analogy, metaphor, allegory

I was away for a couple days, visiting in Little Rock and Fort Smith on arts business and driving through some of the worst rain I've seen in my life. In the meantime I am wanting to pick up on an earlier part of my process of describing the corporate value of crafts and the value of corporate employees having an extended relationship with physical creative activity. This is in relation to an extended conversation, "How do we get corporations to "buy in" to support crafts programming in schools, museums, craft schools like ESSA, and to invest in the personal creative time for their employees.

Stuart Rosenfeld at last year's CODA conference had suggested that while we know that crafts have personal therapeutic benefits, having to do with mental health and "recreation", that in itself would not be enough to make the sell. But if we could present a clear case that participation in crafts has effect on creativity and performance, we would be in a better position to receive the benefits of corporate support. Conversations over the last couple days have shown me that the circumstances for non-profits in the current recession are dire. Galleries are folding and arts organizations and other non-profits are facing tremendous challenges, so to develop a clear rationale for corporate support of arts organizations is extremely important.

Some of this has led me to consider our use of metaphor, analogy and allegory. I will ask you to consider these on your own and reflect on their meaning. When formulating a hypothesis through which to test and extend physical understanding, the known forms the launch pad for exploration of the unknown. To think outside the box, to be creative does not mean discovery from completely out of the blue, but is most often accomplished by utilizing known relationships between things... The kind of relationships we discover through the use of our own hands. We use metaphor, analogy and allegory in formulating the hypotheses through which human knowledge is extended and new working methodologies are discovered and tested. Participation in crafts and other forms of physical activity produce a catalog of metaphorical and analogical models useful in extending the breadth of human knowledge.

You are welcome to participate in my own expansion of intellect though the comments function. Discuss, please.