One of the many things we treasure about the Staging process is the opportunity to work with professionals in other fields. In this case, Emily Piro, case manager at St. Patrick Center, has provided invaluable advice, support, and programmatic guidance throughout Staging. Below, she shares a little bit about her role on the project and some of her observations of the company. (St. Patrick Center is the largest provider of homeless services in Missouri and valued partner for Staging Reflections of the Buddha.)

Emily leads her “IP” group at a recent rehearsal.

It was a surprise (to say the least) to be asked in on the Staging project.  In growing the program, new members were to be selected from the homeless clients of St. Patrick Center, and we were to lend our expertise as case managers to help participants maximize their time with the program.  Our resources to problem solve and address housing crises, transportation issues, and processing trauma and recovery in the context of the program were expected to help people, even in the darkest of circumstances, have fair opportunity to grow and experience the full richness of the art and project.

I was charged with a weekly group helping the company of actors tie their experiences and new knowledge from Staging Reflections of the Buddha with their personal growth in programs at St. Patrick Center.  I decided to call my ½ hour session the “IP” group – Integrate and Process.  We talk about the impact we have on the art and process – but more so, we repeatedly ask the question: “What’s the point?”

It’s a big question – “What’s the point?”  What’s the point of the seemingly ridiculous theater games we play every day?  What’s the point in sitting around talking about ancient sculptures?  What’s the point of putting on a play in an art gallery?  What’s the point of bringing a caseworker in to talk about all this stuff, rather than a curator, staff, or professional actor?

Today, I had a whole plan of what to do in group.  But, after asking one person to share what’s been on his mind over the past week, suddenly it seemed the floodgates were opened.  Unprovoked, hand after hand raised, so many eager voices to share their experiences, too.  As much as I attempted to redirect the conversation back to my original discussion points, they continually returned to that broader question – how my life is changing.  Why my life is changing.  Why me, here, in this room, with these people, on this project.

In the end, there wasn’t even enough time in the group.  I ended by saying, “You know the impact this program is having on you.”  They do – no doubt.  We are ready to help guide them on the way, to make that connection,  to answer the question–What’s the point?

But sometimes it’s so good not to be needed.

Community Projects Intern, Christopher Fan, shares his Staging experience in this post. Christopher is an MSW student at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.

It is not everyday that you come across a group of individuals who come from such different walks of life than yourself, and yet, can unpack and understand a vital piece of your cultural upbringing.  To many Westerners, the idea of Buddhism seems exotic, an unknown religion resigned to only the Eastern Hemisphere. For them, the idea of “no self” and “enlightenment” and “nirvana” are just words without meaning. However, through my experience of being a part of Staging Reflections of the Buddha, I have seen how these seventeen actors have not only begun to understand the principles of Buddhism through art, culture, and history, but also to understand its impact on their daily lives.

Growing up culturally Buddhist, the notion of mindfulness, self-actualization, and being in the present moment were always a part of me.  That was not the case with the actors involved in the Staging project, who have never really given Buddhism much of a thought.  Yet, over the past few months, I have seen a tremendous change in these actors.  Ideas of transcendence or of nirvana may sound foreign, but many actors have been able to relate their own experiences and wishes of finding that peace, that mindfulness, and the idea of shedding the world’s woes to these Buddhist tenets. I have been living these ideas for more than 23 years, and yet, these actors have only had a few weeks with these ideas and are already connecting with the artwork, the ideas, and the beliefs.

Buddha said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” It is truly amazing to witness a group of men and women without any experience with Buddhism come so far in their path of understanding not only Buddhism but themselves. Many of these actors have experienced hardships in their lives, and to see how they take Buddhist principles and apply them, and subsequently become leaders in their communities or men and women with a different world view or idea of their own self, is breathtaking.

Each actor, in his or her own way, has engaged in exactly what Buddhism asks: to set forth on a path of self discovery and self actualization. Each one of them has done that with his or her own fortitude, and I am so very excited to be a part of and witness the path to the final production. I am confident that everyone who has the pleasure of witnessing Staging Reflections of the Buddha will be astonished by the actors’ depth of insight and how it has affected each one of their lives.

- Christopher Fan -

Raheem Thorpe, a Staging actor, talks about Sugimoto’s Sea of Buddha and how he feels about being back at the Pulitzer since being part of Staging Old Masters.

by Amy Broadway, Interim PR Coordinator

One of the main goals of Staging workshops is that the actors personally connect with the artworks in Reflections of the Buddha. The company will craft and perform scenes in the spring based on musings about the stars of the exhibition, such as Prince Shotoku, the giant sculpture of a left hand, or perhaps Oscar Munoz’s La Línea del Destino (Line of Destiny). The works haven’t been officially chosen yet, and it will be interesting to see what gets picked.

Several Fridays ago, Agnes Wilcox, the artistic director of Prison Performing Arts and the workshop leader, asked the actors to pair off, peruse the exhibition, and speculate about the images they saw. Afterwards, the exhibition’s curator, Francesca Herndon-Consagra, led Staging through the galleries, sharing her knowledge of the artistry, cultural history, and meaning behind the works.

In the video above, Raheem Thorpe, a graduate of the Staging Old Masters program, talks about how he and his peers first interpreted Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Sea of Buddha and what they learned from Francesca. The last time I saw Raheem, he was working with teaching artist Jenny Murphy in Urban Renewal, part of the Urban Alchemy series of programs Transformation. You can see him interviewed in 2010 here. He’s great on camera, and I look forward to seeing him on stage (Staging will perform in the galleries alongside the art).

As a side note, many of you may recall that this is not the first time the Pulitzer has been graced with Sugimoto creations. As we celebrate our tenth year–which officially began in October– we’re looking back at past exhibitions and web catalogues. Click here for another blast from the past, a look at our 2006 exhibition Hiroshi Sugimoto: Photographs of Joe.