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Hello, Friend of Unity Through Creativity, Thank you to all who supported us in El Paso Giving Day. We deeply appreciate your gift. We are honored to be facilitating a 2.5 hour workshop at the J-Win Women's Leadership conference based in Japan on Nov. 4th.  220 women from companies around the country will be attending. Lili Lopez and I will be modeling Feminine Leadership, collaborating with Takumi Komatsu of Azbil Corporation and a team from J-Win to design The Rainbow Eucalyptus-Wisteria Singing Tree of Women's Leadership.  One outcome of the workshop will be a document organized around the five areas of focus of the conference - Politics, Economy, Social Life, Ecology and Technology.  Each participant will create art envisioning healing a heartbreak in their subject area, as well as dream for their life and work. I've prepared a wisteria blossom example for the attendees. My heartache is that raising a family and using our talents to support that family is a battle. My healing Image is a feminine figure embracing those who need nurtured, while flourishing in a complex, connected and technological world. We will keep you posted on this great adventure. We are also excited to announce that UTC Board member, De Palazzo, has completed her Innovative Team Building certification, creating The Seagrape Singing Tree of Goodwill made with residents of Five Star Senior Living in Pompano Beach,Florida. The Seagrape Singing Tree of Goodwill With gratitude for the precious moments we are blessed with in this lifetime. Laurie and the UTC Team

Detail, The Ash Singing Tree of Grace and Grit Embracing Our Pain and Purpose  Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity,  Are you experiencing Grace and Grit in your life? The Singing Tree Facilitators in-training of our tenth Co-Heart came up with this subject in their July 18-20th training to create the 147th Singing Tree mural which they titled The Ash Singing Tree of Grace and Grit - Embracing Our Pain and Purpose. Our heart is the source of both pain and purpose and embracing our vulnerability clarifies our purpose. The heart receives the universal blood that all people share. The green of the heart in this Singing Tree is the green of the earth, held by a turquoise hand and bearing with itself the profile of a human being. We are now living through a time that needs kindness, that needs love and compassion and Grace. And it is a time that needs Grit, that needs our toughness, perseverance and resilience to rise up over and over in the face of the time’s challenges. A coyotea totem of grit—showed up accidentally—by grace. The 60' x 40' painting was created in two and a half days through the hands of seven people as they deepened their leadership skills and creative self-confidence in the Singing Tree training. The next session is  Oct. 3rd, 4th and 5th and will be both in-person (at the UTC Studio El Paso) and virtual. Space is limited. Reply to this email if you'd like more information and have fun watching the time lapse video of our process. Stay tuned for next week when we announce our two newly certified Facilitators—and when we will talk about extending the Singing Tree work into Innovative Team Building. With appreciation for all you do to make Creativity and Community unstoppable! Your support is needed, now more than ever. With gratitude, Laurie and the UTC Team

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, Over nine days in May, Unity Through Creativity led seven Singing Tree® Mural workshops with the Casa Auto Group based in El Paso, Texas. Casa Auto Group was started in 1969 by Wally Lowenfield, the grandfather of current owners Justin, Luke, and Ronnie. The Lowenfields have been expanding their company rapidly in the last few years, and Casa has grown to thirteen dealerships in El Paso and in Las Cruces and Alamogordo, New Mexico. Wally started the company with a culture of putting people first. The goal that Justin, Luke, and Ronnie have is to deepen that culture in their established dealerships and to extend it to the stores that have come under the Casa roof in the last three years. The Lowenfields asked Unity Through Creativity to bring the Singing Tree® Mural process to Casa to reinforce this process. We took our starting point from the vision Casa Auto Group has of itself:  Casa is home, and home is heaven . The Casa Singing Tree project began with a Lead Design Team (above) that included the three owners and twenty managers and executives. They selected the theme of trust, love, and community, designed the mural, and painted the background. Then the five UTC facilitators took the mural to six locations for employees to add leaves, birds, stars—and for this mural, acorns, because the tree the Lead Design Team chose is the Texas live oak, a favorite of Wally’s, a tree that spreads its branches wide enough to include everyone beneath it. We worked with 419 other employees over the next week. These are co-workers who in many cases had never laid eyes on each other before, as their shifts and departments gave them little chance for contact. These are people who had little idea of what is going on inside the person working alongside them. These are people who did not know that many others in their department or their store were facing the same challenges and sorrows that they are and share the same hopes and dreams. The 442 people at Casa Auto Group  who created the Casa Singing Tree of Trust, Love, and Community experienced the depth of the connection they have with each other, many for the first time. They began building the wider community of Casa Auto through stepping outside their routines and seeing each other not as sales people, as service people, as accountants or managers or owners—but as human beings. They had an immediate experience that their contribution to the mural and to Casa Auto Group is unique and essential, that each one has something to give that only she or he can give. At Casa they say:  Casa is home, and home is heaven —and for the people at Casa, heaven is holding hands, creating connections with each other, building their community on a foundation of love and trust. Laurie and the UTC Team

Durante nueve días en mayo, Unity Through Creativity impartió siete talleres de murales del Árbol Cantante (Singing Tree®) con Casa Auto Group en El Paso, Texas. Casa Auto Group fue fundada en 1969 por Wally Lowenfield, abuelo de los actuales propietarios: Justin, Luke y Ronnie. Los Lowenfield han expandido su empresa rápidamente en los últimos años, y Casa Auto Group cuenta con trece concesionarios en El Paso, Las Cruces y Alamogordo, Nuevo México. Wally fundó la empresa con una cultura de priorizar a las personas. El objetivo de Justin, Luke y Ronnie es profundizar esa cultura en sus concesionarios establecidos y extenderla a las tiendas que se han unido a Casa en los últimos tres años. Los Lowenfield pidieron a Unity Through Creativity que llevará el proceso del Arbol Cantante a Casa para reforzar este proceso. Nos basamos en la visión que Casa Auto Group tiene de sí misma: Casa es hogar, y el hogar es el paraíso. El mural del Árbol Cantante de Casa comenzó con un Equipo de Diseño, compuesto por los tres dueños y veinte gerentes y ejecutivos. Escogieron el tema de confianza, amor y comunidad, diseñaron el mural y lo pintaron. Cinco facilitadores de UTC  llevaron el mural a seis lugares para que los empleados agregan hojas, pájaros, estrellas y, para este mural, bellotas, porque el árbol que eligió el equipo de diseño principal es el roble vivo de Texas, uno de los favoritos de Wally, un árbol que extiende sus ramas lo suficiente como para incluir a todos los que están debajo de él. Las 442 personas en  Casa Auto Group  que crearon el Árbol Cantante de Casa de Confianza, Amor y Comunidad experimentaron la profunda conexión que tienen entre sí, muchos por primera vez. Comenzaron a construir la comunidad más amplia de Casa Auto al salir de sus rutinas y verse no como vendedores, personal de servicio, contadores, gerentes o propietarios, sino como seres humanos. Tuvieron la experiencia inmediata que su contribución al mural y a Casa Auto Group es única y esencial, que cada uno tiene algo que dar que sólo él puede dar. En Casa dicen:Casa es hogar y hogar es el cielo—Y para la gente de Casa, el cielo es tomarse de las manos, crear conexiones entre sí, construir su comunidad sobre una base de amor y confianza. Laurie y el equipo de UTC

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, There is a reason that, when the Beatles sang “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, the world erupted. Holding hands is the archetypal, most fundamental act of selfless love, and the world was yearning for selflessness and love in the years following the tragedies of the Second World War. Now we are at a moment in history when the humanity living in each one of us yearns once more for selflessness and love, when people all over the globe are reaching out for the hands of others. Showing people that it is safe and nourishing to take the hands reaching for theirs is the purpose of the Singing Tree® Project. It is not only human hands that are reaching for ours: it is also the hands of Nature. Nature reaches out to give us what we need; it is also reaching out to receive what it needs from humanity. A painting of this mutual dependence and the possibility of this selfless act is captured in the 2019 Lemon-Cherry Singing Tree of Peace, designed and executed by grade school students in San Francisco. The conflict over whether to choose a lemon tree or a cherry tree was resolved when the students saw that life is not an either-or proposition: both things were possible. That embrace of unexpected possibilities, that reaching out from one heart to another, is symbolized by the trees holding hands.  People and Nature holding hands is demonstrated in this year's Branches to Roots project. Singing Tree® Mural Facilitator Fernanda Lugo created a funny video of this NOAA-funded project, which has the practical results of propating native trees through sucker growth. Part of the project was creating the  Desert Willow Branches to Roots Singing Tree of Propagation and Regeneration   You are invited to take another hand we are reaching out to you and join us on Wednesday, June 11, at 6 pm MT, for a free webinar, From Turmoil to Teambuilding: Three Outrageous Keys to Accelerating Trust.  As we develop our Center for Innovative Team Building, we have already started taking the Singing Tree® Project into corporate settings.  Employees, management, and owners have been enthusiastic about the results they are seeing. Let us take the hands reaching out for ours—our world and our collective well-being depend on it. Laurie and the UTC Team

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, We are seeing authoritarianism increase rapidly across the world today: in the United States, in Poland, in Germany, in Tunisia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, India, Hungary, Holland, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Morocco, Algeria…among other places. In the United States, a national police force is emerging that keeps itself masked and refuses to show identification. People are arrested on the streets without warrants. Citizens and non-citizens alike are deported without due process. What can we do when compassion and respect are vanishing and brutality is taking their place? Eight-year-old Meredith Miller knew the answer: that the whole world could make a painting together. She saw that the path forward for humanity lies in finding a common goal and working together towards that with inclusion and equity and celebrating our diversity. Students at University of Texas at El Paso's World Water Week Every Singing Tree® is a step towards finding a goal shared by humanity as a whole. These steps may be small—but they are essential. The Singing Tree® Murals and community actions taken around the globe aim to affirm an awareness of our common humanity and to foster the connection and compassion that will give us the strength and courage to stand up for each other and fight for the worth of every individual. Today we are excited to share The  Desert Willow Branches to Roots Singing Tree of Propagation and Regeneration .  This  project was funded by a grant from the Planet Stewards program of  NOAA , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who has had the care and monitoring of our climate and weather as its mission. That agency, and the grants it has been  making, such as the one that funded this project, are now under attack as part of the impulse of authoritarianism that the federal government has unleashed. It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to find the funding we need to bring the Singing Tree® Mural  Project to community organizations and groups. The Desert Willow Branches to Roots project was conceived by UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) PhD student and Singing Tree® Facilitator  Fernanda Lugo   and co-led by  Laurie Marshall . Fernanda has combined the creation of the mural with a citizen science project propagating native trees. You can see more about this at www.branchestoroots.ecoelpaso.org More than 175 people from the El Paso area, ages 7 to 82, contributed to the mural, as well as project partners including  UTEP's World Water week , Keystone Heritage Park , Benito Martinez Elementary School in Ft. Hancock, Eco El Paso , the YWCA 's spring camp and environmental advocate Edith Jaurrieta de Velasco.  Participants creatively depicted the water cycle - from glaciers to rain drops to rivers to trees.  Below are contributors at Keystone Heritage Park and Benito Martinez Elementary School. This project shows how we can come together as individuals from diverse backgrounds to care for nature, on which the life of every person depends, and to create the world we know is possible.  On Wednesday, June 11, at 6pm MT, please join us for a webinar called " From Turmoil to Teambuilding - Three Outrageous Keys to Accelerating Trust" . This is part of our initiative to use the Singing Tree® process to inspire corporate and other teams to build trust, compassion, and respect for each other and thereby contribute to the well-being of their larger communities as well. Celebrating the value of every human being,  Laurie and the UTC Team PS. We have been out of touch for a while as we have been undertaking an extensive project with the CASA Autogroup in El Paso that we'll tell you about soon.

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, Join us for an hour-long, free webinar called  From Turnover to Teambuilding: 3 Keys to Inspiring Committed Employees . The training will be on Wed., March 12 at 11:00 am PST, 12:00 pm MST, 1:00 pm CST and 2:00 pm EST.  Bring your magic markers or colored pencils and a piece of computer printer paper.  We'll be exploring how to build TRUST - the foundation of all relationships in business, in our family life and in our democracy.  To register click here. We can't wait to put hearts and minds together. Once again, to register click here.  Hope to see you there, The UTC Team

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, This month we share artist/educator Sonda Folk Cheesebrough’s Selfless Act of Kindness. We honor her as the representative of all K-12 teachers who devote their lives to the growth and well-being of the children in their care. Last week, we remembered Daniel Dancer's  900 student "Art for the Sky" earth-mural in Morgantown, West Virginia, inspired by Sonda's 2012  Singing Tree of Diversity . We spoke with her about her experience facilitating the 22nd mural of the  Singing Tree Project . Sonda started her journey as a painter. She became a teacher begrudgingly, only to discover that teaching was exactly what her soul needed. The subject matter and the direction of her art  were transformed after working with children. “I started creating art that projected innocence and hope. It is the part of myself that I got validated from children and it’s the part of myself that I want to share. Children have a great positivity, they always think everything is going to be okay, and the trust that they put in us is just so beautiful.” “Everything I learned that’s worth knowing came from elementary children” Sonda was continually inspired by her students' uncensored, spontaneous generosity and kindness. Time and again she saw that the children, who can seem like black holes of need that know no bottom, were her teachers in countless selfless acts of love.  She taught students from over 50 different countries in the  Monongalia County School  system in West Virginia. Every student was fascinated by the cultures around them and proud of their own culture. She cultivated an environment where the children shared stories, food, and experiences. They researched the shapes of leaves from trees in their country to add to the Singing Tree. Over 900 students contributed to the mural. Singing Tree of Diversity II Two years later, Sonda and her students had the joy of seeing the Singing Tree of Diversity transformed into a massive "Sky Art" piece by Daniel Dancer. The students didn’t know what they were making as they put on different colored t-shirts and curled up next to each other on the ground. They trusted that it was okay not to know what was going to happen and had fun doing something on a massive scale. It wasn't until the students watched the video of the process that they saw the whole and understood the power of what they had created together. The Singing Tree of Diversity Sky Mural “Working with children is the most important job we do. There is nothing of more consequence than helping children collaborate together and be kind to each other. I am clear that I always get back more than I am giving when I am working with children.” With the Singing Tree Project, Sonda was willing to try something she had never done before, taking up the invitation for the whole world to create a painting together and making the impulse her own. She trusted her heart in a selfless act of love that continues to serve her students and the world.   Sending you joy in these uncertain times, Laurie and the UTC Team

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, Today we are focusing on the interdependent process of Life on Earth. The culture of the U.S. is steeped in the idea of rugged individualism. The fact is that individuals humans ONLY survive because of a community, and an ecological community at that. We are alive because of the oxygen given to us by the trees. Though our arms are like branches and our feet are like roots, the vast differences between trees and humans nourishes the fecundity of planet (when people aren’t narrow-mindedly destroying forests for short-term gains.) Every life form plays a role in the eco-system. If there was not diversity, there would be no Life on Earth.    Cultural diversity grows out of the unique lands of our planet that shape a peoples' food, music, dress, language, technology and ceremony.  How blessed we are to be enriched by so many cultures in this time, instead of being restricted by the fear of “Stranger Danger” that has plagued humanity for hundreds of thousands of years. In 2012, visionary art teacher Sonda Polk Cheesbrough celebrated the importance of diversity with her students in Morgantown, West Virginia. She facilitated The Singing Tree of Diversity  on a corner wall of the school, adding the Blue Ridge Mountains under the tree floating in space. Her students decided to add leaves from many different kinds of trees on one trunk to symbolize diversity and inventing a new species in the process! Her work went on to inspire  Daniel Sky , a Creative Activist who makes giant images by organizing groups of people wearing different colored T-shirts into designs. His work is inspired by upon the Nazca lines of Peru.  He reproduced the collaborative mural that Sonda had first painted with her students, bringing together 900 North Elementary School kids and staff in Morgantown, West Virginia. How magnificent to see his version of  The Singing Tree of Diversity  on such a grand scale.  We were able to get in touch with Daniel to hear his thoughts about collaborative art and the Singing Tree Project in the interview below.  We are reaching out to Sonda to hear her reflections as well.  Stay tuned.  The Singing Tree of Diversity Sky Mural Daniel Sky answers the following questions:  Q : “Why is collaborative art so important to youth?" DS :   Art For the Sky  is more important than ever because it provides a powerful antidote to the fragmentation and disconnection that dominate modern life. In an era where digital screens and individualism often take precedence over real-world collaboration and community, this form of participatory art offers a rare and profound experience of unity, perspective, and interconnectedness. Each person is a single pixel. No one pixel or paint drop is more important than any another. The parts combine to make the whole and everyone experiences the magnificence of creating something larger than oneself. With so much of life happening online, the opportunity to physically gather with hundreds of others to co-create something never-before-seen fosters a deep sense of belonging and shared purpose.  The concept of focusing and seeing the whole beyond just the parts is crucial in a time when people often get lost in details and divisions.  Art For the Sky  allows participants to experience firsthand the power of stepping back and seeing the bigger picture, seeing the whole—a perspective that is desperately needed in facing the monumental challenges of the modern world. This work isn’t just about making giant pictures however—it’s about helping people  feel  interconnected,  see  the whole, and  understand  that each of us plays a vital role in shaping the world. In a time when cynicism and fear dominate the headlines,  Art For the Sky  offers a moment of awe—showing that when people come together with a shared vision, they can create something truly magnificent. Q : What transformations have you witnessed? DS :  During the final assembly, when I witness kids suddenly seeing the result of their collaboration for the first time, they explode in expressions of wonder, excitement, belonging and awe. I am hopeful that something “clicks” inside them in this moment and they suddenly understand the power of collaboration and long-term thinking. The experience of being part of something so large and awe-inspiring can spark a sense of agency helping kids feel like they can make a difference. The ephemeral nature of these works teaches them that beauty doesn’t have to be permanent to be powerful—an important lesson in creativity and letting go. I always tell the story of one kid who was in one of my first  Art For the Sky  images. When I ran into him 25 years later he said it was the only thing he remembered  from elementary school. He said that it made him feel really good that he could see how he fit into the whole . . . that without him, it would have been different. Reflections on the Singing Tree Mural Project: DS :  WOW . . . I am simply stunned by all the Singing Tree Murals created over the years! The Sky-Art Singing Tree rising from the Earth, all made of people feels like a giant mash-up of all the murals I’ve facilitated come to life and enacted in real-time on a beautiful spring day in West Virginia. Every single participant carried with them their own ancestoral relationship to the Tree of Life and in the depiction of the falling fruit, blowing leaves and melting glaciers, demonstrated their concern for what is happening to our beloved planet. The diversity of every human’s mind, heart and soul is the resource we need to make a world that works for all beings, instead of a world that works for a few privileged and power hungry beings.  Look at the beauty that happens when diversity is honored instead of repressed.   Laurie and the UTC Team

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, This week we would like to honor the men and woman in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) who have attended to Americans suffering from disasters. For three years, starting in 2017, Unity Through Creativity attended FEMA's annual three-day Higher Education Symposium at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Year after year, we witnessed a gathering of dedicated first responders, high level researchers and passionate educators, as they discussed how to solve real world challenges. Some of the questions the Symposium consistently addressed included how to train enough people well enough to mitigate upcoming disasters, how to save lives as disasters are happening, and how to rebuild for decades afterwards.  Unity Through Creativity facilitated  The FEMA Singing Tree of Learning   over two summers.    Each branch of the tree stands for a focus of the Higher Education Symposium - Scholarship, Teaching, Learning, Experience, Research and Administration.   Participants at the Symposium added stories, dreams, and goals to mural through imagery and words. Below is one story portrayed on a leaf: " Sheriff Erik Weaver of Madison, Virginia, found jobs for 50 family members whose loved one was swept away in a flood. He was inclusive and creative."   The sheriff could have sent the distraught relatives home, but instead, he enrolled them in the search. That level of care and agility is what we hope for in a public servant. Another story is written on the leaf below - " My greatest sense of pride occurred during a response involving a bomb on a vessel in the Caribbean.  I arrived on scene and knew not a single responder.  I was put in charge.  Within minutes, we came together, over 100 respondents from 18 different organizations.  We quickly came together, saved lives, contained the event and protected what we value. I did not know the answers, but simply put a decision process in place that included all interests."   What skill and professionalism! The people who gather summer after summer to improve their knowledge and skills in the Symposium have seen more devastating destruction, loss, suffering and pain than most of us can imagine. We honor their commitment, sacrifice and gifts to our nation. With gratitude, The UTC Team

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, This is a time to celebrate Selfless Acts of Love. This is a time to focus on living in generosity and for a higher purpose. This is a time to look to those among us who live with courage and kindness and authenticity. Each month, we will be devoting one week to celebrating Selfless Acts of Love. Please join with us in these moments as we turn our attention away from the calamity and inhumanity so prominent in the news today and towards what is noble and good in human beings. The Jane Goodall Singing Tree of Love Mura l celebrates our treasured elder who lifts us up with her passion for all the living beings of our Mother Earth. In 2018  Ross Holzman , founder of  Create Peace Project , and I co-designed and painted the background for the mural. We took it to the Roots and Shoots Conference on Chrissy Field in San Francisco. Jane Goodall came to see the many projects of 300 young people at the gathering and spoke to us about the impact a person can have.  Inspired by Jane, the young activists drew imagery on the leaves that expressed what they love the most in the world. Today the mural is installed on the Primate House of the  San Francisco Zoo . In  The Book of Hope , Jane Goodall describes how depression can come from not being able to set realistic goals. In the face of overwhelming chaos, there will be many paths to build a just and equitable world. UTC and the Singing Tree Mural Project offer a practical path of achieving a realistic goal. Through creating collaborative paintings that express our shared values, we build compassion, trust, and community. Living in beauty and creativity, in harmony with nature, is an ideal that can guide us through chaos and unkindness as we strive to find connection with others and hold on to what is best in ourselves and the world. Laurie and the UTC Team

Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, Our hearts are with all the people in our world going through disasters - from those dealing with the destruction of human violence to those dealing with catastrophic consequences of recent weather disasters. These include the floods in the east of the U.S. and the fires happening now in Los Angeles. Five years after the Camp Fire in 2018, the deadliest fire in California history, Singing Tree Facilitator Bobbie Rae Jones invited people whose lives were impacted by the fire to envision and create a new future. They created the chalk mandala shown below. In times like these it is important for us to harness the power of art to grieve together and remember the beauty of the world we’ve all been blessed with. Camp Fire Five Year Memorial Mandala " I'm reminded of the oak and the acorn and the struggle to become something strong and beautiful through adversity. " -Rebekah Dodson, Camp Fire Survivor May we all stay safe, keep our hearts open and help our neighbors. The UTC Team

Veteran Jesse Brown, Singing Tree Facilitator Fernanda Lugo and Founder Laurie Marshall keep growing the message of  The Cottonwood Singing Tree of Tapping the Aquifer of Goodwill Amidst the Storm. Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, As the Light starts growing, we'd like to celebrate this season of "Peace on Earth" with our short video of the El Paso International Day of Peace Symposium  at the University of Texas at El Paso . May it lift you up. Below are three talented El Paso teens who came to Keystone Heritage Park's Mystical Market and added to The Cottonwood Singing Tree of Tapping the Aquifer of Goodwill Amidst the Storm.  You can see their delightful artwork under their photo, as well as a "Magic" leaf drawn by a Folklorist who attended the American Folklore Society conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The Singing Tree Project welcomes the unique creativity of everyone on the planet and look what happens! Singing Tree murals evolve with the stories of the communities they grow out of.  After the election, a ring of mushrooms appeared in my Texas backyard.  I was glad to see them as a harbinger of healthy soil, community and underground connections. Artist Serena Ornelas painted them on the mural. Another special event occurred that affected the mural: On Dec. 4, 2024, 77 native Desert Big Horn Sheep were released in El Paso's Franklin Mountains, returning them after they disappeared 60 years ago. These magnificent creatures have also found their way onto the mural.

Detail from  The Cottonwood Singing Tree of Tapping the Aquifer of Goodwill Amidst the Storm  designed by El Paso Singing Tree Facilitators. Dear Friend of Unity Through Creativity, As we come to the end of 2024 and look ahead to next year, we are asking you to help lay the foundation for a successful 2025. This year, 12 new Singing Trees have been added to the Forest, with 1401 people making art together and discovering how much goodness they receive from each other.   At UTC, we renew our commitment every day to build a society that is multi-racial, multi-religious, and multi-cultural. We practice envisioning the world we stand for, a world that is connected, creative, and collaborative.  We strive to make the power and possibility of working together big, loud and beautiful.  We continue to work towards a world that can create together in freedom, love, and respect.   Our most recent mural,  The Cottonwood Singing Tree of Tapping the Aquifer of Goodwill Amidst the Storm,  was part of the November 2024  American Folklore Society's  academic conference in Albuquerque, N.M. The painting expresses the theme of this gathering of storytellers, researchers and anthropologists.   Dr. Maureen Porter  of University of Pittsburgh and I (see photo below) presented the Singing Tree Mural Project as a form of folk art that invites the whole world to be creative collaborators outside formal cultural institutions. Maureen and I are standing in front of  The Singing Tree of What Makes America Great , made in 2017, with the Cottonwood mural background on the left. Pictured below four members of the El Paso Team of Kristi Lai,  Patti Reyes ,  Rachel Quintana , and I (left to right); unfortunately team member  Fernanda Lugo   is not in this picture. Together we spent an intensive two weeks designing, painting, and preparing the background of the mural for the conference. The Cottonwood Singing Tree mural portrays the Zapatistas of Chiapas, Mexico to honor those who advocate for wealth reform and justice.  These women use paint brushes instead of weapons. The underground rivers of our planet are a symbol of unstoppable goodwill. The handprints of Eliana, granddaughter of Rachel Quintana, imprint the turquoise aquifer because making decisions for the next seven generations of the children is the guiding concern. The tornado represents the storm of these troubled times: powerful, unpredictable, deadly, and here. One of leaves created at the Folklore conference  (above left) says "I AM THE STORM OF LOVE COMING!" That is the task ahead: to meet the storm of these troubled times with a storm of love, a storm of respect, a storm of the warmth and light of human connection. That is the work of the Singing Tree. In Community, Laurie and the UTC Team

It is with heavy heart that I learned this week that one of my students from Helen S. Faison in Pittsburgh, PA, has been arrested for the murder of one of my other students. Two young lives lost. Two young men failed by our lack of village, the criminalized drug structure which fuels the underground market economy and doesn’t address addiction, the prison system without rehabilitation, the easy access to and glamorization of guns. I wrote Deandre a letter: Dear Deandre, I’ve sent you a book written by a friend of mine who lost his 20 year-old son to a 14 year-old’s gun. The book is called From Murder to Forgiveness by Azim Khamisa. I am thinking of you in this difficult time. I imagine you are in a state of post-traumatic stress disorder: from the loss of your friend at your own hand, from the loss of your freedom. I can’t imagine what you are going through. No matter what our legal system says, you are not a criminal. You are someone in a spiritual crisis. I’m enclosing a copy of the painting I made of you 9 years ago with your words written below. You wrote “Being an angel is God calling me.” The streets shouted at you: This is the only way! The thug life style is strengthened in the hostile environment of prisoners and guards. The challenge to hear God’s call will be very hard. From art class when you were in 5th grade, I remember your intelligence, your artistic talent, how easily your feelings were hurt, your love of sports and daring. This insanely traumatic moment in your life can open a window to taking a different path for your soul. The 14 year-old who killed Azim’s son was tried as an adult. With spiritual work every day for 5 years, Azim forgave the young man. The young man has forgiven himself and will work with my friend when he gets out of prison with the Tariq Khamisa Foundation . The two will train young people in making non-violent choices. It’s hard. Most people think it’s impossible. Everyday, Azim does a good deed in his son’s name. He was not a great father, not very present in his son’s life. Now, he does what he can to stop young people from hurting each other. My heart breaks for Garrick, for you and for all who love you both, which includes me. The card I am sending you was made by a student. She let God’s call flow out of her onto the paper. I pray you have moments of safety to listen to that call within you. I hold you in God’s Light, Deandre. Love, Ms. Laurie This is very hard. How do these odds get beaten?