FOUNDERS REFLECTIONS 2017

Endearing to Little Bloomsbury, Endearing to Faith under Uncertainty and Risks

Stain glass by 2010 featured artist Grant L. Lund, an icon of our
mission to promote peace and hope in an uncertain world.
LOGAN, UT The Americans I remember from college 30 years ago in Hawaii and Utah
and later at work on Wall Street in New York were a people marked by self-assurance.
The people I meet in America today are just as eager to help others succeed as they did
before and more so than any people I know. But Americans today seem to have varied
somewhat in their ability to deal with uncertainty, perhaps due to our new all-
American culture of blue ribbons and participation trophies. Uncertainty is a strange
thing. The more you draw unto it, the more confidence and hope you gain. It is the case
with the entrepreneur; it is the case with America as an entrepreneurial nation.
Little Bloomsbury started out as a housewarming party in a historic home below Logan
Temple in 2007. Its friendly neighborhood setting gives artists, art viewers, and
concert goers alike an excuse to step into the unknown and feel good about themselves
for doing so. The unknown spoken of here is not darkness but light, not criticism but
recognition; for light could be just as frightening as darkness if we are not used to it.
For 11 years and at 15 art festivals we have shown works of many a well-known artist.
But thats not all. We also serve as a launch pad for those who excel not in repute per
se but in manner of expression, conceptualization, and spirit. The Chinese sum it up as
yi jing () the unusual realm art takes you, the noble senses it awakens in you,
and the courage it inspires in you. Are these not the qualities of a true friend, also?

Artworks, like people, often come alive and begin to fascinate and empower when we spend time to get to know them. Indeed,
getting to know a piece of art is like getting to know a friend. If we are not careful we could be passing up in a hurry what has
the potential to enlighten, simply because its message does not seem to be loud enough or it does not fit our stereotypes of
cool and great. At Little Bloomsbury, we try to create an environment for viewers to take their blinders off and their
earplugs out. By having the artists act as docents, visitors often discover more than what they see at first glance.
Since the birth of ancient civilizations including Babylon, China, Egypt, Greece, and India, art, literature, and music have
continued to be instrumental in furthering the visions of reformists. At Little Bloomsbury Foundation, we strive to be
productive reformists by employing art, music, literature, magic, and storytelling to enliven pioneer ideals and values, and
promote self-reliance, healthy-living, and community-building. The goal is to increase our preparedness as a community to
survive and thrive in an uncertain world. In particular, we hope that our activities can help the chosen generation become
more equipped to lead and guide in times of uncertainty.
In July 2017, we are excited to host the first and only Pioneer Art Festival in Northern Utah/Idaho for the second year, with 25
participating artists of diverse backgrounds but the same level of admiration and gratitude for pioneers of all times. With the
sponsorship of ICON Health & Fitness, we will make history by being the first-ever handcart pullers in Logan Pioneer Parade,
and in so doing help remind ourselves that we too can do amazing things and overcome the harshest challenges of our day.
Our goal as an all-volunteer task force is to help strengthen individuals and families through the arts and humanities. And
strengthened we are as we tap into the positive energies of those we serve. In furthering our mission to promote peace and
hope in an uncertain world we have collaborated as community service partners with Engineers Without Borders, National
Alliance on Mental Illness, Utah Storytelling Guild, Utah Adoption Exchange & Heart Gallery, Habitat for Humanity, Boy & Girls
Club, CAPSA, Youtlinc, and most recently Fight the New Drug and Cache Valley Historical Society. We find it an honor to help
create validating experiences for fellow organizations and citizens alike. As an arts foundation and peace organization in one,
we believe that the best defense against addiction and violence is the creation of validating experiences and peacemaking
attitudes and skills. When we are reminded often enough that we deserve the best, we will have the resolve to say no to abuse.
In addition the Annual Little Bloomsbury Art Festival & Concert Series of three art exhibitions and 10 concerts, Little
Bloomsbury has also hosted weekly Chinese cultural arts workshops, Chinese concerts at the Logan Tabernacle, a Chinese
Orchestral Concert at St. Johns Episcopal Church, a Flash Mob & Leadership Summer Training Camp at St. Thomas Aquinas
Church in Hyde Park, and a 10th Anniversary Peace Ambassadorship Program sponsored by CV Morning Rotary Club, Kiwanis,
Michaels, and Utah Storytelling Guild. It was the Official Organizer of the 2014 County Fair Art Show where over 12,000 visited.
The Foundation is named after Bloomsbury of London, notable for its garden squares, University of London colleges, and the
Bloomsbury Group with writers Virginia and Leonard Woolf, painters Roger Fry and Duncan Grant, psychologist Adrian
Stephen, and economist John Maynard Keynes. Bloomsbury is a stones throw from The London School of Economics & Political
Science (LSE), my alma mater and former employer.
Dr. Brenda C. Sun, Founding Executive Director, Little Bloomsbury Foundation, 181 N 200 E, Logan, UT 84321 (where the teepee is)
Phone/text: 435-994-9904 Email: dr.b.c.sun@aol.com URL: www.littlebloomsbury.org