Last year, for the ArtSlam Festival in downtown Bradenton, the Labyrinth of the Unbroken Path made it´s debut. The installation was comprised of 48 individual pieces developed by local artists Steve McAllister, Amy Kern, Chris McKenzie, Melina Economos, and Miranda Massey. Since then, the mobile gallery has been installed at Celebrate Wellness Fest, Sarasota Naturally, Step Up to Homelessness Ten Year Plan Launch, the Economics of Happiness Summit, First Presbyterian Church, and Earthdance 2012. It has morphed slightly from festival to festival, offering a contemplative and inspiring respite from the crowds, music, noise, and fast pace of the festivals, as well as life in general.
The purpose of the Labyrinth of the Unbroken Path is to offer an experiential portrait of our collective traditions, cultures, and myths in order to celebrate our differences, our similarities, and the opportunities that lie therein. The initial installation included series and individual pieces inspired by the teachings of Joseph Campbell, Stephen Covey, Buddhism, Christianity, and more. Future installations are inviting artists to bring interpretations of their own life lessons and hero´s journey to the forefront of their art in order to inspire greater community interdependence and personal growth.
The Labyrinth of the Unbroken Path will be installed again at the Sarasota Chalk Festival on November 3-4 and at ArtSlam 2012 on Saturday, November 10th along Bradenton´s newly designed Riverwalk. Local artists may contribute to the Labyrinth of the Unbroken Path on either or both installations. Participating artists may also be included in a tentative December installation which will include a live auction for individual pieces.
To participate in the Labyrinth of the Unbroken Path installations at either the Sarasota Chalk Festival or Artslam, artists need to follow only four steps:
1. Select a basis for an interpretive series or individual piece. (A list of possibilities is listed below for you to choose from, but should only be used as guides, not limitations.)
2. Create canvases from re-purposed materials and turn them into interpretations of your selected theme in the medium(s) of your choice.
3. Bring your series to the your selected installation.
4. Retrieve your series at the end of the installation.
In addition to the tentative auction, participating artists can also receive time dollars for their participation if they are members of the Common Wealth Time Bank. The Common Wealth Time Bank is an alternative currency recently started through Transition Sarasota under the direction of Steve McAllister, architect of the Labyrinth of the Unbroken Path. Like the Labyrinth itself, the Common Wealth Time Bank is designed to build upon the strength and value of the community and its residents in order to create a greater realization of beauty, abundance, service, and trust.
Presently, selections for Unbroken Path series include, but are not limited to, the 4 Noble Truths, don Miguel Ruiz´ 5 (or 4) Agreements, the 5 steps of the Romans Road, Erik Erikson´s 6 Stages of Development, the 7 steps to Maslow´s Hierarchy of Human Needs, the 7 Chakras, the 7 Days of Creation, the 8 (or 7) Habits of Highly Effective People, the 8 Beatitudes, the 8-fold Path of Righteousness, the 11 (or 9) Celestine Insights, the 11 steps of Joseph Campbell´s Hero´s Journey, the 12 Steps of Anonymous, David Hawkins´ 17 Stages of Consciousness, or the 22 cards of the Tarot´s Fool´s Journey. Participants are also welcome to develop their own series or to adopt a 4 part series based on the ABC2 Economy theory. Artists hoping to participate in the Labyrinth of the Unbroken Path should contact Steve McAllister at inkensoul@gmail.com for more information.