S13 E11: A Brutal Love with Kimberly Phinney

Kimberly Phinney is a professor, counselor, poet and writer. She’s been published in Ekstasis Magazine, Fathom, Humana Obscura, and many other publications. She is the editor and founder of the literary community The Way Back To Ourselves. Earlier this year, Kimberly’s poem “An Ode to Hard, Dark Nights” won the Audience Choice Award in our Bright Wings Poetry Contest in partnership with Ekstasis magazine.

In this episode, Kimberly shares how the vision for her creative community and her recent book of poems, Of Wings and Dirt were born out of her journey through an intense season of illness. As a community leader, Kimberly shares her thoughts on how artists and creatives can move against the modern bent toward isolation and disembodiment.

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S13 Trailer: Community and Culture

Community is a vital component to our mental, emotional and spiritual health as well as a formative influence on our creative work. Throughout history, artists have gathered together with other artists for mutual support, inspiration and the sharing of ideas.

Despite the overarching digital landscape of our present day, the need for gathering together is no less important. In fact, it could be argued that it is all the more important so we do not lose touch with what it means to be human, to look another person in the eyes and share our stories around a common table.

Community creates an ecosystem of trusted voices who can appreciate and critique our work, contribute to our artistic growth and create a sense of belonging. And it is within the womb of creative community where seeds of culture begin to germinate.

Creative community contributes to and challenges the larger cultural values, upholds traditions or gives a platform to needed voices of change. Establishing creative/spiritual community facilitates shared experiences and creates a safe place to explore new concepts in art and deeper explorations of theology.

The artist’s role in shaping culture cannot be overstated. Percy Shelley wrote that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Therefore as artists of faith or those responsible for leading faith communities, if we care about where our culture is headed, we need to take seriously our responsibility to nurture the artist’s voice in our midst.

Starting Tuesday January 30th, we’ll begin a short series of conversations on how creativity, community and culture give shape to the life of the artist. We'll be featuring many of the voices who will be performing or presenting with us at The Breath and the Clay gathering.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to follow along and if you want to take a deeper dive into these topics, you can sign up at Patreon.com/makersandmystics and participate in our regular online community discussions.

Community, CultureStephen RoachJanuary 16, 2024Season 13, community, Culture

Porchlight Series 02: Singer/Songwriter Gabrielle Grace

Gabrielle Grace is a singer-songwriter committed to telling stories. She believes that authenticity is one of the most important qualities when it comes to music.

Gabrielle was born & raised in a small town in southeast Texas before moving to Nashville TN. Her indie/pop-folk/acoustic sound developed as she made her way into the scene, playing show after show and growing as a touring musician.

In this episode, Gabrielle joins Porchlight facilitator, Justus Stout and concert host, Cary Brege for a conversation on house shows, community building through shared beauty and the transcendent power of intimate musical settings.

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Porchight Series 01: Singer/Songwriter Carly Taich

In this episode, our friend and fellow arts advocate Justus Stout interviews songwriter Carly Taich and introduces Porchlight Art + Hospitality Network.

Carly Taich is a storyteller with the ability to lasso the darkest parts of the soul and deliver them with a smile. Her lyrics, often framed by swooning violins and barbershop harmonies, take us to another era, or dimension, where forgiveness is free and honesty, commonplace. There is a storybook mysticism to all Taich produces with one foot planted firmly in this reality. The paradox between the two worlds leaves listeners wondering if she is inviting them into a dream, or attempting to wake them up.

A multi-award winning songwriter, Taich has become a known name in her hometown of Asheville, NC and beyond. Her most recent EP It Tends to Glow, featured by NPR and American Songwriter, explores the many lenses through which one experiences Love. Blurt Magazine named her previous record, Reverie, “a start-to-finish, no-filler/all-killer gem—a veritable calling card to greatness if enough ears find it.”

S8 E08: On Belonging and Becoming with Stephen Roach

One of the growing problems of our society that started long before but has been agitated by the COVID-19 pandemic is isolationism or the sense of loneliness and lack of meaningful social connections. Too much isolationism leads to individuals feeling a decreasing sense of responsibility or belonging to a group or a family. Therefore everything from littering to mass shootings could be rooted in the spiritual deficiency of belonging.

In this episode, Stephen shares on the artist's need to belong and the gift of creating a safe space to be in process.

Culture Care, Faith and ArtStephen RoachDecember 4, 2020stephen roach, community, isolationism, belonging