The time is upon us and on Monday morning we will be performing this artistic ritual with 150 dancers from all over the globe as an example of what can be if we all work together for one peaceful collaborative world. Our human mandala of peace will send up a cry to the heavens, to the universe. and to the world that there is a better way and we are taking proactive steps to create a world of peaceful coexistence for all. Please join us live online and add your vibrations of peace and good will as we meditate and reach out together during this half hour sacred offering. A cry for Peace.
Please join us at Unity Village for the 24th annual Unity World Day of Prayer!
Weds, Sept 13:
* 7-8:30pm Opening Service in the Activities Center with keynote by Rev. Linda Martella-Whitsett. Music by Jana Stanfield. A candlelight walk to the Silent Unity Chapel will follow to open the 24-hour prayer vigil.
* 8:45pm Reception at Unity Banquet and Dining.
Thurs, Sept 14:
* 7:30-9am Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at Unity Banquet and Dining – In Person & Live Online.
* 11am Silent Unity Prayer Service in Activities Center – In Person & Live Online.
* 1:30pm Sacred Circle prayer experience in the central courtyard by flagpole
* 2:30-3:30 Sound Immersion (Gongs) in Activities Center – In Person & Live Online
* 3:30-5pm Art Gallery opening and Poetry Reading behind the bookstore.
* 4-6pm Open House for Unity Worldwide Ministries in Unity Education Building.
* 7-8pm Inspirational Concert by Jana Stanfield and closing celebration – In Person & Live Online.
* 8pm Closing of the 24-hour prayer vigil in the Silent Unity Chapel.
All events are free and open to the public. No registration required.
Donations gratefully accepted.
We will be flying kites for Peace at a game park in Harare Zimbabwe. We will be hosting 40 charities who will be fundraising and spreading awareness of their causes. We hope to inspire unity hope peace gratitude and love
Poetry Slam for Peace
We are so honored to have been invited to co-produce PEACE IN THE PARK, a free event put on by the Brahma Kumaris in the Music Concourse (bandshell) on 9/23 from 11-6. The event is tied in with U.N. International Day of Peace (which is 9/21, with many events on the same Saturday as ours), and will also participate in the Earthdance Prayer for Peace. I am running the Talk Tent, am curating the speakers, and will emcee throughout the day, and – if I can save myself a time slot – will READ A PASSAGE from my upcoming book The Secret Power of LOVE! And if that weren’t enough, my NEW band S.O.U.L. Twin Messiah will be HEADLINING this event for our DEBUT gig!! We will be playing all new, original songs for YOU! Plus, we will lead a singalong to finish the day, and it will almost-for-sure be Imagine by John Lennon. Our timeslot is 5:30pm in the Bandshell. Wow! What a debut!!
I really hope that YOU can make it to this very special event,
Grassroots, interfaith and cultural Peacemakers celebrating and catalyzing greater peace in our community and world. Special 3 pm calling – in Drum Circle
4pm trail of tears intertribal dancers open program. Dances of Universal Peace will be taught. Special performances include: Poem and flute by TJ Anderson, African dance by local youth, Collaborative peace performance by Bernadette Brown & Semelle Ramsey “A Change is gonna Come” by Hadassah Faison, songs by Joy Tru, announcements and community Peace Blessing.
Potluck feast to follow. Bring a food item and friends!
Hosted by The Annual “Who’s Your Mama?” EARTH DAY & Environmental Film Fest Events.
Alta Earth Day
- April 14, 2018
- Presented By: Alta Ski Area
- Venue: Alta Ski Area
East State Highway 210/Little Cottonwood Canyon
Alta, UT 84092 - Time: See official website for schedule: https://www.alta.com/the-mountain/events/earth-day
- Start Time:10:00 AM
- End Time:11:59 PM
- Category: Festivals & Special Events
- Add to Trip Planner
Join Alta for its 9th annual community Alta Earth Day on Saturday, April 14, 2018. We aim to encourage environmental stewardship, responsible recreation and awareness of the relationship between climate change and the future of the ski industry in Little Cottonwood Canyon and beyond. The day will feature: Eco-Friendly Vendors, Naturalist Tours, Birding in Alta, Après Earth Day & Film!
“The World Sends Us Garbage, We Send Back Music”
– Favio Chávez, The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura
Mon, April 23, 2018 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM AEST
Lendlease, Tower Three, International Towers Sydney
300 Barangaroo Avenue
Barangaroo, NSW 2000 Australia
Get creative at our recycled art and sculpture workshop, hear from local environmental groups and see this year’s Sculptures @ Bayside exhibition.
DATE AND TIME
Tue. 24 April 2018
11:00 am – 2:00 pm AE
LOCATION
Cook Park, Kyeemagh
Cnr Bestic St and The Grand Parade
Sydney, New South Wales 2216
Australia
A great soul /funk concert. Come and be uplifted by great music and let’s raise as much money as possible to help re-unite children who have been separated from their families at the U.S. border. Tickets are $10. Please click on the link below to buy tickets, bring friends! You may make an extra donation on the night if you so wish. All proceeds will go to this great cause. Rob Duncan has played music all over the world, is a father of 3 and writes music about his experience of being human, man and father.
Here’s what he says about his music and this concert:
My music draws from my life experience; spiritually, soulfully, intellectually, and emotionally. All of my songs represent my musical influences like soul music, blues, jazz, and rock. Deeply soulful, funky, melancholy music with ultimately a message of hope. That’s how I write my music. That’s how I sing my music. I lay my heart on the table and reach you in places that you feel.
I have decided to donate the cover charge from my upcoming show at Rockwood Music Hall 3 to RAICES. RAICES primarily provides two very very important things.
It provides lawyers for the children who have been torn from their parents by ICES, and it pays the Immigration Bond which releases the parent from detention allowing their children to rejoin them. This is where your $10 cover charge for my upcoming show will go. If you wish to donate extra you may do so on the night of the show.
ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL PRESENTS
ROB DUNCAN LIVE with his Funkin Soul Band
Date: Saturday, July 7
Time: 7 PM – 8 PM (Arrive by 6:30. Show starts at 7:00! )
Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3
185 Orchard St, New York, NY
Hosted by North Corner Music
$10 Cover Charge
For Tickets, Click Here: https://bit.ly/2LB0QPM
Join others for 15 glorious minutes of Laughter Yoga on the phone as we celebrate 11 Days of Global Unity!
No previous experience, no special clothes or equipment required. CALL: +1-218-339-2460 CODE: 52844# (LAUGH#) We’ll start with SMILE-UPsSM and get the giggles with silly, playful LAUGHTER exercises that help unite us as we decrease stress, anxiety and depression, increase joy, connection, creativity, energy, focus and productivity. Connect to others through LAUGHTER! Different times each day so check the calendar carefully. Times given for Central Standard Time. More information about Sarah and her work on www.SeriousGiggles.com Come together to LAUGH for joy! “Laughter is the shortest distance between 2 people.” – Victor Borge
Join others for 15 glorious minutes of Laughter Yoga on the phone as we celebrate 11 Days of Global Unity!
No previous experience, no special clothes or equipment required. CALL: +1-218-339-2460 CODE: 52844# (LAUGH#) We’ll start with SMILE-UPsSM and get the giggles with silly, playful LAUGHTER exercises that help unite us as we decrease stress, anxiety and depression, increase joy, connection, creativity, energy, focus and productivity. Connect to others through LAUGHTER! Different times each day so check the calendar carefully. Times given for Central Standard Time. More information about Sarah and her work on www.SeriousGiggles.com The Event Page has more details including a MAP to find the correct time in YOUR time zone and a link to the Facebook Event where you can RSVP if you want to connect further. Come together to LAUGH for joy! “Laughter is the shortest distance between 2 people.” – Victor Borge
Join others for 15 glorious minutes of Laughter Yoga on the phone as we celebrate 11 Days of Global Unity!
No previous experience, no special clothes or equipment required. CALL: +1-218-339-2460 CODE: 52844# (LAUGH#) We’ll start with SMILE-UPsSM and get the giggles with silly, playful LAUGHTER exercises that help unite us as we decrease stress, anxiety and depression, increase joy, connection, creativity, energy, focus and productivity. Connect to others through LAUGHTER! Different times each day so check the calendar carefully. Times given for Central Standard Time. More information about Sarah and her work on www.SeriousGiggles.com The Event Page has more details including a MAP to find the correct time in YOUR time zone and a link to the Facebook Event where you can RSVP if you want to connect further. Come together to LAUGH for joy! “Laughter is the shortest distance between 2 people.” – Victor Borge
Join others for 15 glorious minutes of Laughter Yoga on the phone as we celebrate 11 Days of Global Unity!
No previous experience, no special clothes or equipment required. CALL: +1-218-339-2460 CODE: 52844# (LAUGH#) We’ll start with SMILE-UPsSM and get the giggles with silly, playful LAUGHTER exercises that help unite us as we decrease stress, anxiety and depression, increase joy, connection, creativity, energy, focus and productivity. Connect to others through LAUGHTER! Different times each day so check the calendar carefully. Times given for Central Standard Time. More information about Sarah and her work on www.SeriousGiggles.com The Event Page has more details including a MAP to find the correct time in YOUR time zone and a link to the Facebook Event where you can RSVP if you want to connect further. Come together to LAUGH for joy! “Laughter is the shortest distance between 2 people.” – Victor Borge
Join others for 15 glorious minutes of Laughter Yoga on the phone as we celebrate 11 Days of Global Unity!
No previous experience, no special clothes or equipment required. CALL: +1-218-339-2460 CODE: 52844# (LAUGH#) We’ll start with SMILE-UPsSM and get the giggles with silly, playful LAUGHTER exercises that help unite us as we decrease stress, anxiety and depression, increase joy, connection, creativity, energy, focus and productivity. Connect to others through LAUGHTER! Different times each day so check the calendar carefully. Times given for Central Standard Time. More information about Sarah and her work on www.SeriousGiggles.com The Event Page has more details including a MAP to find the correct time in YOUR time zone and a link to the Facebook Event where you can RSVP if you want to connect further. Come together to LAUGH for joy! “Laughter is the shortest distance between 2 people.” – Victor Borge
Join others for 15 glorious minutes of Laughter Yoga on the phone as we celebrate 11 Days of Global Unity! Today, we culminate these 11 days as we mark the UN International Day of Peace. When Dr. Kataria, founder of Laughter Yoga, began spreading his vision of sharing intentional laughter, he recognized that Laughter is a universal language and since its founding in 1995, he has hoped others will share his vision of using shared intentional laughter to help the world find peace. I’m SURE I’ve enjoyed laughing with each and every person who has called in during the 11 Days of Global Unity. On this, our last call of this series, we will focus on Laughter Exercises that envision a more peaceful world. As always: no previous experience, no special clothes or equipment required. CALL: +1-218-339-2460 CODE: 52844# (LAUGH#) We’ll start with SMILE-UPsSM and get the giggles with silly, playful LAUGHTER exercises that help unite us as we decrease stress, anxiety and depression, increase joy, connection, creativity, energy, focus and productivity. Connect to others through LAUGHTER! Time given is for Central Standard Time. More information about Sarah and her work on www.SeriousGiggles.com The Event Page has more details including a MAP to find the correct time in YOUR time zone and a link to the Facebook Event where you can RSVP if you want to connect further. Come together to LAUGH for joy! “Laughter is the shortest distance between 2 people.” – Victor Borge
Also NOTE: Sarah continues these Laughter Calls every MONDAY MORNING at 9am Central Standard Time for 15 minutes. You are always invited! Thanks for joining the fun as we all work together to find a more unified, and much more peaceful world, one big smile and one shared laugh at a time!
In celebration of our common humanity, we join with citizens from all around the world on September 21st for International Peace Day. This year we are excited to celebrate the EMPOWERED VOICES OF YOUTH in our commUNITY, who are leading the way to a more peaceful and just world. International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution and this day of peace provides a globally shared occasion for all humanity to commit to peace above all differences and to contribute to building a culture of peace.
Come and join us as we
march, chant, dance, rally, listen and create
with one another to celebrate our
connection, hope, and commUNITY!
Festivities include:
March
Unique voices from our International community
Performances
International Flag Ceremony
Face-painting
Sign Making
…and more!
Camp Kindness Day — July 23, 2019
On July 23, the camp community will participate in Camp Kindness Day – an event highlighting the practice of intentional kindness that happens every day at American camps. This is an opportunity to raise awareness of the the great work that camps are doing to teach kindness in engaging, simple, repeatable, and high impact ways that live on in the daily lives of campers and staff members when they return home.
Focusing on our youth and young adults, Camp Kindness Day will help showcase the commitment of the camp community to fostering the core values of kindness, compassion, generosity and care, and integrating those values more fully into every aspect of our society. These values are already part of the fabric of the camp experience. We share the mission for our youth to be nurtured, taught, supported, and inspired to grow into our new generation of kind, compassionate, socially-minded, community-oriented citizens.
Camp Kindness Day will allow camps to incorporate into their July 23 programming fun theme-based activities and cooperative games, cool projects, and memorable moments which will celebrate the value and impact of kindness.
How your camp can participate:
- Schedule Camp Kindness Day into your programming on July 23.
- Help spread the word in a unified social media campaign by tagging #CampKindnessDay into your social media and other communications.
- Share your plans so that ACA can support you through localized public relations efforts.
To support your camp’s involvement in Camp Kindness Day, ACA has produced an electronic #CampKindnessDay Backpack, complete with programming ideas and activities, FAQs, social media tips, and other information on how your camp can celebrate Camp Kindness Day.
Be part of the nation-wide evolution! Plan now to add #CampKindnessDay to your camp’s programming on July 23.
Honoring the Past • Healing the Present • Celebrating the Future
A CELEBRATION OF NATIVE AMERICAN ART, MUSIC AND CULTURES
Thank you Joanne and Monte for this inspiring, hope-infused interview.
Tickets: www.sheatheater.org
Note that the concert is at the Shea Theater at 17 Avenue A in Turners Falls at 7:30 pm on Saturday and tickets are available before the event at a reduced rate and also available at the door.
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Festival details and schedule: www.nolumbekaproject.org
P.O. Box 285, 91 Main St., Greenfield, MA 01302
The mission of the Nolumbeka Project is to promote a deeper, broader and more accurate depiction of the history of the Native Americans/American Indians of New England before and during European contact and colonization;
To protect and preserve sites sacred to, and of historic value to, the Native Americans/American Indians of New England; to create and promote related educational opportunities, preservation projects and cultural events; and to work in partnership, as much as possible, with the tribes.
We will strive to exemplify the Native American/American Indian peoples’ respect for Mother Earth and all living beings; to be mindful of our role as caretakers for future generations; and to honor our connection to the Earth and Sky and to the Creator.
The Nolumbeka Project, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the history of Native Americans/American Indians of New England through educational programs, art, history, music, heritage seed preservation and cultural events. We are actively building, maintaining and expanding an historical archive research library for use by the Tribes and Educators of the Northeast and beyond.
Our Board of Directors is comprised of volunteers who have been active for more than 40 years in a number of other preservation, historical research, environmental and social justice organizations.
Da FUNctioneers make everything golden.
Everyone loves Da FUNction but it wouldn’t exist without our amazing brigade of creative volunteers. Do you love clean food? Do you know how to paint, saw, hammer or organize? Are you gangsta? We need you!
Join us this week and next as we prepare to create, play and dig! Click here to enter your availability. 
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Da FUNction is a one-day community fun fest full of art, activities, music and workshops designed to bring a wide range of LA communities together around a lifestyle that is beautiful, healthy and full of life-giving culture. Da FUNction is a free, family-friendly event. All you have to do is RSVP. |
Da FUNction is the brainchild of Ron Finley, one of LA’s most widely known artivists and a disruptive innovator in the healthy food movement. “Change your food! Change your life!” is one of Ron’s most well known phrases, but Da FUNction is about more than changing your food, it’s about changing culture. It’s about redesigning lives and taking back our community. A mission at the core of the Ron Finley Project (RFP).
Supported by Nell Newman Foundation, Thug Kitchen, Community Coalition, LA Department of Parks and Recreation, The Fand dozens of community members and volunteers, Da FUNction will offer many activities including:
* A special performance by Tommy the Clown!
Art Installations
Circus Performers
Custom T-shirt Printing
Dancing
Drumming
Face-Painting
Food Trucks
Kid-Friendly Crafts
Jump Rope / Double Dutch
Live Painting
Make-Your-Own Sustainable Household Products
Mosaics
Natural Body Care Workshop
Soil & Gardening Workshops
Weaving
Woodworking
Yoga
RFP is committed to creating and sustaining positive and lasting changes in Los Angeles. A safe, healthy, thriving LA is the What. Da FUNction is the How.
Bring the whole family and come out to the Vermont Square Park on August 10, 2019 to be a part of it all!! We’ll see you there.
Art Exhibition – Christie Sheele: Atlas /Forms of Water
- WHEN:
- September 14, 2019: 5:00PM to November 17, 2019: 5:00PM
- WHERE:
- Albert Shahinian Fine Art – 22 E Market St, Rhinebeck, NY 12572 map
- TO ATTEND:
- Learn More
Join Albert Shahinian Fine Art for an exhibition of Christie Scheele’s Atlas/Forms of Water, running from September 14 – November 17, 2019. Scheele’s work in this exhibition focuses on water, and its environmental, political, and personal meanings.
Riverkeeper is pleased to join for the opening reception (9/14) and Benefit Gala for Regional Conservation Organizations (10/12).
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The First People of the River
![[image]](https://i1.wp.com/www.riverkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/hudsonriverjourney/images/first_people/munsee_country.jpg?resize=450%2C274&ssl=1)
The Salomon Collection, The Historical Society of Rockland County
People have lived along the shores of the Hudson River since the last ice age, bathing in its waters, living off its bounty, caring for its future. The Lenape tribe balanced the needs of man and the needs of fish and fowl, plant and animal.
![[image]](https://i1.wp.com/www.riverkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/hudsonriverjourney/images/first_people/sky.jpg?resize=448%2C322&ssl=1)
Photo courtesy Mo Fridlich: mofrid@hotmail.commofrid@hotmail.com
Henry Hudson ‘discovered’ what the Lenape called Muhheakunnuk, The River that Runs Both Ways.
![[image]](https://i0.wp.com/www.riverkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/hudsonriverjourney/images/first_people/lenape.jpg?resize=228%2C94&ssl=1)
Photo courtesy of Lenape Lifeways, Inc.
There were six to twelve thousand widely dispersed people — both Lenape and Algonquin — living in small bands on the lower estuary. The river connected them and was a major source of food. Travelling in dug-out canoes that held forty people, they’d visit and trade with each other. In smaller dug-outs, they’d set and pull fishing nets, harpoon the whales and seals that often came upriver, and shoot duck with bow and arrow.
Knowledge of and respect for the river was essential for survival. The Lenape believed in a single creator and a series of gods who looked after both people and animals. While women planted maize along the shore, and men hunted deer, Lenape children were taught to take only what they needed from the environment.
If the thousands of years of Lenape history seems to have been erased from the Hudson Valley, that’s partly due to the disease and intolerance that European settlers brought with them. But it’s also a result of how lightly the Lenape lived on the soil: generations of river dwellers left little more environmental change than some ancient oyster middens, rock drawings, and scattered arrowheads.V
![[image]](https://i0.wp.com/www.riverkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/hudsonriverjourney/images/first_people/lenape_2.jpg?resize=210%2C292&ssl=1)
Collections of The New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, NJ, MG 1363
Before European contact, whales swam where the Manhattoes tribe lived, the Sinsink band fed off huge oyster beds that grew in the bays, and the upriver shallows provided shad, sturgeon, smelt, and crab for the Iroquois nation.
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Peace Lanterns Festival 2019
September 21, 2019
2:00-8:30pm
Gantry Plaza State Park
Long Island City 11011
Our next peace event that Heiwa Peace & Reconciliation Foundation is co-sponsoring will be annual Peace Lanterns Festival on Saturday, September 21 (UN International Day of Peace!!!) from 2pm – 8:30pm. It will be held at Gantry Plaza State Park in LIC, NY (along with East River, across the River from the United Nations) – Center Blvd & 49th Ave., LIC.
Schedule of Peace Lanterns Festival:
-Free Public Event. Donations are welcome. –
2:00 – 6:00pm Lantern Decorating, Origami, Face Painting, Henna Tattoos, Seedball Making, and African Dance.
2:30 – 5:30pm “Meditate NYC” – Public Meditation Day
Practice mindfulness and calming under the guidance of revered teachers from Buddhist and other traditions from across the globe.
3:00 – 6:00pm Public Paddling, organized by HarborLAB
6:15pm – 7:30pm Speakers and Interfaith Prayers for Peace
Music by Heiwa Peace Band
7:30 – 8:30pm Floating Peace Lanterns
108 lanterns with your words and images of peace and set them afloat with the setting sun.
Peace Lanterns Festival is co-sponsored by the HaborLAB, the Heiwa Peace Reconciliation Foundation of New York and the Buddhist Council of New York, in partnership with the Global Movement for the Culture of Peace, the Interfaith Center of New York, the Interfaith Center of USA, the Newtown Creek Group, the NY de Volunteers, the Origami Therapy Association, the Sikh Cultural Society, the TF Cornerstone, and the World Yoga Community.
PRESS RELEASE: ‘CELEBRATING AMBASSADORS OF PEACE’ (AOP) EVENT SET FOR SEPTEMBER 26 IN LOS ANGELES
“Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), an organization made up of prominent members of the entertainment industry that’s dedicated to promoting the arts as a means to peace, will honor several music business executives at its second annual Celebrating Ambassadors of Peace gala. More than 200 top entertainment industry leaders are expected to attend the event, which will be held Sep. 26 at the Holmby Hills home of CCFP board advisor and noted entertainment attorney Gary Stiffelman, whose clientele has included Justin Timberlake, Eminem and Yo-Yo Ma.”
A limited number of tickets for this exclusive event are available for purchase at the following site, along with sponsorship opportunities: https://www.creativecommunityforpeace.com/gala/honorees/
Web: http://CreativeCommunityForPeace.com
Contact: Alexandra Greenberg
Direct: 213-216-1755
Email: agreenberg@falconpublicity.com
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On Thursday, September 26, Creative Community For Peace (CCFP) will hold its second annual “Celebrating Ambassadors Of Peace” (AOP) event at the Holmby Hills home of noted entertainment attorney and CCFP Advisory Board member, Gary Stiffelman, Esq. (whose clients have included Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Yo-Yo Ma, Trent Reznor, Maroon 5).
In 2018, CCFP honored Scooter Braun, Geffen Records President Neil Jacobson and Warner Music Group executive Aton Ben-Horin. This year’s honorees are: Aaron Bay-Schuck (CEO/Co-Chairman Warner Records); Jacqueline Saturn (President, Caroline Music/CMG); Troy Carter (Founder of Q&A and Atom Factory); Walter Kolm (former President of Universal Music Latino and now manages Maluma, Carlos Vives, and Wisin amongst others); and special artist honoree, Ziggy Marley (GRAMMY Award-winning artist).
The honorees were chosen for their commitment to championing artistic freedom and advancing the idea that music and the arts are a powerful force for building cultural bridges. Through their work and influence, they have advanced coexistence to create a better future for all.
As stated by CCFP Co-Founder David Renzer, and Director Ari Ingel, “Creative Community for Peace was founded by entertainment industry executives on the principal that music and the arts can be a unifying force to bring people of different backgrounds together. We also believe that a cultural boycott of Israel does not further the prospects for peace.”
The honorees shared their excitement to be recognized as Ambassadors of Peace and the importance of CCFP’s work, stating the following:
Aaron Bay-Schuck: “I am honored to be recognized as an ‘Ambassador of Peace’ by Creative Community for Peace and humbled to be receiving it alongside such accomplished industry executives and friends. The cultural boycott movement is detrimental to prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as to artistic freedom around the world, and I will continue to stand with my friends and colleagues who are dedicated to using music and the arts to bring people together.”
Jacqueline Saturn: “I’m honored to receive the Ambassadors of Peace award from Creative Community for Peace. Music and all creative art forms have the unique ability to pierce through cultural barriers, reshape perspectives, and create common ground. CCFP bridges divergent communities, enabling them to find a common voice. Now more than ever, the creative community must take a courageous stance against those that seek to divide rather than unite. I am proud to be in a position to empower artists from many different backgrounds to help us get to “higher ground.”
Walter Kolm: “It’s an honor for me to receive an Ambassadors of Peace award this year. I’ve always been a firm believer in the power of music to bring people together, which is why I support CCFP and their mission. The fact that so many incredible Latin artists I’ve worked with over the years, like Maluma, Carlos Vives and Wisin, have performed in Israel is a testament to this. Our artists are always embraced with enthusiasm and love in such a way that truly shows that music crosses all cultural and national boundaries to unite us.”
Troy Carter: “There is no better way to bring people of different backgrounds together than through the arts. This is why I share the vision of Creative Community for Peace and am proud to receive their Ambassador of Peace award.”
Ziggy Marley: “It is an honor to be one of CCFP’s 2019 Ambassadors of Peace. We all should use our voices, music, and art in the struggle for justice, love, and peace for all human beings of all races, religions, and ethnicities. I am thankful to be a part of this year’s ceremony. One Love”
More than two-hundred top entertainment industry leaders are expected to attend the event, which will feature special musical performances. Sponsors include Sony/ATV, EA Music, BMI, Epic Records, Atlantic Records and Warner Records among many others. Variety, which recently included CCFP honoree Jacqueline Saturn on their “Women’s Impact Report,” is the event’s official media sponsor.
A limited number of tickets for this exclusive event are available for purchase at the following site, along with sponsorship opportunities: https://www.creativecommunityforpeace.com/gala/honorees/
Web: http://CreativeCommunityForPeace.com
Video: https://vimeo.com/332545709
Contact: Alexandra Greenberg
Direct: 213-216-1755
Email: agreenberg@falconpublicity.com
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A $30 donation per guest is highly appreciated.
My Queer Valentine Reception
Hosted by Torpedo Factory Art Center and Target Gallery
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Friday, February 14, 2020 at 7 PM – 10 PM
Next Week18–32°F Sunny
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105 N. Union St, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
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Art in Person and in Progress. Located in Old Town Alexandria, the Torpedo Factory Art Center is home to 165 working artists, seven galleries, The Art League, and the Alexandria Archaeology Museum. Free admission.
My Queer Valentine Shows the Richness of LGBTQ Life
The warmth of recognition is strong inside the exhibition.
“Acrylic” by Aurele Gould, 2017
I took my girlfriend to see My Queer Valentine on a Monday morning; it was a date, I told her. We took the Metro down to King Street and walked to the Alexandria waterfront. Once we got there, we strolled into The Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Target Gallery, hands interlocked.
For My Queer Valentine, the contemporary gallery’s spring show, the small space is filled with large-scale photographic prints, paintings on both large and small canvases, and sculpture. Visually, the pieces cover a broad range of styles, including a digitally influenced take on Abstract Expressionism, geometric interpretations of fire, Basquiat-esque mark-making and writing over photographs, sculpture with few references to recognizable forms, canvases made three-dimensional by the attachment of glittery found objects, and small silkscreen prints. Thematically, they may at first seem to not cohere, but that’s only because My Queer Valentine’s juried works cover a diverse and rich swath of queer life.
As for taking my girlfriend, I had another motive that I didn’t say aloud, though she may have picked up on it. I wanted to enter that exhibition as a visibly gay person, and I wanted to see how that affected my experience of the art. It was the right choice. My Queer Valentine does more than curate work that examines what it means to be LGBTQ in the 21st century: It creates a queer space warm with the joy of recognition.
Some works speak directly to that joy, like artist Cat Gunn’s abstract canvases. Their dramatic patterns represent the harmony of being in a relationship where their partner sees them as their authentic, nonbinary self, they write in the wall text. There are glittering squares and wobbling lines moving back and forth across the plane, but things seem to be coming together the longer you look—parts that once made no sense have an internal logic that reveals itself with sustained attention and open mindedness. Recognition can be dangerous, and the closet offers safety, but it also means hiding behind a mask. The relief of dropping the charade and being seen is transcendent.
My Queer Valentine isn’t camp, not as a whole, but it’s full of artworks made by people who understand the humor and the wondrous pompousness of queer glamor. (That glamor and its high drama are knowingly self-important because there are still so many people who wish we didn’t have it.) The first pieces the viewer encounters play with the feminine trappings of artificial jewelry, glitter, plastic, and resin, all in bright, loud colors; one piece dripping with sequins invites viewers to “lick me until ice cream.” That kind of playful sexuality thrives in many of the works, even the more subdued ones. A beige canvas on the opposing wall asks the onlooker to “come (cum on my) back.” The half-joking, half-serious attitude toward sex is one of My Queer Valentine’s greatest strengths, highlighting the laughter and joy inherent in queer life and queer sex.
Linda Hesh’s “Kissing Booth” is another joyful artwork. It’s not a stunning feat of technique and construction; it’s just a wood and steel booth, like one you might see at a county fair in the ’50s. It advertises itself as, unsurprisingly, “KISSING BOOTH.” It’s not anchored to a wall. Instead, it stands out from a corner and beckons viewers to come in, where they might notice that its gingham pattern is made up of pictures of kissing same-sex couples. I’ll admit my biases here: I’ve always had a love for participatory art. But the booth’s standing invitation to come inside, to take a picture kissing underneath it, and to share that picture with the world is a brave act, even in 2020 in Alexandria—brave for the artist and the piece inviting those kisses, brave for the people who choose to do so. Even though queer desire is hypervisible in contemporary life, it’s not always recognized as a loving, human affect. By asking people to kiss, Hesh affirms the romance of the gesture and the genuine safety of the space around it.
The most striking pieces were by D.C.-based photographer Matt Storm, a transgender man. His work is challenging, cheeky, and hard to look away from. The two images on display come from his Act of Looking series, where he returns to the same studio in Provincetown, Massachusetts, the famous gay vacation spot, to photograph his body “to create an expanded lexicon of ways to see a body, inclusive of ways to see my body,” he writes in his artist’s statement. In the first image, we see him standing naked, in a pose that looks relaxed but requires him to hold himself in place with his own strength. His muscles are tense but not flexed. His face isn’t overly expressive, but there’s a spark of playfulness in his eyes and a hint of a smile on his mouth. And his arm drapes behind his back, coming to rest between his legs, where he holds his fingers playfully—an obvious commentary on how, as he says, “my body is incongruous with how we are taught to see bodies.” In another, he clasps his hands in front of his crotch, fingers crossed. We can’t see his face, but we can feel the humor. The piece is titled “Crossing my Fingers, Getting Away with Something.”
But a different series of works stopped me in my tracks. Aurele Gould’s photographs pulled my gaze from the moment I entered the gallery. When I saw her triptych of an athlete putting pre-wrap around another girl’s thigh, I felt a lump in my throat. “A moment of transference is constructed, a care and an intimacy among women,” she writes in the wall text. Immediately I thought of Barbara Kruger’s 1981 piece “Untitled (You Construct Intricate Rituals),” which famously says “You construct intricate rituals that allow you to touch the skin of other men” over an image of men roughhousing. But I thought of it less because of its artistic impact and more because, for years, queer kids on Tumblr have been using it as a memetic reference point for jokes about the forbidden, magnetic pull of another person’s skin. In the three images of the piece, we see hands grab the inner thigh, let go to wrap the tape around, and return to place both hands on the partner’s leg.
Likewise, I’d been primed to see Gould’s piece “Acrylic” before I walked in—it represents My Queer Valentine online—but I stopped myself from making a beeline to it. When I did make my way over and allowed myself to look, I noticed for the first time the two models’ sharp, long, matching acrylic nails gently cradling each other’s faces. That striking image is made more striking by those glittery nails. Gould knows this: “I like how thought processes can fold unto each other, like thinking about when stereotypes can be used and who they can be used by,” she wrote in the wall text. I felt a pang of recognition. I smiled. The two lovers in the photograph stared at me, nails shining, and I took my girlfriend’s manicured hand and stared back.
105 N. Union St., Alexandria. (703) 746-4587. torpedofactory.org.
Info: manosunidasorg@gmail.com, kmcardot@gmail.com, mariamorengo2019@gmail.com
(413)-841-0298, (413)-464-6485, (413)-310-8944, se habla espanol
“I Have A Dream” / “Yo Tengo Un Sueño”
Four Kings Community Event
The Whitney Museum of Art,
42 Wendell Ave,
Pittsfield MA
February 28, 2020
5-8:00 pm
In the Latino culture , Three Kings Day is a very important event to celebrate the coming of the Three Kings to the Christ child, falling on January 6th, which includes re enactment and gifts for children. Additionally, the “ I Have a Dream” Four Kings event will promote the values of love and equity of the “King of Social Justice”, Martin Luther King.
“To inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization”- MLK JR.
“Para inyectar una nueva dimension de amor dentro de la venas de nuestra civilizacion”- <MLKJR.
Manos Unidas announces a collaborative community event with Roots and Dreams Coop and other dedicated collaborators, to shake off the winter blues! Come learn how to dance a dance from Central America, help create a giant mural on themes of peace and justice, add your dream to the Community Dream Tree, eat delicious Puerto Rican food, witness a colorful Mexican dance troupe, hear songs of peace, *ta gift sharing for our community children.
There will be concurrent tabling and a silent auction, as well as a material donation area for our *Unidos con Puerto Rico” project, which is seeking support again for our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters affected by the recent earthquakes.
At 7:00 pm, we will do a staged reading of our community bilingual play “I Had a Dream,” written by David Detmold, and performed by a dedicated group of Manos Unidas members. Connect with a diverse array of community members in this second annual “I Have a Dream” Four Kings Day tradition in the spirit of community generosity and love.
The event is free to all peoples, but there is a suggested donation of $10 per plate of food, and a suggested donation of $20 for the food and event per family, to raise money for the Hopeseed Empowerment Cooperative of Manos Unidas, which is helping build a multi-class, multicultural movement that assists in building cooperative business visions, as well as raising the capacity of our community to the next level of greatness.
Four Kings/ Cuatro Reyes Performance lineup
The Whit, 42 Wendell Ave, Friday Feb 28th, 2020
Concurrent 5-630: Puerto Rican Food by Gustitos Boricuas
Concurrent 5-7pm: Multicultural Muralmaking with Kristina Cardot of Funky Phoenix and Manos Unidas
Concurrent: Silent Auction and Info Tabling
5-5:30- background music and intros, readings by Manos team and TBA
5:30-6:
Tyramisu- soul music
Indigo and Anaelisa- songs for justice
Chris Stix- drumming
Imaran and Anu- spoken word
6pm: Sandra Bonilla- Salvadorean dance
6:20- Living through the Arts Multicultural Youth Initiative of Manos Unidas children sing
6:30- Hoping Machine
7:00pm staged reading of “I Had a Dream”, a bilingual play about border crossings and the struggles of our times. written by David Detmold and performed by Manos Unidas members and supporters with a special vocal and musical performances by Living through the Arts project children/ Manos team and the Gauadalupenas, a Mexican dance troupe
7:30- 7:50- words and generosity/giftsharing/ concurrent music
7:50 closing and musica
Info: manosunidasorg@gmail.com, kmcardot@gmail.com, mariamorengo2019@gmail.com
(413)-841-0298, (413)-464-6485, (413)-310-8944, se habla espanol
P.O Box 112, South Lee, MA 01260
and popup locations in Pittsfield, MA 0120
http://manos-unidas.wix.com/
For more information about a list of desired items for Puerto Rico or for gift signups for your children or those you know, please text or email one of us above!
Para mas informacion sobre las donaciones para Puerto Rico, para agregarse a la lista de los regalos de los ninos, o cualquier pregunta, porfavor comunicarse con nosostros en los correos electronicos o telefonos arriba!
The 8th Annual Children’s Global Wave Of Love
June 21 at 1:11 pm in your heart and time zone.
We collectively come together to cultivate and
send forth our mission
“Children Across the Planet in Love, Care, and Respect.”
Since everyday is children’s day, we create a year-long, free, activity platform for children, families, communities, schools, organizations and YOU to empower
heart space and help transform the world!
Our Mission Statement: Our mission is to provide complete and total support to all children with an entire month of activities that enhance all aspects of a child’s life.
