Family, Faith, and Serving Others

What would it be like if we truly focused on our families, our faith and serving others as a culture, as a nation and as a world? There would be less suffering, more joy and abundance. There would be happy children and cared for elders.  There would be gratitude for the earth we have been blessed with and courage to connect when conflicts arise. Fear-based greed and zero-sum thinking would be replaced by the universal availability to serve at all times.

This uplifting vision emerged from CASA Prescott (AZ) Auto Dealership, which includes Casa Chevy and Casa Nissan. They are a recent acquisition of Casa Auto Group, based in El Paso. The Casa Prescott personnel participated in an Innovative Team Building program the first two weeks of January, 2026. The Lead Design Team of 18 employees co-created The Casa Prescott Singing Tree of Family, Faith, and Serving Others.  The process included designing, drawing and painting the mural, as well as facilitating workshops where the rest of Casa employees added their imagery on leaves, birds, pine cones and stars.

You can see the process from start to finish in this short video, and hear the insights of the employees.

Every Singing Tree Mural is unique and addresses a need in the community. The Lead Design Team of Casa Prescott wanted their community, and beyond, to understand their  values, as well as to deepen their bonds with each other.

Expressing their respect and love for the United States of America, they added the 100-foot flag that flies above the dealership to the painting.  They honored the 19 Hotshot firefighters from Prescott who died in 2013. Two weeks after this elite fire crew succeeded in protecting a 2000 year-old alligator Juniper tree (included in the mural), they lost their lives protecting their community from another fire.  A star for each Hotshot fire fighter spreads across the top of the tree. The lone survivor from that disaster is symbolized by a firefighter angel above a pine cone.

The mural also includes a ponderosa pine with seedling, 1.3 billion year old Granite Mountain, and Thumb Butte. Plants and animals abound: prickly pear cactus,  coyote, roadrunner, and the oldest rodeo symbol of a man riding a bucking horse.  A woman's face is formed by the branches in the juniper tree to honor the feminine - the sacred vessel that holds new life. The family in front of the earth is the human family and the big purple spiral holds it all together. 

So much love and creativity is available to burst open where ever people gather. Our intention is to tap that resource through making shared visions of success.  Please join us.

With blessings for the New Year,

The UTC Team

2025 Year in Review

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity,

We are delighted to share a review of a few of our 2025 projects with you. Each one of these collaborative works of art reminds us that people can achieve great things together, even when faced with overwhelming challenges.

The Desert Willow Branches to Roots Singing Tree of Propagation and Regeneration, 8' x 8'

This project was funded by NOAA and led by Fernanda Lugo in conjunction with a citizen science propagation of El Paso's native trees. People from ages 7 to 85 from many heritages - Hispanic, Chinese, Indian, Native American, European, African-American - came together to add their vision of blossoming, watering and working for a world where everyone thrives. The coming together of people to nurture nature and people is the world we are striving to build.

The Casa Oak Singing Tree of Trust, Love, and Community, 8' x 16'

The Casa Singing Tree project began with a Lead Design Team that included the three owners and twenty managers of Casa Auto Group based in El Paso, Texas. They selected the theme of trust, love, and community, designed the mural, and painted the background. Then five UTC facilitators took the mural to six Casa locations in El Paso, Las Cruces and Alamogordo with 419 employees contributing images to complete the mural. We explored the bold theme - CASA is home and home is heaven.

The Sea Grape Singing Tree of Goodwill, 3' x 5'

Facilitated by UTC Board member De Palazzo with eight seniors from the Five Star Senior Living in Pompano Beach, Florida. One participant wrote "The Five Stars deserve their name - A community so alive and gracious, so encouraging. Friendship everlasting. To live is made easier. Love. Love."

The Ash Singing Tree of Grace and Grit Embracing Our Purpose and Pain, 5' x 3'

Laurie led an in-person three-day Innovative Team Building workshop in El Paso to train six Singing Tree Facilitators. The training was filmed in order to provide future on-line instruction for leadership training, collaborative art and peace literacy.

The Monongalia County Singing Tree of Patience and Acceptance While Branching Out Into the Future, 5' x 3'

Certified Singing Tree Mural Facilitator Sonda Cheesebrough led the first staff development session of 2025 for 20 art teachers in Monongalia County, West Virginia. During the six-hour session, the teachers learned about the collaborative art process rooted in nature and created a vision of their students successfully rising to the challenges they face in school and in day-to-day life.

The Maple Singing Tree of Our Values, 8' x 8'

Facilitated by certified Singing Tree Facilitator Andrea Marchyok, Arts Education Specialist of the Siskiyou County Office of Education in Yreka, California. The mural was made with 150 students at Scott Valley Junior High School.

"Painting together is like being in an artistic community where you can be more open with each other, and you feel more welcome, more belonging."

The Elm Singing Tree of Light in the Darkness, 4' x 8'

This painting was created for the benefit of Candlelighters, El Paso, a non-profit who serves children and their families experiencing cancer. It was made possible by a donation from CASA Nissan. Over 100 people contributed images of Light in the Dark on the leaves and prayers for those being served by Candlelighters. The were attending the International Day of Peace Symposium on Sept. 20th and 21st at the University of Texas at El Paso. Afterwards, the children and their families added images on the candles and birds. The central figure of a child holding a candle in the darkness stands for all children who are wrestling with hardship and challenge, specifically with cancer. The mural was a gift to Candlelighters' new facility across from the Texas Oncology Center.

The Mulberry Singing Tree of What We Love About Our Neighborhood, 3' x 4'

35 people attending District 7's Community Meeting were invited by Representative Lily Limon to add drawings of their appreciations and dreams for their neighborhood. They also shared the stories behind the drawings. The painting was unveiled three weeks later at the next community meeting.

"For 46 years my wife has been telling me I'm stuck. You got me unstuck."

The Rainbow Eucalyptus-Wisteria Singing Tree of Women’s Leadership

This piece shares the inner light of the women corporate professionals in Japan who took part in a virtual workshop as part of the annual J-Win Conference.  Our workshop was called "Art as a Team Building Tool" We invited 179 women to share images and stories of healing and success in a document we are putting together.  The diversity-based conference had five focus groups - Politics, Economy, Social, Technology and GreenX - and each group shared amongst themselves, coming away with new insights.

"It was so refreshing not to compete with each other, but instead to learn about each other." 

Gravity Rocks Resistance, 4' x 6'

What happens when 120 educators, artists, and activists gather to explore what it means to be rooted in community, to flow with creativity, and to face resistance with open hearts? Certified Singing Tree Facilitator Carrie Ziegler and poet Jennifer Johnson were honored to keynote the Envriomental Education Washington State Conference this year with a three-day collaborative offering. Together, through mural-painting, collaborative poetry, movement, and deep reflection, they created a living experience—rooted in art, grown by community, and shaped by nature herself.

The reach of our projects is made possible by the organic growth over these past 23 years of intergenerational relationships among people working for a world ofcompassion, understanding, and peace. Like the mycelium of a fungal colony, these relationships form a precious network of invisible threads connecting us to one another and giving us a solid foundation for the future. 

As we go into 2026, we thank you for being an essential part of that network, of this endeavor, of our future.

With blessings for a joyful New Year,

The UTC Team

Abundance

Abundance

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity,

In a few days we will come to the Winter Solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year, when we are called upon to let our inner light shine into the darkness, celebrate the abundance life has bestowed on us, and practice compassion. In this season of abundance and generosity, we are grateful to be able to share inner light of the women executives in Japan who took part in our Zoom workshop in November as part of the annual J-Win Conference. These 229 women, challenged by the familiar glass ceiling, designed and created The Rainbow Eucalyptus-Wisteria Singing Tree of Women's Leadership.  

The impact of the Singing Tree ® Project on the participants can be heard in their comments.

"This was a workshop where we drew pictures—something I had never experienced before. Although it was difficult, it was also intriguing. At first, I couldn’t imagine how drawing would connect to anything, but in reality, it became an opportunity to discover new sides and backgrounds of the team members I had been working with."

"The fact that the workshop clearly focused on feminine leadership was new to me. Until now, at least among the HPN members I’ve met, femininity was seen as unrelated to work ability, and everyone was considered the same as men (myself included). But this method of empowering by embracing feminine leadership as a positive was fascinating."

"I tried drawing a picture myself for the first time in a while. I felt like I was using different parts of my brain than usual. Sharing and presenting our drawings with the members was also interesting. It was a valuable experience."

"The phrase “Being a woman is a gift” left a strong impression on me. In Japanese society and business, being a woman can sometimes lead to unpleasant experiences or hardships, but this workshop helped me recognize the positive aspects of being a woman, which gave me power and confidence. I want to feel even more confident about working while raising children."

For us at UTC, doing a Singing Tree entirely electronically has been a new opportunity and challenge. We are still in the process of placing the artwork done by the participants onto the background of the mural. When completed, the Singing Tree will be composed of five panels; we are able to share images from one panel only.

The discovery of inner light resounds in the words of the creators of the Rainbow Singing Tree. We send you our warm greetings for the holidays and our wish that our work can support each of you in discovering and celebrating your inner light.

With joy,

Laurie and the UTC Team