Action Reaction at the Akron Art Museum

This past Fall GroundWorks had the pleasure of partnering with the Akron Art Museum for our Akron Fall series.  This partnership was supported by the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation. Part of this series included an Action/Reaction process with five members of the Akron arts community.  These participants joined us for four sessions in November and December with the hopes of enhancing their creative processes.  

The first session took place on Wednesday, November 7th at the Akron Art Museum.  Participants gathered for the first time to partake in a movement session led by Education and Community Engagement Coordinator, Rebecca Burcher.  Burcher led the five participants and five GroundWorks company members through a variety of exercises intended to push them out of their comfort zones and dig deep to find new responses to known questions.  

The second session invited participants to observe a GroundWorks rehearsal in the museum.  Participants took this opportunity to investigate new creative processes and begin to sketch, write, and simply absorb.  A few days later the participants returned to the museum to witness the company members perform in the gallery. By observing the dancers perform after experiencing and observing the creative process of the company we bring the journey full circle.  We share our inspiration, process, and result with the participants while simultaneously guiding them through their own version.

Finally the participants met again in December to share their personal reactions to the experience of the program.  Participants shared poetry, stories, sculptures, and wall art inspired by the program. Below are some quotes shared by the participants regarding their experiences:

“I have always found inspiration at the museum. This experiment made me feel like dancing and I craved creating dances in those vast rooms for days. Community building events like this are the reason why I think the museum is such a good place for the city of Akron, Akron artists, and the public in general.  Again, thank you for including me. “

“It brings change and awareness to the creative process.  I loved it.”

“It inspired me to write poetry again – I have not written any poems for at least two years.”

“The facilitator and group were receptive to questions, welcoming, and positively a joy to meet.”

When asked if the participants would recommend the program or participate again they responded:

“Absolutely.  The inspiration is important.  Even if you do not consider yourself creative, this inspires an audience and individual to look more intensely at dance, art, and the effect on them.”

“Yes.  Each Action/Reaction would be different, causing a new outcome and a new piece. “

“Absolutely!  I think there needs to be more interdisciplinary arts programs with professional artists.  We need to be collaborating more to explore different understandings.”

“Oh absolutely!  It is always beneficial to experience ways in which artists react to and communicate with the arts, and have those conversations about perspective, providing opportunities to share personal responses and stories.”