Inspiration through art

Camphill Kimberton is a place full of wonderful experiences provided through the creative arts. Eurythmy, fiber arts, pottery, music, painting and drawing are nurturing, therapeutic activities that help all of us thrive. Through these therapies and workshops, we find dignity and self worth to grow and develop inner personal strengths, and remain inspired as well as be inspiring to others.

THERAPIES
Eurythmy

Eurythmy is an art of expressive movement that can be described as visible speech and music. In a Eurythmy session, poems are often recited by the Eurythmist as participants move to the words. For example, there are patterns of movements with a question, followed by a different pattern of movements with an answer. “After repeated experience,” says Eurythmist Grace Ann, “the speaking becomes associated with movement and then the words come more easily.”

Recently, Gabrielle began precisely reciting a Goethe poem she was familiar with as she began to move through the poem:

Wouldst thou truly study nature?
Seek the whole in every feature?
Naughts within, naughts without,
What is in, will out.
Haste thou then to learn in season,
Her plain published mystic reason.

Music
In music therapy, villagers work with instruments that are suited to their needs and abilities and are encouraged to compose their own pieces. The therapists vary tone, intervals, rhythms, mirrored tone sequences, and movement supported sound patterns. Group therapies in workshops are offered to support language development, auditory focus, social interaction, manual dexterity and muscle tone. “Sessions allow people to gain more self-confidence and self-respect,” says Music Therapist Kerry Lee, “and aid the individual in learning how to generally listen better.”

Art
Painting and drawing in art therapy allow villagers to work with color, form, light and darkness, and the imagination. Watercolor helps with movement and flow, enhancing inner flexibility. Drawing is helpful to strengthen boundaries and develop observation and discernment skills, bringing clarity and focus to thoughts, words, and actions. The activity allows for different aspects of self-expression, depending on the person and his or her needs in the moment. “It can help with focus, manual dexterity and fine motor movement,” says Mimi, art therapist, “or it can be relaxing and fun, or it can be an emotional outlet where color and content are important.”

WORKSHOPS
Fiber Arts/Weavery

Working with the wool from local sheep, villagers can experience the fiber arts process from beginning to end: wool is washed, carded, dyed with plants, hand-spun and knit or woven into a variety of articles that are sold to the public. Villagers find that their work in Fiber Arts and the Weavery brings pride and accomplishment, especially when they can teach others. Natural fibers, colors, and textures all have therapeutic qualities and villagers often work with the fiber and colors that they are drawn to. Charlene, who worked with livestock for many years, continues to feel a connection to the land by working with hand spun sheep wool to make her rugs on the loom.

Pottery
Not only does this workshop provide a venue for creating beautiful tableware, vases and sculptures, the pottery has been well-received at craft fairs throughout the region and items are available for sale in our
Craft Shop.

Music and Orchestra
In Music Workshop a group of eight to ten villagers dedicate two afternoons a week to work on their instrumental and musical skills. Now in its fifth year, most members have been part of the group from the beginning and perform regularly for various occasions in the community.

Villagers have learned to play percussion, wind and string instruments, and in that process, have refined their technical skills to do justice to the demands of the differing instrument groups. They have explored the musical possibilities of the instruments in relation to high and low pitch, fast and slow movement, soft and strong dynamics, and short and long values. They are learning to conduct all these various instruments and musical expressions, and are practicing imagination, flexibility, and assertiveness in the process. The group is learning seasonal songs to remember as each season comes around again.

Music workshop overlaps with orchestra workshop once rehearsals for the annual spring musical are underway. Additional rehearsals for orchestra take place outside of the music workshop schedule. Veronika, who leads the workshops, says, “Music opens doors for some people, and the instrument becomes the tool to open the door more.”

The Kimberton Hills orchestra is a dynamic and dedicated group. They meet once a week, for one hour after work, and play mostly hand bells, bordun lyres and drums. The orchestra performs for village events and festivals. The highlights were two appearances in New York for the Camphill Foundation’s triennial benefit concerts.


Ever since Mary learned a song by heart over a year and a half ago, she continues to demonstrate growth in her musical abilities and otherwise. Before then, she could read the notes and play the corresponding fingering, but she couldn’t “hear” herself, or make the connection to the notes and an actual melody. Now, since learning a song by memory, she can play in time, and she even occasionally corrects herself, which means that she is paying attention to the sound differently, and processing the music more deeply.

Dance

While dancing is not a formal therapy or workshop, a volunteer couple has been offering Sunday ballroom dancing sessions in Rose Hall. There are also folk and contra dances from time to time, as well as other parties and celebrations. Dance offers a joyous time of self-expression in community.

PERFORMANCE
Many of the arts also provide the added benefit of performance and community involvement. Participation is much more inspiring in the company of friends.

The Fiber Arts group regularly goes to craft fairs, farmer’s markets and festivals throughout the year providing a demonstration of wool spinning and showcasing crafts. Villagers take delight in selling their goods there and at our Craft Shop, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. When customers place custom orders for a specific item, villagers have an extra sense of accomplishment and purpose.

Paintings are displayed in public spaces throughout the Village and are also used to create notecards. Art work is often framed and given as gifts for special award recipients.

Orchestra and theatre performances are the highpoints for those who choose to perform publicly. “Of course, the best part is performance time,” Veronika says, “when the results of all the long and hard work are shared with an audience. Every audience plays a very important role, because a good audience will enable the performer to grow beyond what has been achieved during practice time. A mutual giving and receiving takes place between audience and performer, and only then, when it is shared in this way, is the music or play complete and whole.”

“There is magic in stage performance and participants are quite willing to attempt the seemingly impossible,” Veronika continues. “Every creative group process gains its own momentum, carrying each member as if on wings, and challenging each to give his or her very best.”

Read the entire Spring Newsletter and 2011 Annual Report, where this article is taken from, by clicking here.

Camphill Kimberton hosts Ursinus Faculty Exhibition: February 20-April 9

A gallery opening featuring art by Ursinus College faculty will be held Monday, February 20 from 6-8 p.m. in the Wellspring Gallery at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills.  

This group exhibition consists of work by the Ursinus College Fine Arts faculty, including Robert Waddington, Sarah Kaufman, Roger Chavez, Jackie Brown, and Pedro Barbeito.  The works on display represent the variety of media, approaches and conceptual frameworks that this exceptional faculty brings to the learning experience at Ursinus. The exhibition also attests to the College’s ongoing engagement and dialogue with the local community. 

The exhibition will run from Februrary 20 until April 9, 2012. 

  

For more information about the exhibited works please contact Mimi Coleman at mimi@camphillkimberton.orgor 610-935-0300, ext. 17.

Camphill Village Kimberton Hills is located at 1601 Pughtown Road, Kimberton, Pa. The Wellspring Gallery is located in the Kepler Building.

About the artists:

Mr. Waddington is currently represented by the Rodger Lapelle Gallery in Philadelphia. His work is based in Pop Art Culture and Photorealism. He has shown his work extensively and is in many corporate and private collections. Mr. Waddington is an in-depth historian and scholar of ancient manuscripts and treatises on painting techniques and materials. He, in collaboration with another author, is writing the definitive book of portrait painting, titled “The Definitive Book of Portrait Painting”.

–Robert Waddington



"My work is an inherently human investigation. I visit people in their homes and ask them to try to show me the world that they inhabit when they are alone. The resulting photographs chase glimpses of this world and explore the relationships among the subjects, their bodies, and their spaces. They reveal the possibility for a quiet intensity within the everyday by prolonging reflective silence as it seeps into the environment."

 –Sarah Kaufman


"Fueled by quotidian reality, there are psychological, residual outcomes in the works: auras of mortality, timelessness, and identity. My painting process involves a significant amount of adding and subtracting of painterly forms, resulting in forms overlaying preceding forms, increasingly concealing the real appearances of the subject matter. In the process, my color palette results in the use of muted colors and tonal grays, arriving from the use of the prismatic hues as these afford more vibrant and colorful grays and allow for subtle changes in color and temperature in the paintings."

–Roger Chavez



"At the core of my work is an interest in biological processes and the transformative potential that is possible through adaptation and mutation. I aim for the works to be electrically charged, conveying a feverish sense of immediacy and through the use of viscous porous surfaces I attempt to provide a sense that the work is alive. Brain Sprouts are offshoots from the recent series of installations collectively titled Brain Fruit, which stem from an interest in neuroscience, specifically the elastic potential of the mind. I hope for the works to suggest an active meshwork of synaptic exchange where the green rods and orange linear elements serve as active pathways, implying circuitry and the continual pulsing of inputs and outputs."

 –Jackie Brown



"The works included in this exhibit are from a 2005 series of paintings and drawings that examine how digital imaging can be used to inform the aesthetic and formal makeup of cubist painting. I began this project by making multiple drawings of family and friends in a style similar to that of Picasso. These were then scanned, manipulated with 2-D and 3-D programs and then translated into paint on canvas."

–Pedro Barbeito

Camphill Cafe Art Opening, Saturday, June 18 at 4 p.m.

On Saturday, June 18 at 4 p.m., the Camphill Café will host an art opening featuring the work of Kai Pedersen. Kai went to the Kimberton Waldorf School and graduated from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. 

Food and drink will be available for purchase on Saturday evening. 

Learn more about the artist at http://www.kaipedersen.com/. 

Thank you to Casa de Venezuela and The Hill School for an amazing benefit concert!

Many, many thanks to those who attended and participated in our Spring Benefit Concert on March 21. 

Beautiful music, dancing and artwork filled Rose Hall as we raised money for both Camphill Kimberton and Veninos - Venezuelan Children In Need.   The concert featured Venezuelan folk music performed by the popular Casa De Venezuela Music Ensemble, accompanied by their vivacious dance group.  The talented a cappella groups the Hilltones and the Hilltrebles from The Hill School, Pottstown, also presented a selection of folk music from around the world.

The collaboration of these four groups was magnificent!

"Musical heritage is something that exists in every civilization on the planet," said Stephen Longenecker, Oaklawn-Tuttle Chair of Vocal Music at The Hill School. "Therefore, it can act as a unifying force between cultures, encouraging us to focus on shared aesthetics and emotions rather than physical or political differences.  We hope that you will be reminded that music knows no boundaries of race, gender, class, or ability, and that through music, we can better understand what it is to be a part of a 'common humanity.'" 

During the concert, there was an exhibit of Venezuelan-inspired paintings by local artist, Mary Jo Kimball Hopton. Her paintings are available to view at http://www.veninos.org/, and on Facebook during March 2010. Additionally, Chester County scenes captured in painting by Tim Swartz, in prints by Anne Keen, and in photos by Red Hammer were on display and available for purchase.

We look forward to working together next year on a follow-up concert.  Stay tuned for details! 

Special thanks to the following people for their efforts:  Jane Blake, Rebecca Blake, Emilio Buitrago, Mimi Coleman, Erin Graver, Stephen Longnecker, Cathy Skitko, Rachel Martin Swartz.  Thank you to the following stores for their donations for the artists' reception: Acme, Giant, Kimberton Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Los Mariachis.

Benefit Concert featuring Casa de Venezuela and Hill School A Cappella Groups

Join us Sunday, March 21 when Veninos, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of street and shanty town children in urban Venezuela, and Camphill Village Kimberton Hills join hands and present a benefit concert in Rose Hall at 2 p.m.

Performing will be Casa de Venezuela Music Ensemble (pictured at left) and Dance Troupe and the a cappella groups, Hilltones and Hilltrebles, from The Hill School, Pottstown (pictured below).

On display that afternoon will be an exhibit of Venezuelan-inspired paintings by local artist, Mary Jo Kimball Hopton. Her paintings will be available to view at www.veninos.org, and on Facebook during March 2010. Additionally, Chester County scenes captured in painting by Tim Swartz, in prints by Anne Keen, and in photos by Red Hamer will be on display and also available for purchase.

A ticketed reception will follow the concert offering a chance to meet the musicians and enjoy Latin American refreshments. Tickets: $10 for students and senior citizens, $15 for general admission and $25 for concert and reception. All proceeds will be split between the two charities, Veninos and Camphill Kimberton.

For advance tickets, call 610-935-0330, ext 12 or e-mail bernadette@camphillkimberton.org.

For more information, visit:

Veninos – Venezuelan Children In Need: http://www.veninos.org/
Casa de Venezuela: http://www.casadevenequela.net/
The Hill School: http://www.thehill.org/

Local Artist, Mary Kane, Shows at Camphill Kimberton

What a treat for visitors who come in the front door of Kepler during the months of January and February!

In the foyer, above the mantle in the library, and ascending the staircase, beautiful and bold paintings are a perfect contrast and complement to Kepler’s architecture.

Mary’s works range from the real to the abstract, in fresh, bright acrylics.

“I love what I see in Chester County…the barns, hills and trees...and after a digestive process I enjoy reducing those images into basic shapes and simplified design,” Mary says about her work.

Works are for sale.  Come in and treat your senses and view Mary’s paintings at your convenience.  An opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 2 p.m.  Please join us.