A public conversation titled “Sources of Inspiration: Creative Lineage,” will feature four artists speaking about their sources of inspiration and how these nourish their creative work. The event will take place on Thursday, October 18, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., at the Latchis Theater in Brattleboro, an ADA-accessible space. Admission is $8 at the door; series tickets purchased at earlier events will be honored. Work trades are available; contact Shantavns@gmail.com or text (802)275-8152.

Featured artists include classical musician and long-time arts advocate Zon Eastes, visual artist and gallery owner Petria Mitchell, writer Ned Olmsted, and jazz artist Eugene Uman. Each artist will share examples of their work and discuss how their personal sources of inspiration have helped form and deepen their creative practice. The moderator for the event will be Shanta Lee Gander, an artist, consultant, and Brattleboro Selectboard member.

Some of the questions we hope the artists will explore include: What inspires and sustains your creative work? Who are the members of your artistic “family”? Do you create out of a sense of evolution and loyalty to an artistic lineage or do you create out of a mission to break with tradition? Is it possible to be influenced by a tradition without being aware of it? What are the boundaries on “borrowing” a lineage from another tradition or culture?

This is the last event in a three-part series of forums titled “Nourishing the Inner Artist: Conversations on Art, Creativity and the Imagination,” related to nurturing and sustaining creativity in the practice of art as well as in one’s life. The co-creators of these forums, Shanta Lee Gander and Sarah Bowen, envisaged them as a series of conversations focusing on questions such as: How do we nourish and sustain a creative practice and presence in the world? Can artists’ experiences suggest ways that we all can creatively contribute to the community and the world in this particular time and place? Bowen and Gander are hopeful that these conversations will interest a wide audience, from experienced artists to people who are curious about how to be more creative in their everyday lives.