“Reims Reimagined” introduces the lecture participants to an artfully adapted pattern of the original medieval design at the Reims Cathedral in France. Cerimon House founder and director Randall Stuart shares a variety of discoveries based on his use of the pattern in both his workshop teaching, and in the monthly offering to the community: which has become a signature program for his Portland, Oregon-based humanities and cultural arts organization. From using the design as a “key” with students, authors, performers, and civic boards, to creating workshops integrating mythology and political activism, the experience of “reimagining Reims” has resulted in workshop groups finding their way forward. This presentation includes projected visuals, a handout pamphlet (including a finger walk of the design) explaining the history (and even a few mysteries) of the Reims pattern, as well as an exploration of the five “harbors” that the design presents. Randall also explains how the large-scale and mobile 33 ft. sq. Cerimon House labyrinth was created, using theatrical design models, and speaks to the various ways in which the use of the labyrinth has empowered and transformed his nonprofit organization. The experiential indoor walks – which are monthly as well as being “themed” – have become well known as immersive presentations of light, sound, pattern, and movement that create a sacred “environmental” space at Cerimon House. Randall is a renovator and a raconteur, theatre professor and stage director, playwright and author, a hospice volunteer, and a lifelong student of thanatology.
