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Mission: Renaissance is directly connected to WISE and Scientology.
I applied to this company and It was stranger than fiction.
I found myself in what seemed to be an excecutive board room. Filled with many other applicants for art teaching jobs. Most
of which had never drawn or painted anything in their life. I was given an application at least twenty pages in length. All
of which had very little to do with professional job experience. More so, it asked very personal/psychological questions about
my life. I was then called into an office for the interview. I was told that any experience in art is not a prerequisite for
the job. In fact, that they preferred people with NO art training. Later in the interrview, I discovered that the woman interviewer
was one of the teachers who trains the newly hired art instructors. She had never drawn a picture in her life prior to Mission
Renaissance. In addition I was told that instructors and what they call "program directors" must sign a contract. For instructors/assistants,
it was in the range of 1-1 1/2 years and directors 5 years. If one were to break this contract, they would have to pay Mission
Renaissance for their training. The training, was of a particular method of the company's founder Larry Gluck. Whom, she stated
was a world reknowned artist. I felt somewhat naive, I have been studying art and art history for over 15 years and I had
never heard of this artist or method. The interview had apparently gone well and I was scheduled for a second.
I was definitely unsure about making such a long term commitment to a company I knew nothing about. My first impression was
not a good one, so I decided to do a little background research. The following are a some of the ambiguities I had uncovered.
The founder Larry Gluck is all over the World wide web. He taught Ron L. Hubbards kid, prior to his suicide. Larry was very
good friends with Mr. Ron L. Hubbard himself.
Mission: Renaissance (MR) is a member of WISE (business and scientology). In fact, the MR president is on the front page of
the WISE website. If you go to this site LOOK AT HIS EYES!
http://www.wise.org/en_US/l-ron-hubbard/results/index.html
Scientology Churches, or satellite recruitment centers are called "Missions".
The teaching "methodolgy" has less to do with the learning of art, and is more relative to scientology's reknowned "Personality
Tests" and "auditing". Very 50's "how-to"...
The only actual Gluck artwork I could find was predominantly on his own websites. I did find one piece on E-bay, and the collector
described him as an Impressionist? It was a pretty generic watercolor of an idealized islander of sorts. I found yet another
Gluck piece on exhibition at my local Out of the Closet goodwill store. It would seem the artist truly has a fascination with
exotic vacations, and grand scenery dipicted on foreign soil. In terms of craft and how these works were rendered, they appear
rigid, uniform, and lack any attention to negative space. A kind of fill in the blanks methodology that lacks depth and richness.
This was quite the disappointment.
I also came across an article about a former employee of which confirmed all that I had already discovered.
http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com/archives/scientology_and_the_art_of_deception.phtml
This company specializes in teaching children.
If your an artist looking for work, or a parent, I hope you will take the time to research MR before deciding to apply or
place your child in this environment.
WISE
Story: Hollywood Interrupted
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