Random Kindness and Sacred Acts of Beauty: Regenerating Sacred Earth and Growing Beloved Community
Publication information:
Abstract
Workshop: We see the role of the artist in society as shaman, priest and ritualist. This workshop draws on the spiritual wisdom that was seeded by the response of two women (Anne Herbert and M. Paloma Pavel) who drafted a phrase on a napkin which led to a book that catalyzed a global movement, much to their surprise. Paloma is trained as a psychologist and eco-chaplain. She is joined by fellow artivists Luisah Teish (ritualist, storyteller, and author), Guillermo Ortiz (curandero), Mayumi Oda (painter), Leslie Plato Smith (visual artist), Annie Hallett (masque maker) and Sharon Siskin (eco-artist).
This ritual and workshop uses the four stages of spiritual transformation embedded in “the work that reconnects” (Joanna Macy): Beginning in Gratitude, Honoring our Pain for the World, Seeing with New Eyes, and Going Forth. Utilizing ritual, reflection, drawing, and storytelling, each participant will be invited to their own transformation.
Presenter Biographies
M. Paloma Pavel, PhD, MDiv (HDS ’82): Eco-psychologist, Author, Educator. President of Earth House Center. Co-Author Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty, Author Breakthrough Communities: Sustainability and Justice in the Next American Metropolis (MIT Press). Fulbright Scholar: Japan (2018-Psycho-spiritual impact of Fukushima); Norway (2022-Climate Justice). Co-Producer: Sacred Earth: Growing Beloved Community Webcast series (2024).
Carl Anthony: African American architect, regional planner and social justice activist. Author of The Earth, the City, and the Hidden Narrative of Race. Former President of the Earth Island Institute, he later directed the Ford Foundation’s Sustainable Metropolitan Communities Initiative. Co-founder of Race, Poverty and the Environment Journal, the first environmental justice periodical in the United States.
Mayumi Oda, Social Artist and Buddhist dharma teacher, graduated Tokyo University of Fine Arts and studied at Pratt Graphic Center, New York. Her renowned social activism includes the founding of Plutonium Free Future. “Through my creative process, I have been creating myself. Goddesses are a projection of myself and who I want to be."
Annie Hallat, Mask Maker, Painter, Dancer, Set Designer was educated at Stephen’s College, UC Berkeley and the San Francisco Art Institute. She has performed with John Cage, Anna Halpern’s Tamalpais Institute, Bread & Roses Puppet Theater, and Butoh/Theater of Yugen.
YeYe Luisah Teish, ritual theater performance artist, storyteller, female chief in the Ifa/Orisha tradition. Author: Jambalaya, Co-Author: On Holy Ground: Commitment and Devotion to Sacred Land. Published in Essence, MS, Shaman’s Drum, and Yoga Journal. Mixed-media art published in the Cascadia Subduction Zone magazine and in Coreopsis Journal of Myth and Theater.
Sharon Siskin, community collaborative artist addressing environmental and social justice issues including climate crisis and ecological grief. Teaching Artist as Citizen: Introduction to Community-based Arts Practices, and EcoArt Matters. Teaches at Laney College, USF & Vacaville Prison. Education: BFA, Tyler School of Art; MA, University of New Mexico; MFA, UC Berkeley.
Guillermo Ortiz, M.Div. Ritualist teaching sacred dance and movement therapy. After a five year apprenticeship he was initiated in the indigenous healing practice of curanderismo by Elena Avila, author of Woman Who Glows in the Dark. Founding member of Xochipilli, a latino sacred dance circle offering community ceremonies since 1992.
Leslie Plato Smith, artist, enrolled member of Choctaw Nation, educated at University of California and Tulane. While Associate Vice-Chancellor for City College of San Francisco, brought together 60 art departments, creating 125 life-size statues visually showing budget cuts impacting students. Award winning 2020 Spotlight Artist exhibit, “Vulnerability” focused on sacred land, migration, and resettlement.