by H.S.(Bert) Chase and Vibeke Ball
As contemporary western human beings, we have, for the most part, lost a coherent and meaningful relationship with the significant points of change that form the structure of our biographies. We have learned to see our lives as an ever-developing process. Any break in that continuum becomes something we fear. Yet change is occurring with ever greater frequency in our lives. What in the past we have taken to be constant and dependable has become precarious and tenuous. Can we regain the inner soul and spiritual faculties needed to recognize and negotiate these life transitions? Can we explore these processes of change in a creative way – passing through the boundaries of our fear and anxiety to find a threshold, a doorway, that provides an entry for a new beginning? For the past twenty-one years Hesperus Fellowship Community (www.hesperus.ca) has provided a residential setting where individuals can live together and support each other as they approach the end of their lives, to live with the ever present reality of the great threshold of death. Hesperus has promoted creative and rewarding eldership where individuals can continue to grow and develop in their senior years.
Located north of Toronto, Ontario the community is structured so that those supporting the residents either live with them, or have merged their work lives with them, to create an integrated community. A well established anthroposophical medical practice and therapists contribute to the life of the community. The main office for the Anthroposophical Society in Canada and the local center for the work of the School of Spiritual Science also have Hesperus as their home. The result has been the development of a complex organism, with a rich and varied life, built around supporting individuals living as fully as possible while preparing for the great threshold out of life. The intent is not to institutionalize the elderly, but to create a place of security and comfort - an aesthetically beautiful and soulful environment - that encourages healthy human encounters, where individuals have the opportunity to address and heal some of the inevitable affects of life’s challenges and hardships.
Grounded in anthroposophy, an essential part of the Hesperus mandate is to recognize that, in the spirit of our time, each individual is seeking for their distinct path of spiritual striving, and to support this process for each community member. In order to allow for this openness, there is an ever greater need to clearly embody the anthroposophical impulses out of which the community is founded, to cultivate these, and to make them accessible to those who have found their way to it. It was with this intention that the Board of Hesperus took a bold step to bring these principles directly into the architecture of their new facilities when they began planning a major expansion in 2000. This decision led to the appointment of H.S.Chase Architects Inc. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia this firm, like Hesperus itself, works out of principles introduced by Rudolf Steiner and has provided support to numerous initiatives, founded on these same principles, throughout North America over the past thirty years.
The leading questions that have guided the architect’s work are those that have inspired the community from its inception. “How can we form new imaginations that support those approaching the threshold of death while they continue to live full and meaningful lives?” For
the architects this became an exploration of how the qualities integrated into the environment, its forms and proportions, its colors and gestures, the sequence of spaces and how community members will use them, can all support this journey. The results are the designs currently under construction which, when completed in 2011, will be the largest facility in North America designed out of these anthroposophical principles.
As with other major projects developed by the firm, an Art Symposium will be held as part of its completion. The purpose of these symposia is to create a collaborative working between a number of artists, and those who would like to work with and learn from them, while contributing to the artistic completion of a project.
The Hesperus Arts Symposium will take place from September 28 to October 2, 2011 with a further extension till October 5 for those wanting to deepen their experience of mural work and sculpture for such projects. The symposium will focus on the leading questions that have shaped this initiative from its inception. As painters, sculptors, and architects, as therapists and interested supporters, how can we form new imaginations for how our various arts can support individuals on their life’s journey? Master artists will lead each of the working groups of symposium participants. These teams will work together to explore these questions while having the opportunity to use the finished building as the palette for their work together. At the heart of the symposium process is the intention to provide interested individuals the opportunity to learn from master artists, while exploring the underlying theme of thresholds in our lives – and to do so by building a community of individuals who want to learn to work artistically out of collaboration. The main working sessions are supported by presentations of the major contributors - Dr. Kenneth McAllister, the lead physician for the clinic and chairman of the Board; Bert Chase, the architect for the project; John Stolfo, the master colorist and artist. The other team leaders will all address these themes from their various perspectives. This exploration of the theme of thresholds will also be further developed and enriched through eurythmy and musical work together.
In the past, these symposia have had a significant impact, as points of change and renewal, for many of the participants. We welcome all those who feel drawn to explore this theme of “Living Towards Thresholds”. Working artistically with others in community will provide a unique opportunity to leave an artistic legacy that will contribute to the lives of many in the years to come.
For further information visit
http://hesperus.ca/news.html