Community Projects: Patra Passage
The Patra Passage was an interactive art-based project that experimented with a cycle of giving and receiving. The passage centers on the giving of 108 hand-built ceramic vessels to participants who own them and then re-gift them to others of their choosing. The project took several years to make the bowls, and several more for the participatory aspects. The giftism cycle began in 2013 and continued for one year with each bowl being presented and received at least three times. It created a community of 501 participants from five continents, eleven countries and forty states.
To learn more, view the Patra Passage documentary film by Derek Klein and continue reading below.
The word patra refers to the name of alms bowls that monks carry in various cultures to receive their portion for the day, an act that creates an understanding of interdependence with community and openness to the cycle of receiving and giving. The word’s origin in Sanskrit translates as “the vessel that never goes empty”. Whatever is received in the bowl is enough for the day, a reminder of the offerings of the present moment.
The idea first appeared to me when I was visiting monasteries in Tibet where vessels lined the altar filled with water, millet, a flower, a shell, an oil candle, or something engaging to the senses; sometimes a vessel had no visible contents. Do these vessels contain what is given, or what is to be received? The inquiry lingered even when the physical object was no longer present. The impression suggests that giving and receiving can be a simultaneous and fluid act, the passage of a gift bestowed and accepted. The circulation of gifts and meaningful exchange create unity out of expressions of good will, expand our boundaries, and connect us. This has been historically true in many cultures.
Lewis Hyde’s book, The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World, and Phil Cousineau’s book, The Art of the Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred, developed concepts central to this project.
“When we start to ask ourselves what we can give away, we begin to see our possessions differently– they take on new potential as blessings for others, instead of being cold hard stuff. Who was it who said you never really own something until you give it away?”
– Lewis Hyde
Hyde suggests that when a gift passes from a giver in a circle of offerings, not as a form of reciprocal exchange between two people, or as material commerce, the giving goes beyond the control of the personal ego. He suggests that a gift’s increase in value begins after it has passed through someone.
Cousineau dives into the mythology of giving and creating connections. He describes how every journey is an act of discovery and how it can be a soulful and transformative experience.
To be touched, we must in turn, touch….Objects that must be touched are an integral part of the pilgrimage. – Phil Cousineau
Gratitude can be a rare commodity if society is overly consumptive, busy, and self-absorbed. A careful balance needs to be maintained between commerce and altruism. Acts of generosity take us out of ourselves and are one of the greatest means for generating compassionate communities and reducing wasteful excessiveness. Giving something away for free makes its value indeterminate; the recipient decides its value. In this way, the “art” happens outside of monetary value, trade or profit, and inside the context of firsthand experience and meaningful encounter. The gift is not just the object itself.
At the end of their circulation, the Patra bowls were returned and exhibited at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington in 2015. After exhibition to continue the giving cycle, the vessels were sold and $50,000 in proceeds were given to Save the Children and the Museum of Glass.
Community Projects: Gatherings
Gatherings experimented with a cycle of giving and receiving similar to my earlier project, Patra Passage. A primary purpose was to raise relief funds for creatives in financial need during the pandemic. The project began with 108 professional artists and poets that contributed original work. Artists created their art on 56 handcrafted wooden boxes. Poets wrote original poetry for inclusion inside the boxes. The artists’ boxes with the poems enclosed began to travel in June, 2020. Each box was given to someone the artist chose. Each participant receiving a Gatherings box was instructed to contribute something of their own experience inside the box. That person then chose a new recipient who would add their contribution. In this passage, the boxes moved from person to person gathering artifacts from over 300 contributors. Each person, each gift, amplified the community created by the project. A website allowed the public to see and reserve for purchase the individual boxes, read the poetry, and explore a selection of what was gathered inside by contributors. This project occurred in collaboration with poetry coordinators Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby Wilson, and with galleries Patricia Rovzar and Gail Severn , and with all the generous contributors Gatherings.
At the end of the passage, the Gatherings boxes were exhibited at the sponsoring galleries and sold. Net proceeds of $50,000 were donated to Artist Trust and Idaho Commission for the Arts who distributed assistance through relief grants to individuals in the arts.
For a list of participating artists, poets, and contributors to the Gatherings boxes, scroll to the bottom of this page.
Artist: David French, Poet: Rosemerry Wahtola, Contributors: Julie Paschkis, Joe Max Emminger, Margaret Bovingdon,
Artist: Steve Jensen, Poet: Carolyn Locke, Contributors: Dennis Evans, Vincent Lipe
Artist: Lynda Lowe, Poet: Naomi Nye, Contributors: Donna Witmer, Neal Seymore, Isabel DuToit, Richard Kehl
Artist: Anne Siems, Poet: Terry Erickson, Contributors: Julie Mintz, Moby
Above - Artist: Diane Andrews Hall, Poet: Kimberly Blaeser, Contributors: Augusta Talbot, Julie Trachtenberg
GATHERINGS PROJECT – ALL ARTISTS, POETS, AND CONTRIBUTORS, LISTED ALPHABETICALLY BY ARTIST
ARTIST: TRACEY ADAMS, Resilience
POET: ELLERY AKERS
Pamela Kariotis
Celeste Wahl
Lisa Hochstein
ARTIST: VICTORIA ADAMS, Containment
POET: REBECCA BAGGETT
Susan Swetnam
Erin Armstrong
SUZY BARNARD, Odyssey
POET: ALISON LUTERMAN
Clover Singsen
Ruth Boerefijn
Mary Burger
ARTIST: MARK BECK, Woman
POET: DONNA HILBERT
Iva Morris
Brian O'Connor
ARTIST: BILL BRAUN, Saturn
POET: RICHARD SCHIFFMAN
Paul Drinkwine
Todd Horton
ARTIST: SHARON BRONZAN, Once
POET: STUART KESTENBAUM
Margaret Matson
Bets Cole
Daylin Covert-Bratland
ARTISTS: RACHEL BRUMER, Humming
POET: ALBERTO RIOS
Eric Pitsenbarger
Ezra Dickinson
Danielle Blackwell
ARTIST: PHOEBE BRUNNER, Influencers
POET: TWYLA M. HANSEN
Cynthia James
Holli Harmon
Nicole Strasburg
ARTIST: SUZIE BUCHHOLZ, XO
POET: JULIA FEHRENBACHER
Joe Brubaker
Terri Froelich
Dillon Froelich
ARTIST: LINDA CHRISTENSEN, Koi
POET: CHRISTINE STEWART-NUNEZ
Catherine Sy
Susan Hillyard
ARTIST: PAMELA DeTUNCQ, Lockdown
POET: ANNIE LIGHTHART
Mary Rolland
ARTISTS: ERA and DON FARNSWORTH, Unseen
POET: TORI MINER
Darlene Markovich
Ron Haak
Pico Iyer
Amy Hibbs
Johnna Arnold
ARTIST: DAVID FRENCH, Concealment
POET: ROSEMERRY WAHTOLA TROMMER
Joe Max Emminger
Julie Paschkis
Margaret Bovingdon
Margaret Chodos-Irvine
ARTIST: JOYCE GEHL, Release
POET: ABIGAIL CARROLL
Rosanne Olsen
Ted McMahon
D.Lisa West
Anita West
ARTIST: RAPHAELLE GOETHALS, Rhysome
POET: JULIE CADWALLADER STAUB
Lindsay Holt
Kaysie Kent
London Kaye
ARTIST: TYSON GRUMM, Domicile
POET: PHYLLIS COLE-DAI
Henry Aguilar
Leslie Lebeau
Pamela Lee
ARTIST: DIANE ANDREWS HALL, Fermata
POET: KIMBERLY BLAESER
Augusta Talbot
Julie Trachtenberg
Steven Vincent
Doug Hall
Marshall Kaufman
ARTIST: SUZANNE HAZLETT, Clarity
POET: RUBY WILSON
Kristin Hovencamp
Jenni Riley
ARTIST: MEG HOLGATE, Contemplate
POET: DANUSHA LAMERIS
Alexa Robbins
ARTIST: IVY JACOBSEN, One Tree, Not Alone
POET: LYNN UNGAR
Jesse DeRooy
Jeanne Henzel
Nicole Strasburg
ARTIST: STEVE JENSEN, Talisman
ARTIST DENNIS EVANS
POET: CAROLYN LOCKE
Vincent Lipe
Pieter VanZanden
Lucy Mae
ARTIST: SHERRY KARVER, Someday
POET: BARBARA CROOKER
Shelley Gardner
Susan Dannenfelser
Jerry Ratch
ARTIST: JUDITH KINDLER, Deer Woman
POET: MARIANNE MURPHY ZARZANA
Linda Brown
Sharon Payne Bolton
ARTIST: MARIANNE KOLB, #fragmentedflow
POET: ROSEMERRY WAHTOLA TROMMER
Carl Heyward
Akiko Suzuki
ARTIST: FRED LISAIUS, Flourish
POET: TODD DAVIS
Trine Bumiller
Kathryn Winograd
ARTIST: PATRICK LO CICERO, Distant Memories
POET: LARA DAVIES FOLEY
Laura Foley
Kaylea Trowbridge
Brian Walker
ARTIST: LYNDA LOWE, Untold
POET: NAOMI SHIHAB NYE
Donna Witmer
Neal Seymore
Jane Bugby
Isabelle DuToit
Hans Ericson
Emil Ericson
Katherine Ericson
Abby Johnson
ARTIST: LYNDA LOWE, Unbroken
POET: JUDYTH HILL
Patricia Rovzar
Isabelle DuToit
Richard Kehl
Kayce Hughlett
Sharon Richards
Will Darling
ARTIST: LYNDA LOWE, Unearthed
POET: DANA YOST
Julia Smith & Rick Head
Isabelle DuToit
Carmen Germaine
Mary-Alice Boulter
Jan Dove
Joseph Fisk
Nota Lucas
Suzanne Anderson
Deborah Kennedy
Dianne Grob
ARTIST: LYNDA LOWE, Uncharted
POET: GINNY CONNORS
Ester Saunoras
Dick Cogswell
Allison and Jeff Goldberg
ARTIST: LYNDA LOWE, Unbound
POET: TERRI KIRBY ERICKSON
Gail Severn
ARTIST: KARA MARIA, TP
POET: CHARLES GOODRICH
Johanna Poethig
Enrique Chagoya
Dayang Yraola
ARTIST: JOSEPH MARUSKA, OOMPH
POET: PATRICK HICKS
Tomek Strekowski
ROBERT McCAULEY, _EAR
POET: MARJORIE SAISER
Robin Kree McCauley Lynch
Liam Lynch
ARTIST: LAURA McPHEE, Inflection
POET: JANE HIRSHFIELD
Judy Haberl
Loretta Park
Ama Nyamekye
Robert Griswold
Jessica Tam
ARTIST: KATIE METZ, Connections
POET: LAURA GRACE WELDON
Angela Beloian
Jessica Bernstein Schiano
Lisa Nesmith
ARTIST: KATHY MOSS, Elegy
POET: PAULANN PETERSEN
Paul C. Kelly
Anne Siems
ARTIST: GWYNN MURRILL, Dreaming
POET: MICHELLE WIEGERS
Susan Hayward
Craig Crawford
Penny Krebs
ARTIST: GEORGIANA NEHL, Hope
POET: VERONICA PATTERSON
Phil Harris
Iván Carmona
ARTIST: MARK REDISKE, Bluebird
POET: ELLEN BASS
Mare Blocker
ARTIST: ANNE SIEMS, Corvid
Julie Mintz
Moby
Robert Russell
ARTIST: CATHERINE EATON SKINNER, Travelers
POET: SUSAN GLASSMEYER
Dana Middleton Silberstein
Donna James
Sharon Royal
Henry Aguilar
Leslie Lebeau
Pamela Lee
ARTIST: AMY SPASSOV, Gradient
ARTIST: ERIC HALL
POET: HEATHER SWAN
Alayne Fardella
Celeste Keaton
Maria Barrientos
Chris Brown
Joyce Hsu
Alice Wu
ARTIST: JULIE SPEIDEL, Newgrange
POET: TED KOOSER
Joanne Hammer
Bruce Morser
Juliet Goetz Morser
Jeff Good
Terry Donnely
Mary Liz Austin
Susan Lynch
John Lucas
Claudia Hollander
ARTIST: ALLISON STEWART, Verdure
POET: FAITH SHEARIN
Hutchinson Campbell
Lory Lockwood
Tony Watts
Karen Stastny
Nell Tilton
ARTIST: INEZ STORER, Epluribusunum
POET: JOYCE SUTPHEN
Carrie Lederer
Lorene Anderson
Michele Theberge
Maw Shein Win
ARTIST: LIZ TRAN, Mirror
POET: JACK RIDL
Ling Chun
Kristin Deluga
ARTIST: TERRY TURRELL, Mist
POET: TAMARA MADISON
Linda Fornero
Marcia Friedman
Todd Petersen
Natalie Winkler
ARTIST: TAL WALTON, Family
POET: RUBY R. WILSON
ARTIST: DELLOS WEBBER, Exhale
POET: AARON ABEYTA
Mya Kerner
Zak Helenske
Katie Miller
ARTIST: Z.Z. WEI, The...
POET: RAFAEL JESÚS GONZÁLEZ
Rick Spier
Margaret Meister
Joan McBride
Benedict Heywood
Laura Dillaway
Travis Talburt
ARTIST: MELISSA WEINMAN, Gathering Roses
POET: HOLLY J. HUGHES
Iskra Johnson
Suzanne Edison
Katy McKinney
Jan Muir
ARTIST: MELISSA WEINMAN, Deep Space
POET: FREYA MANFRED
Corky Brown
Katy McKinney
ARTIST: SHERRIE WOLF, Hospitality
POET: PENNY HARTER
Pam Greene
ARTIST: LESLIE WU, Singular
POET: JUDY BROWN
Grace Wu
Nick Budde
ARTIST: SCOTT YESKEL, Vintage Camper
POET: JAMES CREWS
Helaine Yeskel