AN APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY INTO CREATIVE EXPRESSION AiPhilanthropy is a not-for-profit alliance whose roots began in November 2003. Its founders are three women who felt pulled to co-create an alliance that uses strengths-based methods to amplify the success of the not-for-profit sector. To date, the women have grown their network of collaborators to 15 and have served multiple segments of the not-for-profit sector. The Alliance uses Appreciative Inquiry in every aspect of its creation and growth. The meetings begin with a moment of core grounding and reflection, the space that is created is open and trusted, and the voices are all respected and heard. The mission was born of the members’ passion to amplify the success of the sector – a sector whose mission it is to serve the greater good. AiPhilanthropy, conducted an inquiry into Creative Expression (through Arts & Culture). The purpose of the inquiry was to engage the community in conversations that would both inform future grantmaking guidelines as well as create a shared understanding of what works in support of a vital, creative community. The inquiry was the first of its kind in the region – an application of Appreciative Inquiry as a vehicle to inform grantmaking and connect and inspire a broad, diverse creative community. Interviews were conducted, eliciting personal stories of peak experiences of creative expression and exploring the conditions that made them possible. From those interviews, four themes emerged that seemed to be present in all the stories. Those topics were: exposure, hands-on creation, reflective experience, and expansive thinking. In order to include as broad and diverse a group as possible, AiPhilanthropy conducted two training sessions for new interviewers. More than twenty volunteer interviewers (age 15 to 60+) conducted personal interviews with over fifty interviewees, who represented a broad cross-section of artists, performers, appreciators, supporters, grantmakers, administrators, government agencies, foundations and others, over a five-week period. Inspired by the emerging understanding, participants began to develop images of our future as a creative community. A subsequent session augmented these images of the future with interviewees’ wishes, compiled and rendered as a dream map and highlighted in a full report for each topic. (Email jacquie@aiphilanthropy.org to receive a free 17-page report). The stories that people shared were personal, inspirational and moving. They covered a broad spectrum of the arts – visual, music, theater, dance, writing – as well as a range of age groups. Many reflected on experiences from childhood while others recalled more recent, powerful experiences in their adult lives. As AiP explored these experiences and elicited more examples, creative expression (the arts) emerged as fundamental, not peripheral to our human experience and the conditions that surround those experiences – the exposure that creates opportunities for hands on creation and/or reflective experience that leads to expansive thinking and a sense of personal connection with the world around us are essential to both individual and community vitality. Findings: EXPOSURE to the arts is the key. Access to forms of artistic expression, whether initiated by the individual, the artists or others, provides the opportunity for appreciation and creates the possibility for personal connection. Access to all forms of creative expression, together with receptivity of the audience, can move people to new levels of personal and community awareness. Art piques curiosity, allows us to think independently and connect with our community. It speaks for us and to our emotions, without words. HANDS-ON CREATION – If exposure is key, then creation unlocks the door – to untapped creative assets, talents and capabilities of individuals and groups. Opportunities for people to express themselves creatively in safe (emotional, positive, conducive, non-judgmental, nurturing) environments allow people of all ages to discover and share their gifts – to find the courage to step outside their boundaries, express themselves creatively and experience the satisfaction of achievement, a sense of liberation or even triumph. Encouragement has the power to fuel creation and release its byproducts – personal growth, transformation and healing. Creative expression in collaboration with others is also a transformative experience. The act of creation often gives a whole system of individuals, in many different roles, the opportunity to be part of a creative, collaborative community. Personal initiative evolves to collaborative power. REFLECTIVE EXPERIENCE -The opportunity to reflect and/or engage in dialogue allows people to connect a creative expression with their personal experience. Integrating intellectual understanding with emotional experience can lead to discovery – often, a spontaneous, personal surprise that engages whole-brain learning, enriches life and inspires action. Reflective experience is available to everyone and can occur in everyday life, if we allow it. It opens the door to experiences that tie people of different backgrounds and skill sets together. Art builds on art. It is a catalyst – able to change the world and touch a million souls. EXPANSIVE THINKING broadens our understanding of the world. Creative expression of different points of view, perspectives and cultures can fade boundaries and connect people to a broader context or understanding of their humanity – of interconnectedness. It opens us up to passion – to be inspired. It leads to personal awareness and growth. The artist is the catalyst for experiences that open us up – to listening and understanding, self-awareness, self-discipline and visionary thinking. Isolation and solitude can become shared experience. Social dialogue and thoughtful collaboration are possible. By both recognizing and moving beyond the past, creative expression can create bridges to the future. Forum participants then created images of our future as a creative community. Inspired by stories of our past and present, they envisioned creative expression (Arts & Culture) as the vital catalyst for and expression of our diverse, dynamic growing bi-national community. The more we engage in these Conversations, the more appreciation, confidence and hope we have for this region as a dynamic, inspired, creative community. The opportunity to make personal connections with the inspired, dynamic, diverse individuals who participated and comprise, with many others, this creative community was a joy to all. For more information please visit our website at aiphilanthropy.org