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Art of Community 2012: People, Place, and Purpose 
Sept. 21-23

Early bird discount tickets available through June 30th (extended!)

 Click here for ticket prices and info on lodging, food, childcare, available discounts, and more… 

On the weekend of Sept. 21-23, Art of Community is once again being hosted in the beautiful coastal redwoods of Occidental, CA. A unique conference experience, AoC offers a wealth of opportunities for building and practicing skills of a cooperative culture and for people and organizations to share ideas and knowledge about creating and living in intentional communities.

Inspiring people to purposefully engage in place-making is central to this year’s AoC vision. Featured speaker Mark Lakeman of The City Repair Project in Portland, Oregon will share wisdom and stories about his involvement in strengthening one’s sense of community via projects which connect people to place. For 15 years City Repair has worked to transform Portland neighborhoods in accordance with locally cultivated vision of creativity, community, and sustainability.

A wide range of talented and inspiring facilitators gather to offer workshops in good group process skills such as conflict resolution and decision making models, cooperative games, social permaculture, cooperative land ownership, and much more. For seasoned communitarians and community organizers, you have space to share your pearls of wisdom and find out how others living in community have weathered challenges you may be facing. Casual and facilitated networking sessions will be available for helping each other plan and strategize for growing the Communities Movement and strengthening collaborative connections.

We create space where community minded folks can celebrate and connect around their shared values and commonalities that are a part of what we describe as the Communities Movement. What does it mean to call these shared concepts a “Movement”, how can we together affect social change, and how do we organize as a Movement to make it stronger? Post weekend “special” program days will be added for workshop intensives and to talk about these questions.

The FIC celebrates its 25th anniversary this year- we have a history of bringing people together in a vibrant exchange of information and inspiration. Together, we are making a difference….

Participants from Art of Community 2011 said:

“The opportunity to connect to such wonderful people, be in the bigger community of communities,
to network, and get re-inspired was fabulous!!!”

“I felt connected to the movement, the people, and the spirit of community.
I made great new friends and alliances. I learned. I taught. It was awesome!”

“I loved being surrounded by others who share my passion for community,
and see community living as a step towards helping the world move in a positive direction.”

Come join us in celebrating the Art of Community!