Renewal Arts

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The road to renewal - back to top >>

Decades ago, the legendary Frank Buchman, founder of Initiatives of Change/Moral Rearmament (MRA), articulated a powerful idea. He anticipated economic change, social change, national change, international change all based on personal change.

Buchman saw a role for artists as the bearers of the banner of spiritual regeneration in a world where political priorities had been misplaced and personal change was an untried commodity.

As MRA's message contributed to the resolution of conflicts around the world, the gifts and skills of artists of all disciplines were called upon to underline the message of personal transformation at MRA's conferences: sometimes quietly in the background, sometimes with considerable fanfare. Painters, composers, actors, musicians and artists of every discipline within MRA gave backbone and credibility to ideas that might otherwise have been considered fanciful, impractical or irrelevant. As the century drew to a close, several of these individuals were motivated to create an integrated arts programme within MRA.

Art that touches the soul - back to top >>

In August 1997 at the Conference on Creativity in Switzerland, British author, playwright and long-time MRA associate, Hugh Williams, observed, True art goes beyond ideas, argument, debate and propaganda to thoughts that like too deep for tears (Wordsworth). But it is at this level that real change occurs. At an arts meeting in Stockholm in 1998 Gunnar Soderlund put it thus: If art is that which touches the soul then art is the most essential element for the future.

Focussing on MRA's summer conferences at Caux, Switzerland, the arts team noted that it was hard to imagine how Caux's opportunities for reconciliation might be fully recognised without the vibrant artistic presence that had so often complemented the conference centre's discussions and lectures. Now, meeting frequently on both sides of the Atlantic, the team developed a specific plan of action: To provide professional opportunities for artists to share their God-given gifts with others in the context of Caux. In the year 2000, this plan progressed to the point that a conference dedicated to the arts was called, welcoming artists and those who simply cared to immerse themselves in artistic discovery. Some 300 men and women from across the world arrived in Caux at the end of July 2000 to enjoy, discuss and meditate on The Arts in Perspective.

The conference mission statement asserted that the arts can be a catalyst for change, a grace, a gift, a responsibility. The conference provided an opportunity for participants to share their experiences with arts transforming power, voice deeply held beliefs and consider essential questions about the role that the arts play in our lives.

The creation of Renewal Arts - back to top >>

It became clear that The Arts in Perspective conference was only a beginning: the birth of an arts idea that from that point forward would be known as Renewal Arts. Art of the highest calibre can refresh the mind and soul and can join, in a common spiritual experience, individuals who stand on opposing sides of a conflict. Meetings and discussions are certainly vital to the resolution of world issues and the reconciliation of history but there comes a time after much discussion when the soul looks beyond words in its struggle to heal.

Inspired by the success of the first conference Renewal Arts presented a second conference called The Road to Renewal in summer 2002 and in 2004 a forum on the theme Transforming the Way Things Are. Reports of these three conferences are available on the website.