thundering wonder

A practice-based community of creative persuasion

We are advocates for living in the creative process. A routine gathering in Minneapolis to share and remind ourselves of the fundamental ideas of authentic creative practice, informed by the philosophies of great creative thinkers/makers from the likes of Twyla Tharp and Corita Kent, to Jeff Tweedy or John Cleese. Members may be practicing artists, but you don't have to be. The process is the project.

Eh, it's not really an art class. We will talk about making things, and maybe sometimes make things together, but our time is more like a hang out, a creative recess. Like-minded folks, growing, learning and affirming the creative process of our individual and collective lives.

Absolutely not! …I mean, maybe?
Thundering Wonder is non-religious. That said, there is something semi-spiritual, an ethereal energy outside of our consciousness, which is born from the creative process. We trust in this creative energy which has at times been described as the muse, a soul, a spirit, or even god.We are observing whatever this oblique energy has to share with us.
It's playful, but not wholly unserious.

If all this talk hasn't made your heart buzz a little, then this group may not be for you, and that's okay. But if this sounds like something you would like to be a part of, welcome! We hold observances on the first Sundays of every month from 11AM–1PM at various locations. (Calendar below.) We'll provide food as we're able. The only thing you need to bring is your curiosity. And kids! Bring the kids. They're better thundering wonders than any adult. We have a lot to relearn from kids.

If you’re interested, here’s the whole pitch:We believe a creative act is best approached as play. Flipping, mixing, blending, and bending ideas and experiences, without judgement and with contempt for the concept of failure. It is an open-armed sensory smorgasbord, a recognition of the beauty in the mundane. Emotionally safeguarded against the resistance of insecurity, apathy, overanalysis, or ego.The creative act does not originate in inspiration, but in ritual and habit. It is an iterative and moderate balance of deliberate materials, space, time, nonsense, and patience. It is not valued through sales or ample applause, but through the personal observance of its practice, or — if shared with others — when we feel our individual and collective selves affirmed.The creative act is a lifelong trajectory toward authenticity and broader truth, fueled by an intuitive conversation between creator and creation, and trust in the wondrous outcomes of this process.Life, and living, is a creative act.

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The idea of Thundering Wonder is born of a research paper and talk from the summer of 2024 by Dan Ibarra. In it, he gathered the top-level ideas for a successful creative process across a collection of a dozen contemporary and historic artists' books on the subject.Each idea was then organized into categories. Any category with corroborating ideas from three or more artists became a "tenet," a kind of agreed-upon truth about creative practice. In all, the work yielded 37 tenets, across 9 broad categories. He referred to this collective whole as a Creative Constitution. It is a work in progress. Thundering Wonder is part of that progress, and an attempt to implement this progress into a cooperative concept.Ibarra does not believe he is the first one to ever think of this approach, although he has yet to meet anyone else who has. That said, Ibarra also does not wish to "own" the idea of which Thundering Wonder is based upon, and invites collaboration with others exploring similar approaches. Yes, he is writing this in third person right now.

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