Language Matters

Once a year, NAS gathers 24 creative changemakers from all over the nation for a week-long residential program called Creative Community House. We spend this week living and learning alongside each other, sharing ideas and experiences and chewing on new information presented by NAS and our partners. And we also debate with each other. A lot.

One of the most enlightening debates we had at last year’s Creative Community House was around language. The words some brought into conversations in hopes that they would offer clarity ended up confusing  — or worse, distressing – others. The group of Fellows was eager to do the work of unpacking these terms and discussing variances in how we perceived meaning (which, by the way, is a rare and wonderful thing and I want to thank those Fellows for their generosity in engaging with each other and NAS with such honesty).

Many in the cultural field won’t be surprised that one of the words we discussed was “community”. As we kick off our third annual Creative Community House today, I anticipate that we’ll encounter more conversations around language, including this term. Rather than recap these for you, my team and I wanted to open up a discussion on community.

We’ve invited the current Fellows, some of our alumni and mentors to answer the question “What does community mean to you?” Over the next two weeks we’ll be sharing their thoughts (in the form of poems, songs and essays!). We’ll also share some tools and resources from outside the field.

Want to add your voice, as well? Please leave comments or converse via twitterverse using #NAScommunity.