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Concresence - The Many Become One - Now Showing in SPARKS Online Gallery - Center for Process Studies

Concresence: The Many Become One | Now Showing in SPARKS Online Gallery

We’re very happy to announce the opening of our first online gallery, featuring works by members of SPARKS, the arts collective of the Center for Process Studies. The theme is Concrescence. Alfred North Whitehead describes each actual entity as experiencing concrescence, the process by which “the many become one, and are increased by one.” Through concrescence, influences from the past are gathered into a new unity of experience.

This theme invites works that explore moments of gathering, transformation, and emergence. Concrescence may show up in your art as the layering of memories, the blending of voices or sounds, the combining of colors or textures, or the shaping of many influences into a single expression. How do you sense disparate influences coming together into a new whole? How does your creative process express concrescence?

Concresence features nine artists working across a wide variety of different mediums—we invite you to explore their work in the virtual gallery!

Artworks Featured in Concrescence

Holoeikon

Kaeti Leila MacNeil

Mixed media on paper (watercolor, black 4.0, pen, prismacolor)

Event Fractal

Dianna Padgett

Short essay and image

Echos of Flow

Andrew Brindle

Photography and micro-poetry

Concrescence

Elvi Bjorkquist

Painting | 36"x48" | Acrylics on Canvas | Diptych

COMPLEX HarmonY

Arlette Stella

Acrylic and mixed media

Stepping Out

Mary Helen Fagan

India ink on watercolor paper

A Storm Event

Anna Rubin (Composer) and Yen Ha (Artist)

Video and sound collage with electronic music, pen and ink drawings, and poem spoken in English, French, and Vietnamese

Concrescence

Peblo Nemo

Video (music, illustration, and video editing)

About the Author(s)

Jay McDaniel

Jay McDaniel is a philosopher and theologian known for his work in process theology and open and relational thought. Influenced by Alfred North Whitehead, his writing explores the relational nature of reality, the role of creativity in the universe, and the spiritual significance of everyday life. He has long been associated with the Center for Process Studies and with Open Horizons, where he helps develop resources that connect philosophy, spirituality, ecology, and the arts. McDaniel writes for both academic and general audiences, often drawing on literature, music, theater, and nature to illuminate philosophical ideas. His work emphasizes compassion, imaginative freedom, and the possibility of cooperative and sustainable communities. A teacher, essayist, and musician, he is especially interested in how process philosophy can enrich religious life, interfaith dialogue, and public culture. Through essays, courses, and collaborative projects, he seeks to make complex philosophical ideas accessible and practically meaningful for contemporary life.