"Harambee"
Progressive social change
SPIRAL Arts asserts that the arts are a powerful vehicle of progressive social change. We live in a society wracked with violence, hopelessness, competition, rampant consumerism, loneliness and isolation, and fear or hatred of people who appear to be different from oneself. The arts help people find inner resources that bring new meaning, hope and happiness into the lives of themselves, their families, and their communities. The arts help people appreciate each others gifts, ideas, heritage, or culture. When people who might never otherwise meet make art side-by-side, they often become friends.
The creative process is a bonding process. The arts bring beauty and honesty into neighborhoods as people create from their souls. The arts are a proven vehicle of healing from the wounds and grief of violence, abuse and loss, helping people pour their feelings into an art form. The arts help people see the world with a fresh and discerning eye, recognizing the seduction of consumerism for what it is. Making art is an inexpensive alternative way for individuals and families to spend time together creatively, instead of being glued to and brainwashed by television.
The arts provide venues for people to work together to build and improve their communities, in the spirit of the Swahili concept of "Harambee," which means "Let us all pull together." SPIRAL Arts embodies the potential of the arts to effect these changes here in Portland and beyond. Through mixing people from many communities here in Maine -- religious, social, business, health, recreational, educational, arts and cultural, residential, ethnic, neighborhood based, age related, social service based, etc. -- SPIRAL Arts is working to shake and break the status quo through creating a new inclusive, collaborative community, grounded in creativity.