The Schedule
Friday
5:30-6:00 pm - Welcome. Come in and make yourself at home, and meet some new friends.
6:00-6:30 pm - Dinner. Tuck into some home-cooked food (Shepherd’s Pie!) and good conversation.
6:30-7:30 pm - Keynote Lecture. "Scratching the Creative Itch: Delight, Curiosity, and the Myth of the Renaissance Man" by Andrew Peterson
7:30-8:00 pm - Discussion and hang out.
Saturday
8:30-9:00 - Scones, clotted cream, and jam. Join us for a light breakfast, Rabbit Room-style.
9:00-10:00 - Lecture 2. "The Art of Attentiveness: Close Looking in an Age of Infinite Scrolling" by Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt
10:00-10:30 - Discussion. We’ll take a few minutes to debrief, discuss, and ask questions.
10:30 - Break
10:45-11:10 - Lecture 3. “A Life Spent Making Things: Joys (and Pitfalls) of Choosing to Make Art" by John Hendrix
11:10-11:40 - Discussion. We’ll take a few minutes to debrief, discuss, and ask questions.
11:40 - Lunch Break.
12:30-1:00 pm - Lecture 4. "Calling, Distraction, Hard Task, Sabbath: Wrestling with Vocation with the Help of Poets" by Sarah Crowley Chestnut
1:00-1:30 pm - Discussion. We’ll take a few minutes to debrief, discuss, and ask questions.
1:30 pm - Break
1:45-2:30 pm - Lecture 5. "The Wonder of Elfland: How G.K. Chesterton Helps Us Diagnose What Deadens and Enlivens Our Imagination" by Zack Eswine
2:30-3:00pm - Discussion. We’ll take a few minutes to debrief, discuss, and ask questions.
5:30-6:00 pm - Welcome. Come in and make yourself at home, and meet some new friends.
6:00-6:30 pm - Dinner. Tuck into some home-cooked food (Shepherd’s Pie!) and good conversation.
6:30-7:30 pm - Keynote Lecture. "Scratching the Creative Itch: Delight, Curiosity, and the Myth of the Renaissance Man" by Andrew Peterson
7:30-8:00 pm - Discussion and hang out.
Saturday
8:30-9:00 - Scones, clotted cream, and jam. Join us for a light breakfast, Rabbit Room-style.
9:00-10:00 - Lecture 2. "The Art of Attentiveness: Close Looking in an Age of Infinite Scrolling" by Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt
10:00-10:30 - Discussion. We’ll take a few minutes to debrief, discuss, and ask questions.
10:30 - Break
10:45-11:10 - Lecture 3. “A Life Spent Making Things: Joys (and Pitfalls) of Choosing to Make Art" by John Hendrix
11:10-11:40 - Discussion. We’ll take a few minutes to debrief, discuss, and ask questions.
11:40 - Lunch Break.
12:30-1:00 pm - Lecture 4. "Calling, Distraction, Hard Task, Sabbath: Wrestling with Vocation with the Help of Poets" by Sarah Crowley Chestnut
1:00-1:30 pm - Discussion. We’ll take a few minutes to debrief, discuss, and ask questions.
1:30 pm - Break
1:45-2:30 pm - Lecture 5. "The Wonder of Elfland: How G.K. Chesterton Helps Us Diagnose What Deadens and Enlivens Our Imagination" by Zack Eswine
2:30-3:00pm - Discussion. We’ll take a few minutes to debrief, discuss, and ask questions.
The Speakers
ANDREW PETERSON, KEYNOTE SPEAKER
SINGER/SONGWRITER, AUTHOR, AND RABBIT ROOM FOUNDER
"Scratching the Creative Itch: Delight, Curiosity, and the Myth of the Renaissance Man"
The idea of the Renaissance man (or woman) looms large in the imagination, as a sort of pinnacle of creative genius. While there's some truth to the classic understanding of the ideal, Andrew (who would like to make clear that while he is multidisciplinary, he's nowhere near a genius!) explores the pitfalls of the polymath and suggests a better path.
"Scratching the Creative Itch: Delight, Curiosity, and the Myth of the Renaissance Man"
The idea of the Renaissance man (or woman) looms large in the imagination, as a sort of pinnacle of creative genius. While there's some truth to the classic understanding of the ideal, Andrew (who would like to make clear that while he is multidisciplinary, he's nowhere near a genius!) explores the pitfalls of the polymath and suggests a better path.
JOHN HENDRIX
ILLUSTRATOR, AUTHOR, AND MFA DIRECTOR
"A Life Spent Making Things: Joys (and Pitfalls) of Choosing to Make Art"
Making art is hard. More often than not, it feels like good work does not want to exist. Not only must you fight for your art to come into being, but also, the creative work itself is often underappreciated and undervalued. There is no trope more annoying and lazy to aspiring makers than the phrase “starving artist.” But, if we’re honest, it touches a real nerve. What are the real rewards for choosing to make art? In this talk, John will discuss the notion of decoupling the act of artmaking from commerce and capitalism, the temptations of ambition, and the collision of both career and calling in us as art makers. Ultimately, our discussion will highlight and remind us of why we were created, and why making art (with or without doing so as a full-time career) is valuable to yourself, to your community, and to all of humanity.
"A Life Spent Making Things: Joys (and Pitfalls) of Choosing to Make Art"
Making art is hard. More often than not, it feels like good work does not want to exist. Not only must you fight for your art to come into being, but also, the creative work itself is often underappreciated and undervalued. There is no trope more annoying and lazy to aspiring makers than the phrase “starving artist.” But, if we’re honest, it touches a real nerve. What are the real rewards for choosing to make art? In this talk, John will discuss the notion of decoupling the act of artmaking from commerce and capitalism, the temptations of ambition, and the collision of both career and calling in us as art makers. Ultimately, our discussion will highlight and remind us of why we were created, and why making art (with or without doing so as a full-time career) is valuable to yourself, to your community, and to all of humanity.
SARAH CROWLEY CHESTNUT
POET AND L'ABRI WORKER
"Calling, Distraction, Hard Task, Sabbath: Wrestling with Vocation with the Help of Poets"
What is calling, and what does it mean to follow an artistic calling when it is not our primary occupation? How do we deal well with the many tensions a multi-vocational life creates? To more deeply reflect on a Christian understanding of vocation, Sarah will help us inhabit one of Wendell Berry's sabbath poems, reflecting on these four words: calling, distraction, hard task, sabbath.
"Calling, Distraction, Hard Task, Sabbath: Wrestling with Vocation with the Help of Poets"
What is calling, and what does it mean to follow an artistic calling when it is not our primary occupation? How do we deal well with the many tensions a multi-vocational life creates? To more deeply reflect on a Christian understanding of vocation, Sarah will help us inhabit one of Wendell Berry's sabbath poems, reflecting on these four words: calling, distraction, hard task, sabbath.
ELISSA YUKIKO WEICHBRODT
AUTHOR AND PROFESSOR OF ART HISTORY
"The Art of Attentiveness: Close Looking in an Age of Infinite Scrolling"
In our contemporary algorithm-driven and largely digital reality, we are catechized to make snap judgments with barely a glance. But art provides us with the opportunity to develop a countercultural practice of close and sustained looking. This, in turn, can help us engage more purposefully with our world and our neighbors in love. This talk introduces practices of close looking that can be used in both a museum context and our daily lives.
In our contemporary algorithm-driven and largely digital reality, we are catechized to make snap judgments with barely a glance. But art provides us with the opportunity to develop a countercultural practice of close and sustained looking. This, in turn, can help us engage more purposefully with our world and our neighbors in love. This talk introduces practices of close looking that can be used in both a museum context and our daily lives.
ZACH ESWINE
PASTOR, AUTHOR, AND SPEAKER
"The Wonder of Elfland: How G.K. Chesterton Helps Us Diagnose What Deadens and Enlivens Our Imagination"
Many of us long to behold invisible wonders. But what would it be like to behold visible wonders? The wonders right in front of us? Chesterton teaches us to see again and by seeing, to hum again with delight.
"The Wonder of Elfland: How G.K. Chesterton Helps Us Diagnose What Deadens and Enlivens Our Imagination"
Many of us long to behold invisible wonders. But what would it be like to behold visible wonders? The wonders right in front of us? Chesterton teaches us to see again and by seeing, to hum again with delight.