P R E S S R E L E A S E
Contact: Jonathan Oppenheimer, 615-599-4006, Center for Sustainable Stewardship, Franklin, Tennessee
or FB event page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1514584658663151/
February 5, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE through March 31st, 2018
Center for Sustainable Stewardship to host 1st Annual CreativityFest 2018 in Franklin, Tennessee
Franklin, TN... CSSfamily.org (Center for Sustainable Stewardship) is proud to host their first annual CreativityFest event at the Center's Retreat location in Franklin, Tennessee, Saturday, March 31st, 11am - 11pm. A celebration of creativity and natural wonders of springtime in Tennessee through Live Music, Art, Well-being, Preventative Medicine, Environmental Education, Relaxation and Rejuvenation. CSS is very excited to offer a “live art opportunity” during festival day for artists to create works in the theme of sustainability. These works will then be shown in the CSS Art Gallery at the lodge on the retreat grounds as one of the first exhibits in the gallery space.
The first festival of it's kind for Franklin, CSS CreativityFest 2018, will bring together the amazing musical talents of ambient and world music from Massood Taj, Kirby Shelstad, Seth Ritter, Stephen Seifert, John Rose, Tony Gerber, Dariush Rad, SPACECRAFT, Jasmine Shinness, Matthew Human, Jonathan Sutton, Michael Holt, Tony Tripi, Robin Barnes, the Love Drums and more!
Art events during the festival include: On the day Sustainability Art Contest with $500 in prizes sponsored by the Williamson County Cultural Arts Commission, on-stage painting by individuals and groups during musical performances, group mandala painting coordinated by resident artist and musician, Massood Taj, nature drawing around the lake grounds, and water color painting on the Retreat Center deck. There will also be other group and public art opportunities and demonstrations with several local artists attending as guides.
Workshops in the Retreat Center and Yoga Studio, as well as related vendor gazebo tents located about the grounds will help for further education of wellness disciplines and sustainability issues. Well-being and Preventative Medicine through Natural Methods workshops include: Tai-Chi, Yoga Instruction, Harmonic Sound Therapy, Introduction to Playing the Native Flute, Soil Conservation, Survival Skills class and an Edible Walk in the Woods.
Events for young people include an Easter egg hunt around the lake, fly fishing lessons, outdoor pizza making with cobb oven and many art opportunities to create.
The Center for Sustainable Stewardship protects over one thousand acres of natural beauty Big East Fork Valley in Williamson County. CreativityFest 2018 marks the debut of CSS's new outdoor stage in addition to their several buildings and rooms for the various workshops and more intimate musical performances on the Retreat stage indoors. CSS will debut this new outdoor stage located behind the main retreat center by the 7 acre lake. URI, Williamson County Cultural Arts Commission (WCCAC), Float Horizen, Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation, TennGreen, will be there with a booth and sponsoring along with CSS.
Tickets for the general event will be $20 online pre-purchase, or $25 at event and $10 for children under 12. A menu of workshops, classes and health sessions offered are to be scheduled when you arrive if interested, and may have additional fees, depending on the type of workshop.
CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE STEWARDSHIP
CSS primary concentration areas include land stewardship, nature study and appreciation, environmental education, responsible farming, Integrative health topics such as food and nature as medicine, mindfulness and stress management and mind-body practices. Creative expression is at the core of the CSS goals through music, poetry, art, dance and theater. We encourage elder storytelling and intergenerational wisdom transfer. Education for living sustainably in our challenging times is what CSS is all about.
MORE INFO ON THE WEB:
http://cssFamily.org/festival
http://BigEastFork.com
Direct Nashville Contact with the event producer:
Tony Gerber at 615-414-1241
or email: cypressrosewood@mac.com or website: http://TonyGerber.com
Bios/Background of CreativityFest 2018 Featured Artists:
Tony Gerber (Producer):
Live space music pioneer, performing live concerts and live radio, nationally and internationally since he was 9 years old, Tony Gerber, creates relaxing ambient music and “sound bathing” music for sacred spaces by mixing a love of electronic music with guitars, harmonicas, dulcimers, vocals, electronic wind instrument and native flutes. Tony is the Event Producer for the Center for Sustainability’s first annual CreativityFest. He has released over 40 albums during his 37-year residence in Nashville, TN and he has performed over 1700 live ambient space music concerts in the virtual world of Second Life. His music has been used in major motion pictures and video games and Gerber has had several graphic and sound businesses in his career. He is very active and prolific playing live music and recording, being a dad and a husband. "I enjoy my life filled with creative passions.” Find out more at TonyGerber.com .
Massood Taj (Producer):
Massood Taj is a multi-instrumentalist musician creating global meditative music for sacred spaces. Drawing on influences from the indigenous music of the world’s mystical traditions including his own Sufi heritage, he composes live improvised tapestries of sound as musical foundations for various healing & creative endeavors including yoga/ mind body practices & meditation sessions.
Since 2006, Massood has been presenting at conferences, conducting workshops and facilitating interactive programming with a focus on the transcending properties of sound and the healing nature of collaborative creativity even in the most restrictive circumstances like his work with the cognitive disorder & mental health communities. For more info: massoodtaj.com.
Kathy Tupper (Painter/visual artist):
Kathy Tupper will be a featured artist at the Center for Sustainability Art Gallery opening inside the retreat center on Saturday, March 31, 2018. The art show and sale are part of the CSS first annual Creativity Fest. Despite having a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome and bipolar disorder, Kathy creates and exhibits her work throughout the world and locally in the Frist, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and Vanderbilt Stallworth Hospital. Her art is a living example of how disabilities, illnesses, and energies can be transformed when an artist picks up her paintbrush.
Kathy explains, "From the simplest or the most complex idea or from no idea or plan at all, I can create magic puzzles for myself and bits of wonder to share with others. The processes of painting/drawing, sculpting, and writing takes me out of myself to make this new thing with a life that grows on its own. It is a part of, and apart from, me. I feel focused in production and amazed at the finish. I am exhilarated and in awe of the art I have made. How did I do that?"
For nearly fifty years, Tupper has continued to create and exhibit her work in middle Tennessee. She also teaches drawing and watercolor classes at the Centennial Art Center in Nashville. Contact her through Facebook: www.facebook.com/artistkathytupper.
Paul Harmon (donated prints to CSS)
Paul Harmon is an internationally exhibited artist who for 11 years, from 1986 to early 1998, divided his time between permanent studio/residences in Paris, France and Brentwood, Tennessee.
The Harmon work is well represented in numerous galleries, museums, major corporate and private collections in Europe, Asia, and the USA. Collections include the Tennessee State Museum, the Tampa Museum of Art, the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, the Museum of the Principality of Monaco, and the city of Caen, France. He was chosen in 1981 to represent the U.S. in the Bienal de Arte, Medellin, Colombia, SA.
In 1994, Harmon had a major exhibition of his work at the invitation of Caen, France. Curated by Galerie Déprez-Bellorget of Paris, this one-man exhibition was the official art show of the D-Day 50th anniversary remembrances.
Paul Harmon is the recipient of many major international painting awards including the Prix de la Ville de Monaco and the Prix de la Société E.J.A. at the XXIV Prix International D’Art Contemporain de Monte-Carlo. The Harmon painting Walking Man, from this exhibition/competition was chosen by Her Serene Highness, Princess Caroline of Monaco for her private collection.
In connection with the Prix de la Ville de Monaco, a canvas was commissioned by the Principality of Monaco for its permanent collection.
His work is featured in the Elmore Leonard Showtime movie “Pronto,” directed by Jim McBride, and starring Peter Falk, Glenne Headly, and James LeGros.
Paul Harmon lives and works in a 1793 National Register of Historic Places farmhouse and studio in Brentwood, Tennessee.
For more information: www.paulharmon.com.
Andee Rudloff (artist/consultant community mural painting event)
Andee Rudloff is a consultant and artist working predominantly in Kentucky and Tennessee. Most recently, she was named as first Artist in Residence Program in Magdeburg, Germany by Sister Cities of Nashville. She will use her unique skills to depict the historic, community, architecture & transit making for a unique cultural exchange providing a deeper understanding of the potential communication between Nashville and Magdeburg, Germany.
She recently helped successfully launch the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center (SKyPAC) in Bowling Green, KY, working in engagement, education and visual arts. In November 2013, she was awarded KyAEA Museum Educator of the Year while also being reappointed to serve on the Kentucky Arts Council Board of Directors by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. Rudloff served in multiple roles at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tenn., while continuing a career as a professional visual artist and community engagement consultant. She also served as the curator of the Nashville International Airport’s Arts at the Airport Foundation, where she designed and curated new exhibitions and exhibition spaces while maintaining the airport’s art collection.
Additionally, Rudloff has worked with notable artists such as Judy Chicago, Michael Aurbach, Don Evans, John Warren Oakes, Ed Nash, Herb Williams and many others. Rudloff has served as the Curator of the Johnny Cash Collection, Tour Coordinator of the At Home On Tour traveling exhibition and an educator in Kentucky’s juvenile justice system. Rudloff believes art education is an important component to the economic growth of an area and works to cultivate art experiences within her own region. Holding true to the belief we should never take a second for granted, one rarely sees Rudloff standing still, but always in constant motion.
Andee has more than 20 years of experience as a professional artist including exhibitions in Bowling Green, Ky., Nashville, Tenn., New York, N.Y., Taipei, Taiwan, and other national and international exchanges. For more information: http://www.chicnhair.com.