In 2020 and 2022, during the pandemic, I created Taproot, an online gathering with the purpose of nurturing the creative spirit. We needed community so much, and to be honest, it seems like we need it right now.
Here are the details. I have given eight speakers a task, to talk about the intentional journey, the downs and the ups, where ideas come from, and how to find your way. They walk the talk, they follow their hearts, they dig deep, and I cannot wait to pull up a chair and listen.
Be there live or stream it later.
Click here to register. $129.00. The live session will be recorded and made available for streaming on Vimeo, starting June 17, with access for three months. Zoom links will be emailed to all registrants on June 12.
The presentations will be hosted as a Zoom webinar from 8:00am – 6:00pm Mountain Time. Each presentation will be about 45-50 minutes with time for questions. Sam Abell’s presentation will be on Sunday, June 15, and I will be recording an audio conversation with Natalie Goldberg on May 25. Both these presentations will be available by June 17 with all the other presentations.
Taproot is produced out of Eddie’s studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and all listed times are Mountain Time.
Saturday, June 14
8:00 to 8:15 AM – Eddie Soloway
8:15 to 9:15 AM – Ron Pokrasso
9:30 to 10:30 AM – Aline Smithson
10:45 to 11:45 AM – Valda Bailey
12:00 to 1:00 PM – Richard Blanco
1:15 to 2:15 PM – Tim Bruce
2:30 to 3:30 PM – Susan Kae Grant
3:45 to 4:45 PM – Eddie Soloway
5:00 to 6:00 PM – Pico Iyer
Sunday, June 15
8:00 – 9:00 AM – Sam Abell
Sam Abell – Sam’s career at National Geographic brought him around the planet, and now we get to feel the embrace of his poetic images, passionate stories, and revelations on the creative journey.
Valda Bailey – Influenced by the worlds of Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism, and a deep grasp of photography, her art is both a stream of consciousness and a deep expression of nature’s essence.
Richard Blanco – When President Biden conferred the National Humanities Medal on Richard, he said, “An engineer, poet, Cuban American… his poetry bridges cultures and languages – a mosaic of our past, our present, and our future – reflecting a nation that is hectic, colorful, and still becoming.”
Tim Bruce – Founder and director of LOWERCASE Inc, a company known for its understanding of digital strategy and beautiful design, Tim has been honored by every major national and international design competition.
Natalie Goldberg – Natalie is the author of 15 books, including Writing Down the Bones, which has sold over one million copies, and has been translated into fourteen languages. She is a painter, zen practitioner, and lover of haiku.
Susan Kae Grant – An inventive and influential lens-based artist, educator, and early proponent of photographic book arts, Susan reaches to her interest in art and science, to create fabricated narratives that explore dreams, memory, and the unconscious.
Pico Iyer – As a travel writer, Pico often writes of living between the cracks and outside fixed categories. Many of his books have been about trying to see from within a society or way of life, but from an outsider’s perspective, and his Ted Talks have pondering the ideas of Where is home? and The art of stillness.
Ron Pokrasso – Reaching to printmaking, collage, photography, drawing, and painting, Ron’s art breaks boundaries, and as a sought-after teacher he helps students liberate their creative journey.
Aline Smithson – As an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, educator, and editor, Aline examines the archetypal foundations of the creative impulse and uses humor and pathos to explore the performative potential of photography. In 2007 she founded the important and popular daily photography journal, LENSCRATCH.
Eddie Soloway – A passionate teacher, writer, and storyteller, Eddie’s photographs have been called a love song to the natural world.
