The Necessity of Beauty: Tom Jay,
An Understated Sacredness: Rina Swentzell,
Pursuit / You Can’t Have It All: Barbara Ras,
Beauty: Scott Russell Sanders,
The Truth of the Barnacles: Rachel Carson and the Moral Significance of Wonder: Kathleen Deen Moore,
“This issue of Connotations provides a preview of sorts to the 23rd Sitka Symposium, On the Edge: The Necessity of Beauty. Because we live in a time when the world seems dominated by violence and degradation, we badly need to find relief from so much that is bleak and depressing. Past Symposium themes have posed challenging and sometimes troubling issues that defy solution. This year we have chosen to concentrate on what is too seldom considered–the underlying order and harmony that shape the natural world and inform the best of art and human work. We don’t see beauty as a simple antidote to the ills of the world; we do believe it is an essential aspect of our experience of the world. It offers positive perspectives on the human condition and fruitful sources of hope and joy. There are stories, many stories, that need to be told…”