Dear Friends of Meinrad,

I hope that you are having a wonderful winter season. The dark days have made me want to curl up and sleep. It's a good time to catch up on rest! And I'd also like to catch you up on Meinrad's doings over the past few months.

Meinrad's lecture at AATA
Meinrad has decided that she will no longer be traveling all over the place to give presentations. She is feeling like it is time to stay at home and work in her studio. The only traveling that she is interested in at this point is an occasional trip to Europe. (See below!) So when she was asked by the American Art Therapists Association to give a lecture at it's annual conference in 2007, she agreed only because it was in Albuquerque. During the preparation for the lecture, it became clear to her that she wanted this to be her last talk before a large audience. So I packed up my things and went to Albuquerque for the momentous occasion. The conference was wonderful. Meinrad's good friend Linney Wix, an art professor at the University of Mexico, was helping to coordinate the conference and it was fun to be involved with this vital group of committed folks. See Meinrad and Linney at the below. Over 1000 people attended Meinrad's talk and gave her a well-deserved standing ovation. It was thrilling to see so many people be so excited about what Meinrad had to say! We got a good audio tape of the lecture and I hope we will be able to make it available as a future part of the Documentary Project. We had a wonderful time being together - especially in the evening sitting around the fire in Meinrad's studio with friends, eating delicious food prepared by Rosemary! I was very well cared for while I was there.

Speaking of the Documentary Project ...
We have received over $100,000 in gifts from individuals and grants from two foundations. We are so grateful for all these gifts! The grants came from the Kalliopeia Foundation and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. We have received enough donations to pay for the completion of the editing of the video! Donna Campbell and Georgann Eubanks of Minnow Media are working on the editing now and we hope to have a video ready for post-production work later this winter. It is a true labor of love!

Barcelona in the Spring
You have recently received another email from me about the trip to Barcelona and Montserrat with Meinrad in April/May, 2008. I hope you will consider if you want to be part of the small group that will accompany Meinrad on a trip to one of her favorite places on the planet. We will visit the Black Madonna at Montserrat that inspired Meinrad daily during the year she spent in Spain when she was a young adult. Contact me if you have any questions about the trip.

Conversations with Meinrad Craighead
Beginning in 2008, Meinrad will be offering a new series of gatherings entitled "Conversations with Meinrad Craighead". There will be six of these gatherings annually in her Albuquerque studio. Each will last from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm and will be open to eight women. Each participant is invited to bring with them one piece of her own original artwork. Meinrad will open each gathering with a talk on art and spirituality, followed by discussion within the group. Each participant will then have the opportunity to share her image with the group for discussion and for sharing ideas and insights. Dates in 2008 are February 17, March 15, April 12, September 20, October 18, and November 15.
For more information go to www.meinradcraighead.com or contact Co-facilitators Elsa LaFlamme or Luanne Lee.

Thanks for all your support of the Project. Have a wonderful winter season!
All Best! Amy Kellum

Dear Friends,

Meinrad and I have recently returned from a wonderful week in New York City. Meinrad has been saving her frequent flyer miles for years to be able to make this trip and she graciously invited me along. We stayed with a long-time friend of Meinrad's and Rosemary's who lives on Fifth Avenue - so we were put up in style!

Museums galore

We spent many hours in the fabulous museums of New York City. Everywhere we went, we were happy to see what we expected - but each museum offered us unique surprises. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art we loved the Egyptian installations, the Medieval art, and the new Greek and Roman areas. We were thrilled when our host gave us a pass to be able to see the new exhibition, The Age of Rembrandt, before it officially opened. At the Neue, we were awed by the fabulous collection of German Expressionist art. The Frick Collection was wonderfully housed in a home on Fifth Avenue. The goal of Mr. Frick was to collect art that he enjoyed, thus the collection was virtually non-violent and beautiful. At the Cloisters, we kept forgetting that we were in the US - we kept thinking of our upcoming trip to Barcelona! At the Morgan Library, we encountered a beautiful wooden statue of Elisabeth of Schonau. She was a contemporary of St.Hildegard of Bingen - they met at least once and corresponded frequently with long, detailed letters about their visions. The MoMA was showing a wonderful exhibit of Richard Serra's metal work that captivated us. At the Brooklyn Museum we were happy to see "The Dinner Party" in a wonderful setting. Lots of educational material accompanied this impressive exhibit. We were especially engaged by a large painting by Jenny Seville in an adjacent room of feminist art.

Tourists, too!

And lest you think we were total art nerds, we did engage in some New York tourist activities. Our first evening, we walked all the way around the big reservoir in Central Park. After our day in the Brooklyn Museum we WALKED across the Brooklyn Bridge!! If there was any doubt that Meinrad is healed from her pelvis break, it has been totally dispelled! We also rode the ferry around the Statue of Liberty and stopped off at Ellis Island for a brief and very interesting tour. And at one point, we realized that we had covered Manhattan, top to bottom - by bus! Saturday, up to the Cloisters and Sunday, down to the ferry. We also spent some time at Washington Square, watching the street musicians and dancers. And can I be really crass and tell you that we rode in the elevator with Joanne Woodward, with her dog's paw up on my knee?! That was cool!

Foundation Grant!

It seems that whenever I travel with Meinrad, some money comes to the Project. On our last night in New York, I got a call from the Kalliopeia Foundation. They have awarded us a grant of $10,000 in support of the documentary!! We are so grateful for this wonderful gift and their vote of support. We have a few more house parties scheduled this fall and another grant request. We are getting nearer our goal of finishing the Documentary early this winter. But we still need your help. Please visit www.meinradproject.org/donate where you can donate online.

Peace be your friend as the light is lessening through these beautiful days of fall.

Amy Kellum