Harrison Owen shared a story from Bill Cleveland, of the Center for the Study of Art and Community, who facilitates numerous OST events addressing the question:

How can those involved in the arts and community development work together to create caring and capable communities?

Bill says that:

One interesting aspect has been the increasing space that has emerged within the OST process for the use of the arts themselves as tools for communication and making meaning.

One event that I have facilitated for the past eight years is a gathering of 150-200 artists and educators called the Minnesota Artist/Educator Institute. This gathering has a rotating cast of returnees and newcomers who come prepared not only to discuss and debate the best practices in arts education, but also to MAKE ART using OST… We take over all the arts facilities on campus. Theaters, dance studios, print making studios, welding studios, clay studios, computer graphics suites …. for FIVE DAYS of 24 hour, OST driven creative insanity…

…I am thinking that these arts-infused OST practices might be an interesting addition to your evolving peace program…

Read the rest here.

OSlist members define Open Space Technology with 25 words or less (having fun and getting creative!):

Open Space Technology is surprisingly simple high performance system, bounding passion with responsibility. ~Mikk Sarv

Do you like to be in conversations in this community where you feel alive, inspired, connected, surprised, engaged, and empowered? Well, that’s what happens in open space. ~Jack Ricchiuto

Do you yearn to be in conversations about questions that matter where you feel alive, inspired, connected, surprised, engaged, empowered, responsible and open to possibility? Well, that’s what happens in open space. ~Alan Stewart

Open Space enables groups of any size to organize themselves to deal with complex, important issues and accomplish something meaningful by inviting people to take repsonsibility for what they love. ~Peggy Holman

Open Space combines the rigor of a great board meeting with the energy of conversation around a coffee pot. ~John Rapp

Open space is a lot like tofu, which can be used in countless ways
because it readily absorbs the flavors and spices of anything. ~ Tree Fitzpatrick

Getting people to work on stuff that really matters.
Creating and immediately implementing high performance work teams.
Harnessing the power of Spirit to bring meaningful work to our community.
Discerning what’s most important and taking responsibility for it.
Onion Skin Technology…peel back the layers and it makes you cry…but cook it up and it gets sweet and juicy. ~Chris Corrigan

Open Space is the WD-40 of group work. One shot will loosen up just about anything. (For those not in the know – WD-40 is a marvelous universal solvent.) ~Harrison Owen

Open Space can do more than a personal development training, a creativity workshop and a big company party altogether: people evolve, they really connect with each other and they create great results ~ all at the same time, naturally coming from within. ~Marei Kiele

OST puts the human being in the center, enables result-oriented
self-organization, leads individuals and groups to phenomenal transformation
processes, which can be experienced in all kinds of application fields. ~Gabriela Ender

Would you like to find a method for turning frustration into action? For accessing the wisdom of individuals and groups? Try Open Space Technology! ~ Glory Ressler

Open Space is a great method for real people with real issues to create real results in real-time. ~Karen Sella