Scroll. Tap. Flash. We live in an age of intense sensory overload. If we let it, we can be inundated constantly, by unceasing news, sounds, and images. In 1952, philosopher Josef Pieper lamented that “man’s ability to see is in decline.” For Pieper, modern men and women have not the “patience to let the eyes adapt,” in no small part because, "there is too much to see!” Almost eighty years ago, Pieper already feared the consequences of the new era of visual noise, and warned that if human society continued down this path, “there is a limit below which human nature itself is threatened, and the very integrity of human existence is directly endangered.”
How, then, might our vision be restored? How can we learn to see again? For Josef Pieper, the answer was to be found in artistic creation— in actually making with our hands and eyes ourselves. Collegium Institute invites you to explore these questions at "The Resurrection of Beauty: How the Interior Life of the Artist Can Shape Our Daily Life," an interactive workshop featuring theologian and artist Dr. Sarah E. Maple on Tuesday, October 27. We will explore the meaning of and need for a resurrection of beauty, along with how the acts of risk-taking and engagement in creative practice are part of that process of restoration. Part discussion and part workshop, this event will meld the mind and the hand. Participants will get to try their hand at working with brush and ink as well as pencil and charcoal. No artistic background is required and all are welcome.
Sarah E. Maple is a Research Scholar at University of Oxford’s Blackfriars Hall, in the Centre for Theology and the Arts. She received her Ph.D. from the Institute for Theology, Imagination & the Arts at the University of St Andrews with joint supervision from University of Oxford, and read for her MTS at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute. She is the author of The Resurrection of Beauty: The Imperishable Aesthetic & the Interior Life of the Artist (2026).
Date: Tuesday, October 27 (5:30 - 7:00 PM)
Location: Penn & Drexel Newman Center Lounge (111 S 38th St, University City Philadelphia)
To RSVP, click the button below. Questions? Please contact Ars Vivendi Director Jessica Sweeney (jsweeney@collegiuminstitute.org).