FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Darlene Robertson
937.769.1820
drobertson@mcgregor.edu
Antioch McGregor Alumna, A Non-Artist, Receives
Grant from the Ohio Arts Council
Yellow Springs, Ohio – Candee
Basford has never considered herself an artist, “If we think art is something only certain
people can do then most of us would never try it,” she said. However,
that hasn’t hindered her unusual art career which the Ohio Arts Council
recently encouraged with a small grant.
Basford, an independent
consultant who works with families and educators on inclusive
education and community building, specializes in incorporating art and images
into her professional career and presentations. Through the utilization
of art, she finds a greater level of self-reflection and understanding as
she works with action learning groups focusing on social and organizational
change. “It
is a personal inquiry for people to find what really resonates
with them by looking into art,” she notes. “Art has an amazing
quality in which many people are able to express themselves in
images less painfully with greater richness than is possible with
mere words.”
Basford, of Seaman, Ohio, recently graduated with
a master’s degree
in adult education and leadership from the Individualized Liberal
and Professional Studies program at Antioch University McGregor. The uniqueness
of this program allowed her the flexibility to create her own curriculum
and to study not only with people at Antioch McGregor but also with others
around the country.
Initially her master’s focus did not involve art.
Instead it was centered around her first love of social and organization
change. Upon studying in Georgia, she acted on a recommendation
that she reflect on a change within herself and attempt to find what resonates
in her own life rather than analyzing the change of others. This challenging
question required innovative approaches to resolution, the path
to which led her to a box of fabric squares intended for a quilt that was
never sewn. Basford began to playfully add watercolors to the bits of fabric,
with the goal of finding what resonated with her. “Immediately
I thought of Katie, my daughter, and realized so much in my life
resonates from what I’ve learned from her,” commented Basford.
This realization surfaced as a result of creating
the amateur images. Basford next requested that an additional
course entitled, “Art Informed Inquiry” be
added to her masters program while in her last quarter at Antioch
McGregor. This course sparked an interest in the notion that all
images that are created begin with a question and are in essence
inquiries into experiences. From this spawned her current project – “A
Way of Knowing: What I’ve
Learned from Katie” – in which she will create several new images
which will hopefully elevate her work and her discovery process
to the next level.
Basford credits the Individualized Liberal and Professional
Studies program at Antioch University McGregor with launching the
discovery of her love of art. The program allowed her the flexibility required
to pursue such a unique project. With the self-directed program, she was
able to work with professors and selected experts in her vicinity to develop
a curriculum suited for her personal and professional needs.
The
Ohio Arts Council recently awarded Basford a $500 grant which
will be used to fund the publication of a printed booklet of the images
she creates for her “A Way of Knowing” project.
She then hopes to distribute the booklet to encourage other
people to look for opportunities to use this unique and life-changing approach
in their art and communication.
“Candee Basford is an extraordinary woman and
quite deserving of this grant,” said Donna Sue Groves, Field Coordinator
for the Ohio Arts Council. “She certainly is creating art even though
she does not consider herself an artist. This project is an appropriate
use of the funds since she is so willing to share her art – which
she married with her life experiences – with the public.”
The grant is a breakthrough, not only for Basford, but
for art as well. Basford is a rare recipient for an Ohio Arts Council
grant since she has no professional background nor is she pursuing
a career in art; instead she uses art within her already established
career as a consultant. Rather than focusing on the art itself, her project
uses the creative process of producing art to help people learn more about
themselves and the world around them, leading to positive change. She hopes
to inspire many others to use her technique to gain greater self-realization.
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds
and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities
culturally, educationally and economically. With funds from the
Ohio Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio
Arts Council provides financial assistance to artists and arts
organizations.
Antioch University McGregor contributes to the
betterment of the individual and the community by fostering academic excellence
and providing socially responsive, flexible and innovative education programs
for adult learners. McGregor features a wide array of bachelor’s degree completion programs,
master’s programs in conflict resolution, management and education
and also individualized liberal and professional studies programs.
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