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International Day of Peace Symposium Saturday, Sept. 21st 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Tomas Rivera Conference Center University of Texas at El Paso Para español Symposium Report can be read here. In our world of conflict, are you committed to PEACE? If so, we invite you to commit to a full day dedicated to Peace with the Earth, Peace with Each Other and Peace Within. Hilda Ontiveros Shares Neema Soratgar's Essay Devon Peña Grandma Bea Peace with the Earth Panel Stephen Niamke Peace with Each Other Panel Peace Within Panel Time & Location Saturday, Sep 21, 8:30 am - 5:30pm This event will be held at the Tomas Rivera Conference Center, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), 351 W University Ave, El Paso, TX 79902 Registration required. 160 people maximum participants. About the Event Unity Through Creativity, the Interfaith Alliance of the Southwest , the Centennial Museum , The Women’s and Gender Studies Center , the Dance and Theater Department , the Sociology Departments of UTEP and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute invite YOU to participant El Paso's International Day of Peace Symposium. High School students are welcome. The Symposium will be part of over 5000 nationwide gatherings for this year’s UN’s Global Peace Day , whose theme is “Cultivating a Culture of Peace.” As in past years, we will focus on Peace Within, Peace With Each Other and Peace with the Earth. The goal is to build and strengthen networks of local and national peace practitioners. We seek to achieve this end by fostering an Interactive and Creative Time featuring YOU - the participants! There will be Round Table discussions, local organization panels, live-streamed Speakers, Collaborative Art-making and Cultural Celebrations. Schedule National Speakers Peace with the Earth Devon Peña Professor, farmer, author, environmental and food justice defender and protector. He is founder and president of the Acequia Institute a non-profit grant-making foundation supporting environmental & food justice. Home is a 181-acre acequia farm in Viejo San Acacio, CO and is located on Nuchu - Dinè - Tewa - Genizarx lands and waters. Peace with Each Other Stephen Niamke A longtime community organizer and nonviolence trainer from Roanoke, VA, Stephen has joined the staff as National Field Organizer for Pax Christi.Grounded in the Gospel and Catholic social teaching, Pax Christi USA is a membership organization that rejects war, preparation for war, every form of violence and domination, and personal and systemic racism. Peace Within Paul Chappell Paul K. Chappell is an international peace educator and founder of Peace Literacy. He graduated from West Point, was deployed to Iraq, and left active duty as a Captain. Realizing that humanity is facing new challenges that require us to become as well-trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war, Chappell created Peace Literacy to help students and adults from all backgrounds work toward their full potential and a more peaceful world. Local Hosts and Presenters Laurie Marshall Laurie Marshall, Author, Innovator and Artist, empowers youth and adults through creative collaboration. She is the founder of Unity Through Creativity and the Singing Tree™ Mural Project. Grandma Bea Grandma Bea, Beatriz Villegas (Ilhuicatlahuili-Bea), is an elder from Ciudad Juárez, México. Tawanda Chabikwa Movement Facilitator, Professor, Dance and Theater Department, UTEP Dr. Hilda Ontiveros Director of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Texas at El Paso Daniel Carey-Whalen Host of the Day, Director of the Centennial Museum Lynn Provenzano Meditation Leader, Director of UTEP's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Social Dancers The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Social Dancers are a tribal dance group which aim to educate audiences about Tigua heritage and culture. Hal Marcus Hal Marcus is an artist who has been painting for over 40 years and has been a long-term supporter of the Vegetarian community in El Paso. Music & Mindfulness Bettina Escudero, expert meditation teacher of Paso del Norte Mindfulness Consulting, using soothing music by El Paso Pro-Musica. Danza Azteca Omecoatl Aztec Dance Aurolyn Luykx Facilitator of the Day, UTEP's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Panelists Schedule (Subject to Change) IDOPS Schedule 9:00am - 9:20am Welcome by Daniel Carey-Whalen, M.A., M.U.P. Director, Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens and Dr. Hilda Ontiveros, Director of Women and Gender Studies of UTEP 9:20am - 9:30am Invitation to add to the Singing Tree Mural – Laurie Marshall 9:30am - 10:00am Aurolyn Luykx, Moderator for the Day - the importance of the pre- and post-assessment, a Fun Ice Breaker 10:00am - 10:30am Grandma Bea and Danza Azteca Omecoatl Blessing Peace with the Earth 10:30am - 11:00am Keynote Devon Peña, Professor, farmer, author, environmental and food justice defender and protector. 11:00am - 11:30am Panel of Local Community Organizations - Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens - Eco El Paso - Houston in Action (El Paso) - Amanecer - Chihuahuan Desert Climate Fellows- Climate Action Plan 11:30am – 11:35am Twin Hearts Meditation led by Lynn Provenzano 11:35am - 12:00pm Round Table – Artistic and Verbal Reflection 12:00pm - 1:00pm Lunch Peace with Each Other 1:00pm - 1:30pm Second Keynote presentation Stephen Niamke. National Field Organizer, PAX Christi USA 1:30pm - 2:00pm Panel of Local Community Organizations - YWCA - Pax Christi - Restorative Justice - Project Regeneracion - Abara 2:00pm -2:25pm Round Table – Artistic and Verbal Reflection 2:25pm -2:30pm Dance led by Dr. Tawanda Chabikwa Peace Within 2:30pm - 3:00pm Paul Chappell, Former Army Captain, Peace Literacy and Human Needs 3:00pm - 3:30pm Panel of Local Community Organizations - Interfaith Alliance of the Southwest - Unity Through Creativity and The Neurobiology of Peace - Hal Marcus - Bettina Escudero 3:30pm -4:00pm Round Table – Artistic and Verbal Reflection Closing 4:00pm - 4:30pm Dr. Hilda Ontiveros will lead a Plenary Session – What’s Next? – 3 Actions 4:30pm - 4:40pm Reflection of the Singing Tree 4:40pm - 4:50pm Aurloyn Luykx - Post Assessment 4:50pm - 5:00pm Closing Daniel Carey-Whalen 5:00-5:30pm Peace Parade and Circle Dance led by Dr. Tawanda Chabikwa to Centennial Plaza Thank You to Our Sponsors Last Years International Day of Peace

5ddc2624-e4e6-454f-89f1-c5c6259496f5 Back to Gallery Mural # 81 AIMS Middle School Restorative Justice Singing Tree 1/1 Restorative Justice Singing Tree at Aims Middle School in Oakland , California. A project with Restorative Justice for Oakland youth RJOY . "Criminal Justice sees crime as broken laws and justice as punishment. Restorative justices sees crime as broken lives and justice as healing. Forgiveness is neither required or guaranteed in Restorative Justice. Nor is it a determinant of success. Success happens in well-prepared and well-facilitated encounters where persons who have been harmed feel safe enough to freely share their stories and express their needs and persons causing harm tell the truth, express remorse and responsibility and offer reparations. Success continues when all parties together fashion a plan to repair harm that is actually carried out. This may - or may not - lead to forgiveness. Either way, Restorative Justice has done its job." Fania Davis, The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice (Davis founded Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth ) Date: June 23, 2020 Facilitator: Laurie Marshall and Lili Lopez Partners: Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth California Arts Council Peaceful World Foundation Oakstop Location: 171 12th St, Oakland, CA 94607, USA Previous Next

40c94919-cd0e-47e4-a76c-463d99c75fd0 Back to Gallery Mural # 34 Sarajevo Singing Tree of Renewed Togetherness 1/1 Young people from different religions and ethnic groups in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzogivinia collaborated to create a Singing Tree mural. In the process, they learn team-building and leadership skills. Create Peace Project of San Francisco joined with ArtGrupa of Sarajevo to carry out this team-building project. The Singing Tree was part of the International Peace Convention to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War War in the place where it began. 500 children and their families contributed to the mural at the Children’s Festival, which began as a healing gathering after the conflicts of the 1990’s ended. Date: June 13, 2014 Facilitator: Laurie Marshall Partners: Create Peace Project Art Grupa Location: Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Previous Next

0acdbe98-0f9a-4c3a-bf2a-84861076f64f Back to Gallery Mural # 43 Rainbow Eucalyptus Singing Tree of One Planet Living 1/1 The Singing Tree of One Planet Living ! The Rainbow Eucalyptus Singing Tree of One Planet Living was made with students from Hill Education Center. The goal of this mural was to envision a sustainable way of living using the One Planet Living framework. Globally we are living as if we have more than one planet. In fact, ecological footprinting shows that if everyone in the world consumed as much as the average person in the US, we’d need five planets to support us. One Planet Living communities dedicate themselves to making a world where everyone, everywhere lives happy, healthy lives within the limits of the planet, leaving space for wildlife and wilderness. Over 200 people contributed their prayer for sustainable living at Bioneers . Date: October 24, 2016 Facilitator: Laurie Marshall and Lili Lopez Partners: One Planet Living Bioneers Location: 720 Diablo Ave, Novato, CA 94947 Previous Next

e9bfeea2-2344-44a0-98b3-83afe5ff97a3 Back to Gallery Mural # 24 The Singing Tree of Diversity Sky Mural 1/1 Daniel Dancer is a visionary artist who makes large scale images that involve hundreds of children dressed in different colors, using their bodies to create powerful images photographed from the sky. He saw Sondra Folk Cheesbrough’s Singing Tree of Diversity II and was inspired to organize 900 North Elementary School kids and staff in Morgantown, West Virginia to reproduce the collaborative mural Sondra had created with elementary children from Monongalia County. The image using the media of dancing children depicts the polar ice caps melting, the fruit falling and the leaves blowing away. "They were all so beautiful on a cold afternoon in their version of The Tree of Life.” said Daniel. Founder of the Singing Tree Project, Laurie Marshall, was thrilled and honored to discover Sondra’s powerful image translated into Daniel's large scale, remarkable collaborative skywork. Date: November 3, 2014 Facilitator: Daniel Dancer Partners: Art For the Sky Location: Morgantown, WV, USA Previous Next

f57588e4-56f9-48af-9083-3a30a8e6db67 Back to Gallery Mural # 21 Redwood Singing Tree of Biodiversity 1/1 Redwood Singing Tree of Biodiversity. 1300 staff and students of A.P Giannini Middle School in San Francisco innovated by collaborating to create a mural inspired by their eco-system. With the help of art teacher Dawn Weickum, the art students were trained in peace leadership. They distributed 1200 leaves, birds, stars to their fellow students and the staff. 8th graders drew local plants and animals. 7th graders drew images on birds and stars to honor ones who are gone. 6th graders make the Redwood’s needles in the form of hands, drawing their gifts and celebrating their heritage. Administrators, custodians, security guards and secretaries draw their gifts on an outline of their hands. A 7th grader had the idea of creating a rainbow made out of musical notes. During the celebration of the mural’s completion, the 8th grade sang a song about “Coming Home” to the earth. The chorus accompanies the video below, which was filmed by 8th graders. The mural is installed at the middle school. Date: November 25, 2011 Facilitator: Laurie Marshall Partners: Create Peace Project Giannini Middle School Location: 3151 Ortega St, San Francisco, CA 94122, USA Previous Next

d4199139-f4dd-464d-b8fa-174d2b918031 Back to Gallery Mural # 92 The Rowan-Oak Singing Tree of Embracing Our Unknown 1/1 Work in Progress Date: Facilitator: Cynthia Sudduth Partners: NA Location: Mountain Ranch, CA, USA Previous Next

d2423ee1-12b6-4e64-a80d-7facc0877648 < Back Welcome to Earth 1/1 Welcome to Earth was made in 2009 with Marin’s Community School , 25 high school students, installed at the Family Courts Office Building in Lucas Valley, Marin County. Marin County, CA, USA Previous Next

< Back Inner Landscapes of Marin Oaks High School Marin Oaks High School Inner Landscapes are on display at the Novato Unified School District's School Board Office. This project was funded by the Artists Teaching Art Sausalito Arts Festival Foundation. Previous Next

24584f75-d8fb-4c82-9daa-01a07ae41c2f Back to Gallery Mural # 106 The Redwood Singing Trees of Holding Community Through Unity 1/1 The Redwood Singing Trees of Holding Community Through Unity was made with Singing Tree Facilitators Leslie Rein and Dr. Sweta Chawla. This mural was made by 4th graders at Ocean View School in Albany, CA. Date: April 27, 2022 Facilitator: Dr. Sweta Chawla and Leslie Rein Partners: NA Location: Ocean View Elementary School, Jackson Street, Albany, CA, USA Previous Next

72caa361-96f2-4614-b35d-0b0568d04abc Back to Gallery Mural # 4 Linden Singing Tree of Appreciation 1/1 The Linden Singing Tree led by students from Mt. Lebanon and Peabody High School in Pittsburgh, PA. Over 800 people worked on it from inner city and suburban areas. It was exhibited at the U.S. Botanic Gardens . 12' x 8' The theme was "What do you love the most on this earth." Date: August 2, 2002 Facilitator: Laurie Marshall Partners: Mt. Lebanon Peabody High School U.S. Botanic Gardens Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA Previous Next

09948571-738b-4fa6-86e5-1bd06c4bcbfb Back to Gallery Mural # 60 Cypress Singing Tree of Empathy 1/1 Design Camp Fest The 52nd Singing Tree at Monterey County - "Cypress Singing Tree of Empathy" - How can empathy drive creative innovation?? 140 dedicated, brilliant, loving and committed educators, filled with inner beauty and strength. Thank you, adults, for holding the children so dearly. Date: February 24, 2018 Facilitator: Laurie Marshall Partners: Design Camp Fest Location: Monterey County Previous Next

46e9f54f-316f-467e-83d5-3df0ba506f23 Back to Gallery Mural # 99 Oak and Linden Singing Trees of Wholeness and Belonging 1/1 Facilitated by Joanna Vaughn who worked with Escuelita Amiguitos, The Austin Quaker Meeting and Austin Tan Cera de La Forntera. Date: May 16, 2022 Facilitator: Joanna Vaughn Partners: Escuelita Amiguitos The Austin Quaker Meeting Austin Tan Cera de La Frontera (ACTF) Location: Austin, TX, USA Previous Next

< Back Elenna Goodman Board Member Elenna holds a BA in Political Science from Barnard College (NY), an MA in Anthropology and Social Change from CIIS (SF). Her work is devoted to gathering and nourishing community as creative spaces of healing and sanctuary to support communication and connection. Elenna has worked with individuals, organizations, communities and spontaneously arising groups at the threshold of change, navigating the sometimes chaotic, often grief laden and ultimately inspiring terrain between one iteration of life and another. As it best benefitted the situation, she’s been known as an Organizational Consultant, Program Founder/Director/Team Member/Designer, Community Organizer, Guide, Mentor, Coach, Counselor, Teacher, Writer, Dancer/Storyteller, Curator of Healing Spaces, Ritualist & Ceremonialist. And often, simply a Healing Presence. Her work is devoted to gathering and nourishing community as creative spaces of healing and sanctuary to support communication and connection where separation may have prevailed. Reciprocity, collaboration, deep listening, curiosity, rigorous hope, gratitude, compassion and commitment to the well-being of Mother Earth and all Life are values that guide her. Elenna holds a BA in Political Science from Barnard College (NY) and a MA in Anthropology and Social Change from CIIS (SF). She has been trained in Council Facilitation rooted in the Ojai Foundation lineage, and is a Practicing Rites of Passage Guide trained by School Of Lost Borders founders Steven Foster and Meredith Little. She has had the privilege of training with Joanna Macy in the Work that Reconnects, Deena Metzger - healer, community holder, medicine person and writer, Francis Weller in the sacred work of grief and renewal, and with Marti Spiegelman in her work of bringing the original technologies of consciousness into meaningful relationship with the modern world. She is deeply honored to have been mentored in a diversity of Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Practices.

This project came to Ukiah after UHS teacher Eveline Rodriguez attended a summer seminar where Marshall shared information about her project. < Back Ukiah High School collaborates with artists worldwide to spread message of kindness This project came to Ukiah after UHS teacher Eveline Rodriguez attended a summer seminar where Marshall shared information about her project. This project came to Ukiah after UHS teacher Eveline Rodriguez attended a summer seminar where Marshall shared information about her project. The project was inspired by award-winning children’s author Kate Seredy’s story of a World War I battle during which Hungarian soldiers crawled all night through total desolation. When they reached safety, there was one tree still standing, and hundreds of birds of varying species were singing together, birds that do not naturally do so, creating a unique and beautiful song. In 1999, that story inspired an 8-year-old girl to wonder what would happen if people from all over the world, from different backgrounds and traditions, came together to make something beautiful like the birds’ song. She asked, “What if the whole world made a painting together?” Today, a forest of “Singing Tree” paintings have been created by almost 12,000 people worldwide, according to Laurie Marshall, co-founder of the Singing Tree project. Each painting explores a theme and honors the essential role trees play in human life. This project came to Ukiah after UHS teacher Eveline Rodriguez attended a summer seminar where Marshall shared information about her project. With support from fellow MESA teacher Sezgin Ramirez and MESA director Matt Sweeney, Rodriguez enlisted their MESA students in an ambitious project to create the 49th singing tree mural. The name of the Ukiah High tree is the Manzanita Singing Tree of Kindness, and in it, students use art to explore questions such as, “What is a memorable act of kindness that you received or gave?” and “Is there someone you were unkind to whose trust you need to restore?” Marshall coordinated the project, coming to Ukiah on Dec. 5, 12 and 19. She asked students to draw their visions of kindness and she incorporated those visions into a final mural design. She then encouraged project participants to invite students outside the MESA class to decorate the manzanita tree by creating leaves where they shared their ideas about kindness. Rodriguez said, “Almost 50 MESA students were involved, and everyone had a role. We had committees responsible for preparing the leaves, for creating instructions so others could participate, for painting the mural, for figuring out where to display it once it’s done, and many others.” The project not only produced a beautiful work of art, it incorporated several academic subjects, as well as enhancing students’ social and emotional development. MESA students learned about the role of manzanita trees in local ecology. They used mathematics to create the grid to enlarge the master design, and they used engineering to design and build the free-standing mural with the help of the woodshop students. They also used communication skills as they collaborated with classmates and invited others to participate by adding to the mural or documenting the project for the yearbook. Students expanded their social and emotional learning as they explored kindness; and finally, they used creative expression as they produced unique images that reflected their personal understanding of kindness. Rodriguez said she was pleased so many colleagues chose to have their classes participate. “More than a dozen teachers from many different departments got involved, like English, psychology, PE, science, art, independent study, special education, and foreign language,” she said. Part of the project included more than contemplating kindness: students who shared memorable acts of kindness were encouraged to continue to practice those acts, and students who shared stories about needing to restore trust or apologize were encouraged to follow up and make amends. “For the students who participated, I think this project created awareness about kindness, and how important it is. I also think it gave them hope. It showed them they can make changes when they believe in themselves. We did this project in three weeks. We can do so much more when we work together.” To learn more about the Singing Tree project, visit www.unitythroughcreativity.net/programs/singing-tree-forest. Marshall and co-founder Lili Lopez also work with an international non-profit whose mission is peace-building through art (createpeaceproject.org). By Ukiah Daily Journal | udj@ukiahdj.com | PUBLISHED: January 23, 2018 at 12:00 am | UPDATED: August 23, 2018 at 12:00 am (used with permission) Previous Next