I love you Institute

I love you InstituteI love you InstituteI love you Institute
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I love you Institute

I love you InstituteI love you InstituteI love you Institute
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Press
  • Past Work
  • Get Involved

About Us

Why it started

The I Love You Institute is an artist-led site-specific project by Anne Labovitz, urgently working with communities to creatively address today’s world. We combine art making, social justice, radical kindness, and relational listening to normalize saying  “I Love You” as an alternative to division and conflict.


As a new initiative, the I Love You Institute aims to facilitate a series of events that emphasizes connecting with each other through the co-creation of art using relational exchange & creative dialogue. As a nomadic, nimble initiative, the I Love You Institute works in various community sites--public & private. Using established & new networks and focusing on health & wellness, we create one-off events, performances & interventions. Each site is developed & produced as a site-specific experience, working in collaboration with the hosting partners. Intentionally open-ended, the events are responsive to the public & each site. 


The idea is to create spaces for individual connection & creativity with a focus on healing. To do this we’ll be reaching out to all populations, possibly those who feel marginalized, welcoming all to participate in the creation of an art piece or pieces together. This offers participants an opportunity to respond to our world through an act of love & connection. 

Mission

The aim of the I Love You Institute is to facilitate a series of events that emphasizes connecting with each other through creative dialogue. We are action-oriented. We embrace the tension found within conflict and messiness of the world we live in. We will offer participants an opportunity to respond to our world through an act of love and connection. We will support the idea of self care as an act of resistance and for ourselves to be truly seen and heard through an art experience. “The world currently sits in an epoch of change, of division, of conflict. More than ever we need to say and hear I Love You,” Anne Labovitz. The intention will be to create a quiet space in the contemporary sociopolitical storm to connect one-on-one.

Background

The genesis of the Institute came from the reciprocal connections and exchanges honed through artist interviews in 122 Conversations, Labovitz’s 2012-2019 project. The I Love You Institute is embedded in both short-term, one-off person-to-person interventions as well as long-term relationships with organizations. The foundation is a framework and process based on Martin Bruer’s I Thou philosophy of dialogue. Written in 1923, Buber’s I and Thou (Ich und Du, 1923) presents a philosophy of personal dialogue, in that it describes how personal dialogue can define the nature of reality. Buber’s major theme is that human existence may be defined by the way in which we engage in dialogue with each other and with the world.

Location

The Institute is sited in St Paul, Minnesota, but includes local, regional, national, and international contexts. As a nomadic initiative, the I Love You Institute can be set up in a variety of sites. Using established and new networks, the artist and producers will organize to host a number of events, performances, interventions, classes, and networking experiences. Each site will be developed and produced as a site-specific experience, working in collaboration with the hosting partners. An intentional process, the I Love You Institute will focus on building alliances rather than just partnerships.

Rationale

There is substantial evidence that individual well-being is paramount to cultural efficacy. A healthy individual is one that has achieved a sustained sense of well-being to include both the physical and mental states. The research indicates that when individuals engage in cultivating well-being, they demonstrate more healthy behaviors, are more likely to address mental and physical illness, are more socially connected, and have a more positive outlook on life, longevity, and self-perceived health. Healthier individuals lead to healthier communities and healthier communities thrive in transcendent ways.  

Read the full rationale

COMMUNITY

Anne Labovitz

I Love You Institute is a project by Anne Labovitz. Labovitz received a BA in art and psychology from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, and an MFA from Transart, Plymouth University, in New York and Berlin. Labovitz has extensive national and international exhibition history. Her works are held in many private and public collections, including the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport; the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN; the Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN; the Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN; the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, La Jolla, CA; the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, the International Portrait Gallery, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Växjö Kommun, Sweden; Isumi City Offices, Japan; the University of Raparin, Rania Iraqi Kurdistan; and the City of Petrozavodsk, Russia. Adjunct Professor and Mentor - Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN.

Read about Anne Labovitz

Megan Arney Johnston

Megan Arney Johnston

Megan Arney Johnston

Dr. Megan Arney Johnston is a curator, writer, and educator who utilizes socially engaged practices.

Olf Olschewsky

Megan Arney Johnston

Megan Arney Johnston

Charlie Wagner

Megan Arney Johnston

Charlie Wagner

Dr. Lisa Bravo

Dr. Lisa Bravo

Dr. Lisa Bravo

Highly acclaimed psychotherapist, internationally recognized speaker, teacher, & author.

May Nasr

Dr. Lisa Bravo

Dr. Lisa Bravo

May Nasr
Executive Director
PartnersLebanon
شركاء نحن في لبنان
Member of PartnersGlobal Network

'Kemi Okenyodo

Dr. Lisa Bravo

'Kemi Okenyodo

Eric Lorberer

Omayra Alvarado

'Kemi Okenyodo

Rain Taxi Editor and Executive Director

Omayra Alvarado

Omayra Alvarado

Omayra Alvarado

Founder and owner of Instituto de Visión. Forward-thinking art professional with a 15 years of exper

Emmy Vadnais

Omayra Alvarado

Omayra Alvarado

Occupational Therapist, Intuitive Healer, Health Coach, teacher, consultant, and writer.

Wayne Zink

Dr. Alison Aune

Dr. Alison Aune

CEO, Owner/Partner at The Metropolitan in Edina

Dr. Alison Aune

Dr. Alison Aune

Dr. Alison Aune

celebrating the intersection of art, craft, and heritage

Bill Gamble

Dr. Alison Aune

Seena Hodges

Seena Hodges

Ladona Tornabene, PhD, MCHES

Seena Hodges

Founder + CEO of the Woke Coach & President of the Board of Trustees of the Walker Art Center

Ladona Tornabene, PhD, MCHES

Ladona Tornabene, PhD, MCHES

Ladona Tornabene, PhD, MCHES

Dr. Tornabene, associate professor in the public health program at University of Minnesota, Duluth.

Mikaela Sarran

Ladona Tornabene, PhD, MCHES

Ladona Tornabene, PhD, MCHES

I Love You Institute is a project by Anne Labovitz

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