A Challenge to the ASGPP

[Edward Schreiber]

Dear Jeanne,
Thanks for the sharing about Romania and glad you had that experience  
as well.  They are also advancing the conference model.  Nice.  The  
ASGPP Council asks for members to participate in committees, etc.   
I'm more eager to do that than weave myself into an entrenched  
conserve.  A few of us, Rosalie and Lorelie and others see the value  
of being a mirror too, to the conserve, as best we can and also  
showing a path we will walk on together, like a small conference  
redesign group.  Best,   Ed

On Mar 16, 2009, at 8:55 AM, drjb at mindspring.com wrote:

> Dear Ed,
>  I am just back from Romania (Sibiu) where I did a two day workshop  
> on Sociometry. Rhadu says Hi. They gave me a shepards hat and a t  
> shirt from the conference where you presented. Asked me to have my  
> picture taken with you in St Lois wearing the t shirt. I also gave  
> them a copy of your paper on sociometry that you put on the  
> internet--they had it translated to Romanian--I will bring it for  
> you. The workshop was at a school--Could we use Leslie? where you  
> have connections? I looked into ODU but it was expensive and  
> unworkable for many reasons.
>
> I was just also presenting at the conference for Sociodrama in  
> Sweden and Helsinki. We were on a cruise ship, luxuriours and yet  
> less expensive than a hotel. Another conference idea.
>
> Why don't you run for council so that you can help ASGPP make the  
> changes that you want them to make from the inside-- like Martin  
> Luther King-- and now we have Obama.
>
> Love, Jeanne
>
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Edward Schreiber <edwschreiber at earthlink.net>
>> Sent: Mar 15, 2009 8:41 PM
>> To: Group talk Listserv <list at grouptalkweb.org>
>> Subject: A Challenge to the ASGPP
>>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>> How much are we willing to stay stuck in our conserve, a conference
>> structure that no longer meets the needs of the larger community to
>> hear, learn, grow with our method?  We keep the same format, the same
>> awards dinner for the same selected people who can afford to attend,
>> the same on-going structures that frankly are becoming stale.  A
>> recent letter by Zerka to the President and the Council has called
>> for us to grow.  Yet what I continue to hear is fear, resistance to
>> take a leap.  So here's the challenge:  Read the enclosed and see
>> what we could offer to the world - with the will, creativity, and
>> drive to bring our method to the world in a way that grows us beyond
>> the conserve our conference has become.
>>
>> Here's an example:
>> best,
>> Ed
>>
>> Expressive Arts in Social Action: Peace-ing our world together
>>
>>
>>
>> International Expressive Arts Therapy Association
>>
>> 8th International Conference
>>
>>
>>
>> Lesley University
>> Cambridge MA
>> August 12-15, 2009
>>
>> February 23, 2009
>>
>> Dear Workshop Presenter,
>>
>> We are so excited that you are coming to our conference.  We have an
>> exciting line-up of activities planned for the week of Aug 10-15.
>> Prior to the actual start of the conference, attendees are invited to
>> participate in a two-day intergenerational Social Action Project that
>> is an extension of a call to communities to come together and utilize
>> the arts for peace-making. Peace-Arts Zone, Peace-ing our Communities
>> Together will take place on Monday and Tuesday, August 10-11 in the
>> greater Boston area and will allow participants to work with youth
>> and elders to create an arts-based project that brings these
>> disparate groups together to envision and create symbols of peace.
>>
>> The conference will officially begin on Wednesday, August 12 with
>> several all-day pre-conference workshops.  Our pre-conference
>> workshops will include many familiar and some new presenters
>> including Shaun McNiff, Vivien-Marcow Speiser and Phillip Speiser,
>> Robert Macy and Dickie Macy, Stephen K. Levine and Ellen Levine, Kate
>> Powers, Jason Cruz and RAW Art Works, Natalie Rogers and Mutki
>> Khanna, and Kathleen Horne, Victoria Domenichello-Anderson and the
>> Expressive Arts Florida team.
>>
>> Wednesday evening, Lesley University in conjunction with the IEATA
>> conference will kick off its Centennial Celebration with performances
>> by Expressive Arts community groups run by Lesley’s Expressive
>> Therapy Alumni, and with recognition of our founders.
>>
>> Thursday, August 13 begins our conference with a gathering of our
>> IEATA community by our Executive Co-Chairs and Conference Committee.
>> Our keynote address on Thursday will be by Robert and Dickie Macy
>> (Children's Trauma Recovery Foundation) (Founder, Center for Trauma
>> Psychology and author of numerous books), experts in using the arts
>> with trauma around the world. The Macy’s have implemented an
>> expressive arts based psychosocial intervention projects in the
>> United States, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine and Israel, Jordan,
>> Afghanistan, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Burundi, Eritrea and
>> South Africa.  In the afternoon, we will begin our workshops, where
>> over 60 presentations, both lecture and experiential will take
>> place.  Thursday evening we will have a performance by Paolo Knill
>> and Elizabeth McKim, topped off by an Open Mic event.
>>
>> Friday, August 14 we will continue with IEATA Committee reports and a
>> second keynote address by David Gere. Dr. Gere teaches at the
>> University of California at Los Angeles and is the Director of MAKE
>> ART/STOP AIDS, an international network of artists intervening in the
>> AIDS epidemic, Director of the Art/Global Health Center, and
>> Associate Professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures. Dr.
>> Gere was the 2008 Sonnabend Fellow.  His presentation “Please Listen,
>> People,” HIV/AIDS Scrolls of West Bengal represents a multi-media
>> project incorporating an ancient technique of storytelling, art
>> making, poetry and song.  In the afternoon, we will begin our
>> workshops, where over 60 presentations, both lecture and experiential
>> will take place.  Friday evening will bring an Educational Fair and a
>> Poster Session followed by an Awards Banquet and Community Dance.
>>
>> Saturday, August 15 our conference will “officially” end with a
>> celebration of IEATA and an ending ritual.  The conference will then
>> open up to a menu of half-day post-conference workshops that will
>> allow participants one last chance to connect with familiar and new
>> faces. Post conference presenters will include Sally Atkins and the
>> Appalachian Expressive Arts Collective, Kyoko Ono, Anin Utigaard,
>> Graciela Bottini and Maria Gonzalez-Blue, Julia Byers, and Adriana
>> Marchione.
>>
>> Conference registration will officially begin April 1.  All
>> registration will take place on-line through www.ieata.org.  Lodging
>> will be provided by Sheraton Commander Hotel in Harvard Square,
>> Cambridge (http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/IEA) for both room
>> discounts and for a banquet/awards dinner/dance with a live band that
>> will take place on the Friday night of the conference. A separate
>> ticket will have to be purchased ($25) for the banquet.
>>
>>
>>
>> A second lodging option will be staying in the dorm rooms at Lesley
>> University. Most dorm rooms are spacious air conditioned and located
>> in Victorian Houses on campus. The rate for these rooms are: Single
>> Room $65/PP/no AC - $85/PP+ AC Double Room $55/PP/noAC - $75/PP/+AC.
>> Information will be available at the time of registration for how to
>> apply for dorm lodging.
>>
>>
>>
>> A third lodging option we are exploring is doing a student-student
>> exchange, where a student at Lesley or alumni will volunteer their
>> couch or spare bedroom.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>