding and permaculture principles. These are: Rights and Land Care, Culture and Self-Care, Economy and People Care. Through this progression of topics and course-learning, participants will begin to come to an understanding of their role as individuals in relation to both the earth that sustains them and the community that supports them. Through skill-share, engaged listening, and peer facilitated sessions, individuals will come to understand how their unique knowledge base contributes to the group. This kind of project will advance the creativity and concentrated effort required by youth today to begin transforming old and worn out methods of establishing and sustaining our communities, as well as encourage authentic and cooperative working relationships among individuals.
Threefold Columbia - Travis Henry
Awarded $300
Travis Henry of Philmont, NY was awarded this gift in support of his work to achieve “one full-blown Threefold Societal Organism in [his] lifetime”. Born in Princeton, West Virginia,Travis first heard of anthroposophy at 19 years of age. He became interested in Societal Threefolding at a Heartbeet Conference in Vermont when “one of the presenters voiced the idea of Vermont seceding as a Threefold State.”
Since then, Travis has researched and designed three flags for every country in the world – an Economic flag, a Political flag, and a Cultural flag – to help people concretely picture how the Threefold future would approach the present. Travis will use this funding to further develop his ideas and methods for pursuing his goal of realizing a healthy, threefold social organism.
GOETHEAN PHENOMENOLOGY
No grants were awarded in this category this year.