Art as Moral Action

Each year, Peter Sellars teaches a class by this title at UCLA. The lecture hall is almost always full, beginning with a circus-like energy: music resounds, people circulate around a long line of books that Peter has brought in - often students dance and at the start of the class, anyone can come in to make an announcement about a project they are working on.

For some students, the class as seen as an "easy" class because Peter leaves it up to the students to account for their actions. For others, the class has been life changing and has become the reason for their future direction in life. There are many visitors. Some, like myself, audit the class. Others, like Josh Viertel, Albie Sachs and Alice Waters, speak about their work.

Here are the notes I took during one evening:
Use image and culture to pull everyone into a new direction
Hold onto the truth - buy Gandhi's autobiography now so you'll have it when you need it.
Beauty, strength and courage...everything has meaning...look critically
Effort deepens and creates the spiritual life.
CREATE VALUE
Practice daily acts of creativity.
Remove stress and replace with productivity

And I was struck by one anecdote Josh Viertel related. Josh told the story of a Slow Food colleague who was able to meet with President Obama in which she pressed for changes in U.S. agribusiness. At the end of the 15 minute meeting, Obama asked her, "Give me a social movement, then I can make change happen." This week, we saw the result of the petitions that had been circulating inspired by Alice Waters and others for the Obama family to plant a vegetable garden at the White House when Michelle Obama broke ground for the food garden.