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arts fest 2011 banner

 

Hands for Peace 

Jayson Hands for Peace     

Arts, Activism and Social Change
essellen

    

Celebrando La Cultura Initiative
mayan

Drum of the Four Winds Prophecy
Drum of four winds

     

 Tibetan Sand Mandala

Lobsong Mandala     

Poets, Writers, Theatre, Authors Activists
Akuyoe Graham

International Artist
Mariano Valadez
Partnership Organization
Arvol Looking Horse
Athira Pratap
la mixta
kanyon

Hannibal Lakumbe

Kevin Yazzie
aztec guy
Ecuadorian shaman
kati Hernandez
abdoulye
Mandjou Ocean # 1
Elegua
vikash indian music

Aztec

african show boyz
yuval ron indian friend selewit
Yemaya cuba
Ogun cuba

Dancer with headdress
Iyeoka ocean icon
aza workshop

Aguabella Playing Drums
jasmine Horan
Cuban Dance
sandy perez

whirling dervish
Gordy Ryan

nina
vernon bush

Francisco workshop dancers

spirit nest adama
jayson ashe wine
David




grupofalsobaiano

SpectorDance
maria leigh


Mardi Gras Indian in headdress

April 5th 4:00 to 9:00

Ashe Ensemble & African Show Boyz 

At The Independent Market Place

600 0rtiz Ave. Sand City, CA 831-394-6000   Sandcityca.com

Exhibiting new Spirit Nest, DJing with Jayson Fann

special Guest Dj Om, from Nigeria

ashe banner large

                       African Show Boyz 

mending sacred hoop dancer

April 22   2:00 to 6:00 pm

A Global Celebration of Art, Culture and Spirit 

at El Gabilan Library in Salinas, Ca

Spirit Garden Productions 

In Partnership with Salinas Public Library

 Presents

"The Community Sacred Hoop Creation" with cross-cultural dance, music and poetry performances. 

Spirit Garden ProductionsBlack Elk Vision # best pic2012 presents, "Mending the Sacred Hoop,"  an extraordinary  educational initiative and production that interweaves  interdisciplinary arts, literacy, cross-cultural healing, community empowerment and social change. 

The theme Mending the Sacred Hoop is based on the American Indian concept as expressed by Black Elk, an Ogalala Sioux medicine man. As a young boy, Black Elk received a vision in the midst of tremendous racial violence and attempted cultural genocide against his people. The vision detailed a process of healing through the bringing together of the four major races of humanity to live together in peace.


Later in his life, as an elder, Black Elk and the great American author and poet John Neihardt worked together to document his vision in the book Black Elk Speaks, the first internationally known literary work, detailing the accounts of his life and foreseen fulfillment of the prophecy, of the mending of the sacred hoop that would occur after seven generations.

 

Black Elk's wisdom has served as a guiding star across the American Indian movement and to individuals and communities worldwide, dedicated to fulfilling the ideals of his vision that recognizes that we are one human family.

 

The Mending the Sacred Hoop production brings together a world class group of artists, educators, activists and community leaders dedicated to engage, facilitate and guide communities into a process of positive social change through multicultural community partnerships, performances, lectures, interactive community arts projects, performances, assemblies, workshops and large scale community wide events and festivals.

     Mending the Sacred Hoop Production
   World Celebrations of Art, Culture and Spirit

Featuring musicians and dancers from around the world, The WCMDP weaves together a rich tapestry of performing artists dedicated to a common vision of world peace and universal understanding. This sacred music and dance festival celebrates the interconnected nature of our lives and in turn emphasizes the beauty of our common humanity.

Our Productions Draw upon hundreds
of world class International Performer

Dancing Earth :Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations 

Dancing earthan imagistic rendering of myths and a story of
"mending the sacred hoop"A contemporary production with roots l spreading far enough to encompass dancers of diverse tribal memberships, and designers of costumes and sets and multimedia too, Dancing Earth is not just a company of Native American dancers, but a voice for making performance relationships demonstrate a critical intersection where performance meets environment. Tangen has taught or led workshops at such places as Stanford University's Institute of Diversity in the Arts, and at Trent University's indigenous performance initiative in Canada. She spoke to both experiences on August 12th at Santa Fe Art Institute, whose support midwifed this dance  into being. 
Dancing Earth, Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations

Athira Pratap: Classical Indian dance company
Athira Pratap performs a pure bharatanatyam dance. She depicts Saraswathi Devi, the Goddess of Knowledge, and Mahishasura Mardhini, Shakthi, the Goddess of Power. Ahtira's dance tells a traditional Indian story-the origin of the Kollur Moogambika temple in South India, built in honor of Saraswathi Devi.

   The Venezuelan Music Project

VMProject jackeline ragoa.k.a. VMP) was founded in 1997 by musical director Jackeline Rago, to share the sounds and cultural traditions of Venezuela. Combining the Indigenous-Venezuelan, West African and Spanish-European influences, this project emerges as a dynamic ensemble full of vitality, energy and color.the group performs Calypso del Callao, Parrandas, Tamboreras, Sangueos, Golpes de Tambor, Tonadas de Quitipl�s, Tambor Redondo, Gaitas, Joropos, Merengues, Ful�as and spiritual chants inspired by the daily life of the Venezuelan countryside.  

http://www.venezuelanmusicproject.com 

 

  Yaocuauhtli Danza Cultural 

Aztec dancer fire

Yaocuauhtli Danza Cultural
: is a community based Aztec dance troupe that helps promote and develop positive self-awareness and self-esteem to youth and all whom participate through culturally enriched activities. They have have performed at countless cultural events throughout the United States and Alaska. Yaocuauhtli Danza Cultural focuses their mission practicing their ancient traditions to rediscover their roots and restore a past that has been hidden for more than five hundred years. By knowing their past they understand their present and thereby build a better future for our children and our children's children


Maria de Barros 

maria de barros Cape Verdean chanteuse Maria de Barros invites us into her culture's joyful musical tradition.In addition to the African and Latin flavored coladeiras and bluesy mornas common to her culture's music, de Barros introduces another intoxicating rhythm, the funana, which is undeniably danceable and joyful. "This rhythm is driven by an instrument called a ferro, which is simply a piece of metal played with a knife," she explains. Five-time Grammy� nominee Cesaria Evora, the "barefoot diva", helped to place the music of Cabo Verde on U.S. audiences' musical map. Evora's ongoing encouragement led to her god-daughter fashioning her own lively and vivacious interpretation of Cabo Verdean music. Together, Evora - the Queen of the Mornas - and Maria de Barros - Queen of the Coladeiras - paint a complete musical picture of this tradition-rich land.
http://www.mariadebarros.com/
 The Yuval Ron Ensemble
  Formed in 1999, The Yuval Ron Ensemble endeavors to alleviate national, racial, religious and cuYuval Ron Ensemble 2ltural divides by uniting the music and dance of the opposing people of the Middle East into a unique mystical, spiritual and inspiring musical celebration. The ensemble includes Jewish and Arabic musicians as well as Christian artists who have been actively involved in creating musical bridges between people of various faiths and ethnic groups worldwide. Led by Oscar winning composer Yuval Ron (music for "West Bank Story") The Ensemble was invited by King of Morocco to appear at the International Sacred Music Festival of Fez, 2009 and had the honor to headline the benefit concert for the Dalai Lama's initiative "Seeds of Compassion" promoting Compassion in Education, Business and Community. In 2002, 2005 and 2008, the ensemble was featured at the World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles and was honored to be the first American-based Middle Eastern Ensemble to perform at an International Peace Festival '05 in South Korea.


SoVoS� "from the Soul to the Voice to the Song"
"SoVoS� is tight, soulful, and a whole lotta fun." Bobby McFerrin 

SoVoSo is a highly iSoVoSomaginative acappella ensemble that sings a unique, rhythmic mix of jazz, gospel, world and R&B music, all rendered in their trademark improvisational style.

The SoVoS� repertoire consists of original compositions and other songs that present a global perspective, from Afro-Latin idioms to traditional funk and jazz arrangements. Two SoVoS� members (Joey Blake, past member, and current member David Worm) are current members of Bobby McFerrin's a cappella group, Voicestra, performing with him from 1993 to present.

 The SoVoSo family of singers continues to expand as this one of a kind musical project grows and flourishes. The band is current working on new material for an album to be released in 2010.

As SoVoS� ("from the Soul to the Voice to the Song"), the ensemble has continued to pioneer new horizons in contemporary vocal performance, bringing traditional world rhythms into the 21st century. According to the San Jose Mercury News, "The extraordinary richness and brilliance of this virtuoso vocalism lifts you into a special realm."
http://www.sovoso.com/

 "Isupo Irawo : EverKati Hernandez 1yone Star" from Cuba  

 Isupo Irawo Yoruba, features master drummers and dancers from Havana, Cuba. This high-energy performance ensemble fully immerses the audience into a joyous celebration of Afro-Cuban music, dance, and culture. These world-renowned Cuban performers weave traditional and contemporary concepts of Afro-Cuban percussion and choreography; performing Rumba Yamb�, Rumba Guaguanc�, and Rumba Columbia, as well as traditional and folkloric dances of the Orisha.
  Meklit Hadero: Ethiopian, Poetic, Jazz, soul
meklit

"You may not have heard Meklit Hadero's music before, but once you do, it'll be tough to forget. Hadero's sound is a unique blend of jazz, Ethiopia, the San Francisco art scene and visceral poetry; it paints pictures in your head as you listen."- NPR's Tell Me More

"[Meklit] is an artistic giant in the early stages. She sings of fragility, hope and self-empowerment, and exudes all three. What's irresistible, above all, is her cradling, sensuous, gentle sound. She is stunning." 


Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage  Choir  

Linda TilleryThe Cultural Heritage Choir is a Grammy � nominated, percussion driven, vocal ensemble whose mission is to help preserve and share the rich musical traditions of African American roots music. Their music is rooted in the deep south and strongly connected to their West African and Caribbean origins. This mission is pursued through academic research, review of historical recordings, documents and video footage and most importantly - live performance. Performing together since 1992, the Cultural Heritage Choir creates dynamic rhythms and sparkling energy on stage. Their vocals are lush and vibrant, their performances are poignant and uplifting.

 


Founded in 1965 by Estella Nonosina Reid, the leadership of Nonosina has been passed on through generations with Riki Manuia Liufau (daughter of Estella Reid) directing the group in the '70s to her very own children, Mevina and Tiana Nonosina Liufau, who direct the group today. With branches in Hawaii, Utah, and Japan (otherwise known as "Tavake Rereata - Nonosina Japan" and directed by Mevina Liufau), Nonosina's expansive growth (over 500 strong and counting) is a true testament of their ability to uphold a tradition of unparalleled authenticity, originality, and innovation.
Mevina and Tiana are of Hawaiian, Samoan, and Tongan descent and admit that since they grew up in the dance studio alongside their parents who were also performers, the responsibility of heading Nonosina was a smooth transition. Mevina shares that the goal of Nonosina is to "focus on culture and put forward the differences and diversity [that they're exposed to]." He also states, "Your environment is your culture; it's not just through blood." Nonosina celebrates individuality and strives to maintain a perspective on dance and music that is always evolving. It is no wonder then that Nonosina's choreography and musical arrangements, all of which are original, encompasses a lot of different influences from an assortment of music genres to various styles of dance.


 Ash� Ensemble 
"an explosive performance of culture and Spirit"

ashe ensemble
Ash� Ensemble  features a world-class ensemble of musicians and dancers weaving African rhythms, soul, Jazz, Brazilian, Caribbean, afro-beat and spoken word with a passionate dance   performance. Ash� awakens the spirit and invokes a vision of global unity featuring a collective of artist from across the globe.Ash� Ensemble is a Global Artist collective. Most of our members are leaders in their own performing  groups, making Ash� an all star performance experience. Ash� members  support  one another by uplifting each others individual talents  on stage, in the recording studio as well as supporting each others  social and creative initiatives worldwide
  Urisawe Korean Cultural Performance Company
Korean Culture Center- Urisawe is an organization dedicated to promoting and cultivating Korean cultural awareness through performing arts. Founded in 2002 by  Me Sook Ko, Urisawe has participated in numerous performances and community events in the San Francisco bay area to share the beauty of the traditional Korean dance and music.  Urisawe offers many classes to welcome anyone who seeks to learn and share traditional Korean dance and music as well as actively engage in the community to reach out to the public at large.  
 http://urisawe.com/index.html

Spirit Garden Productions presents a world class faculty of International acclaimed Poets, Artist, Scholars and Activist. PoetsScholarsActivists

Climbing PoeTree: Soul sister Performance Duo   climbing poe banner
With roots in Haiti and Colombia, Alixa and Naima reside in Brooklyn and track footprints across the country and globe on a mission to overcome destruction with creativity. Having blazed over 500 stages from Oakland to Atlanta, South Africa to Cuba with artists such as Erikah Badu, Alicia Keys, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, Danny Glover, Avery Brooks, Jean Grae, Vandana Shiva, Rev. Desmond Tutu,The Last Poets, and Dead Prez-Climbing PoeTree's soul-stirring performance interweaves performance poetry, award winning multimedia theater and story-telling to expose injustice, heal from violence, and make a better future visible, immediate, and irresistible.
http://www.climbingpoetree.com/
Poet, Scholar Activist: Sonia Sanchez
sonia Sanchez
Poet. Mother. Professor. National and International lecturer on Black Culture and Literature, Women's Liberation, Peace and Racial Justice. Sponsor of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Board Member of MADRE. Sonia Sanchez is the author of over 16 books.

"This world is a better place because of Sonia Sanchez: more livable, more laughable, more manageable. I wish millions of people knew that some of the joy in their lives comes from the fact that Sonia Sanchez is writing poetry." Maya Angelou

"The poetry of Sonia Sanchez is full of power and yet always clean and uncluttered. It makes you wish you had thought those thoughts, felt those emotions and, above all, expressed them so effortlessly and so well."
- Chinua Achebe

"Only a poet with an innocent heart can exorcise so much pain with so much beauty."- Isabel Allende   http://soniasanchez.net/
Hannibal Lakumbe: Author, Activist and Composer
Hannibal Lakumbe
Lokumbe's journey has taken him from the cotton fields of Elgin, Texas - where he was first inspired by thespirituals and hymns of his grandparents - to the stages of Carnegie Hall and much of the world.

At age thirteen he was given a trumpet by his mother. A year later his band The Soul Masters was backing up icons such as Jackie Wilson, Otis Redding, Etta James, Lightning Hopkins and T. Bone Walker.

Lokumbe is the recipient of numerous awards: the Bessie's, the NEA, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He has composed works for The Kronos String Quartet, as well as the Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit and Houston Symphonies. His groundbreaking opera African Portraits was performed and recorded by The Chicago Symphony under the direction of Daniel Barenboim and has been performed nearly two hundred time since its November 11, 1990 Carnegie Hall debut. His works range from string quartets to full orchestral and choral compositions.His composition A Shepherd Among Us by The Art Sanctuary was recorded and is currently being aired on channel WHYY television's On Canvas series.
Essayist, Poet, Activist, Educator: Cherrie L.Moraga
 Cherry MoragaCherr�e L. Moraga is playwright, poet, and essayist whose plays and publications have received national recognition, including a TCG Theatre Artist Residency Grant in 1996, the NEA's Theatre Playwrights' Fellowship in 1993, and two Fund for New American Plays Awards.  In 2007, she was awarded the United States Artist Rockefeller Fellowship for Literature; in 2008, a Creative Work Fund Award,  and in 2009, a Gerbode-Hewlett Foundation Grant for Playwiting. For over ten years, Moraga has served as an Artist in Residence in the Department of Drama at Stanford University and currently also shares a joint appointment with Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity.   She teaches Creative Writing,  Xicana-Indigenous Performance, Latino/Queer Performance, Indigenous Identity in Diaspora in the Arts and Playwriting.  She is proud to be a founding member of La Red Xicana Ind�gena, a network of Xicanas organizing in the area of social change through international exchange, indigenous political education, spiritual practice, and grass roots organizing.

Spirit Awakening Akuyoe Graham's autobiographical one-woman show  
"Spirit Awakening" follows her progression from her native Ghana
Akuyoe GrahamSpirit Awakening production  has  toured widely, Graham's piece contains a cast of finely honed characters, including Graham's own youthful self and an intrinsically  racist British school head who seeks to squelch Graham's otherness. In addition to Graham's exceptional performance, an evocative stage design and beautifully performed music by Jayson Fann give a palpable sense of the color and warmth of Graham's West African childhood.
Queen mother Nana Odede Akuyoe Graham of Ghana, West Africa is a critically acclaimed actress, writer and founder of the Spirit Awakening Foundation and crowned queen of Ghana. She has been named "Angel of the Year" by the Children
 's Life Saving Foundation, "Artist of the Year" by Artshare LA, and been given a "Local Hero Award" by A Season for Non-Violence LA.The California State Department of Justice has recognized Rights of Passage as "innovative and effective" in the areas of youth gang violence prevention.

        Arts, Activism and Social Change ArtSocialChange      
"Interactive community Arts Initiatives

that transform minds and open Hearts"

Spirit Garden Productions

Arts, Activism and Social Change ArtSocialChange

essellenSpirit Garden Productions produces hundreds of art, social activism, Ecological educational programs drawing attention to human rights, cross-cultural understanding and the environment world-wide. Our work addresses racism, gender equality, violence against women's,Native American sacred land protection, cultural miss appropriation, homophobia as well as institutional systems that perpetuate oppression and inequality.Our community events and educational programs foster understanding and create long lasting bridges that emphasis reconciliation and healing between diverse peoples and communities. These events utilize mixed media arts collaboration, some that have been as large as two hundred feet wide by seventy feet tall for example the Mending The Sacred Hoop community events, Breath of the Ancestors, Esselen Nation/Tribe Initiative, Hands for Peace Project,Crossing the Bridge,Waters of Life, Alafia Project, Celebrando La Cultura, Festival das Criancas " festival for the children,"International Womens Month involving hundred of people from over thirty nations gathering together to address issues such as environmental protection, racism, genocide, gang violence and violence against woman. Our events utilize unique and innovative approaches to challenging cross-cultural and global issues.Our aim is to  build relationships and open doors for solutions that lead to change, healing and humanitarian  advancement.

 

"Indian Canyon Tribal community supports Jayson Fann, We are a band of Mutsun Ohlone - neighbors and relatives of the Essellen band down in Big Sur....Jayson has an amazing mind and beautiful heart. He is being guided by something larger than himself. And when it comes to honoring our ancestors, we are100% in support of what he believes. Ann Marie Sayers "

 

"You have been pivotal voice in getting the people to stand up and take action on these issues of genocide" Tom Little Bear Nason, Essellen Tribe   

 

HandsforPeace
With These Hands Hands For Peace
"No human relation gives one possession in another - every two souls are absolutely different. In friendship or in love, the two side by side raise hands together to find what one cannot reach alone." Kahlil Gibran

hands for peace 

Join us by contributing to this ongoing project, which currently has over 15,000 hand prints from people from over 30 countries. The Hands For Peace mandala art project began at the 12th annual international peace summit in Salinas, California. A collaboration with artist Jayson Fann and Partners for Peace organization dedicated to reducing gang violence in Monterey county through community outreach programs. A radiant mandala made of thousands upon thousands of hand prints surrounding planet Earth, each a symbolic prayer and collective declaration to the guiding forces of peace, love and compassion.

hands for peace #2


Contributed to by people of many cultures, ages and walks of life, the piece displays the simplest yet intimate symbol of humanity, our hands. It is with our hands that we connect to our world, touch our loved ones and children, and do our life's work. While our feet support us on the path of life, our hands communicate and serve as a direct link through which our intentions are manifested.

In this project, participants will be asked to go within to gather their prayer for the coming year and then to offer a print on a prayer flag that will connect to the mandala. This collective prayer serves as a radiant force of our intentions. We ask that with each hand print participants pour forth their visions and dreams so that the piece may be seen and also felt.The Hands for Peace mandala has been exhibited at over a hundred events in dedication to mending the Sacred hoop. 

 

spiritnest     The Sacred Hoop & Spirit Nests

 

"Our homes were  round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nations hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children" Black Elk Speaks

 

Join artist Jayson Fann in building the "Sacred Hoop".These hoops and nest will be built across America in the cities and communities that host and collaborate in the Mending the Sacred Hoop National Initiative.The interactive vernacular architectural sculptures, woven out of thousands of tree branches serve as a reflection of the teachings of Black Elks Vision. The completion of the project will remain in each city.

 







"Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours."
Black Elk Speaks

 The Sacred Hoop and Spirit Nests are large-scale interactive vernacular architectural sculptures, woven out of thousands of  branches. I started building Spirit Nests as an integrative process founded in my childhood experiences on the Pine Ridge Lakota Indian Reservation. My inspiration was founded on the spiritual concept of Black Elk about nests. My experience with the Lakota combined with my education in natural building and performance arts at the University of Ghana, West Africa gave me the foundation for the creation of the spirit nest.The Nests have served as a funding resource for sponsoring over 500 events fostering cross-cultural bridge building, and race relation healing events world wide.  

www.bigsurspiritgarden.com 

ProphecyDrum 
Heart of the Four Winds

In July of 2011 The Spirit Garden council completed the first stage of the "Prophecy Drum" for the Prophecy and Healing the Earth Gathering with the International council of the thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers,The Ashe Ensemble and members of the Esselen, Mutsun Ohlone, Zuni and Navajo Nations. See more.. Prophecy and Healing   

 

13 grandmothers

  

The Prophecy Drum is now being prepared to be carved representing the Teachings of Mending the Sacred Hoop Prophecy.We Are currently identifying four carvers from Africa, Asia, Europe and Native America to carve the teachings of the Sacred hoop into the four sides of the drum.  

 

 Drum sacred The Drum will travel to the communities that are facilitating Mending The Sacred Hoop gatherings and celebrations and serve as an educational Instrument through the curation of the symbolic principles of the Sacred hoop vision.  

The drum will also serve as a place of gathering and prayer and ceremony with community leaders who are working with Mending the Sacred Hoop councils.

This drum represents The heart of the universe that is heard from our first moment of conception passed down from generation to generation, the heart beat of life. Weighing approximately 1,500 pounds and made from a Redwood Tree this drum is the tallest tree on estimated to be 500 to 1000 years old. We found the piece of wood on the side of the Hwy 1 where it has been sitting for at least fifty years.Under the weather worn texture is a beautifully rich red toned wood.  Its sound is deep and when played sends a deep vibration through the ground and can be heard and felt from a great distance.We are currently seeking to raise 10,000 dollars to host and sponsor four carvers to come together and complete the carving that will include four carved staircases to the level where it can be played in the Mending the Sacred Hoop community events that will take place in cities across the nation.            

SandMandala

The Sand Mandala of Universal Compassion   

With the monks of Ganden Monastery of Tibet    

Tassajara Japanese Zen Buddhist monks 

Sambosa Korean Buhddist monks 

Lobsong Mandala  

The Tibetan sand mandala presented by the

Himalayan Cultural Tour. Through this exquisite art form of Tibetan Tantric  Buddhism, the monks of Ganden Monastery will create a "blueprint" for the abode of Awakening. Made in conjunction with ancient ritual and meditation, the mandala finally becomes a basis for the invocation and presence of Awakened Compassion. In the concluding ceremony, to illustrate impermanence, the mandala is swept up and the grains of sand bearing the imprint of the mandala are taken to the ocean and distributed to participants to spread the energy of compassion throughout the world. 

cost of Sand mandala .     

 

Celebrando Celebrando La Cultura
Celebrando la cultura
A Spirit Garden Production educational project created to honor and acknowledge the rich cultural Latino heritage Nation wide. Celebrando has served as a means to fosters cross cultural understanding and community partnerships  between Spanish speaking and non Spanish speaking communities. Our innovative programs, feature inspirational Latino,Chicano and Hispanic speakers, writers, poets and Artists.
Celebrando offers ongoing classes in conversational  Spanish and English, arts and crafts, mural painting, mariachi music, latin percussion, Aztec and Mayan dance, authentic Latino cooking and a variety of other exciting cultural arts.
Celebrando provides a truly unique language program utilizing individuals within the community as teachers and students alike. Spanish and English native speakers teach each other creating a mutually empowering cross cultural learning experience.
http://bigsurspiritgarden.com/Spirit_Garden_/CelebrandoLaCultura.html
CrossingtheBridge"Crossing the Bridge"
Love, Intimacy, and Race in America
Photo from Cohen exhibit

Crossing the Bridge is a photo journalistic  exploration of love, intimacy and race through a series of photographs and personal interviews that are a window into the lives of inter-racial couples and families spanning three generations in Monterey county and across the country.Their stories serve as both inspiration to the power of love and an unflinching look at race relations in our increasingly diverse communities.

InternationalArtistMarket
International and Local Artist Market 
artist market application  

International Arts Market providing opportunities for  artists from around the world to share their rich cultural art forms with Monterey County. We envision a world that celebrates and values evolving traditional art and cultures, where a dynamic global art market ensures a dignified, sustainable living for artists, who are essential to preserving cultural diversity. 

 

The mission of the Market is to foster economic and cultural sustainability for folk artists and folk art worldwide and to create intercultural exchange opportunities that unite the peoples of the world.


The Market fulfills its mission by providing opportunities for some of the world's finest artists to participate in an annual festive event.
We implement programs that benefit international and local artists and the local community by bringing artist to schools and educational organizations.
Some Market participants also include women's cooperatives and humanitarian organizations whose work supports improving economic conditions and the quality of life for many artists in their home communities. 

Ollin, An Exhibit and demonstration
  with Lila Rosa Studio

In the ancient Meso-American Aztecan language Nahuatl "Ollin" refers to movement. Lila and Rosa's collection, bearing the same name, features large-scale wings reborn from recycled lath discarded from San Fransican Victorian homes. Each piece is an organic pattern that showcases the grains and texture of the reclaimed lath in the form of a wing. This collection demonstrates our ability to fabricate the future from the present by gathering from the past.

From a seed, to a tree, a house and now a wing or organic form of movement each piece is reflective of the cyclical patterns of movement found throughout life and the need to reclaim and propel them into flight. "Ollin" is about recreating new from the old by honoring and caring for all parts of the process in our eco-system. In keeping an awareness of  intent, towards form, towards creation, towards flight; all parts are responsible for spiraling us into flight so that from the earth we may touch the sky.;        

Lila Rosa Studios   

Brazilian Artist from Rio de Janeiro  

Beatrice Arts & Soul   

Beatrice

Join Beatrice in an Interactive Bamboo art creation .Beatrice Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Beatrice is a Fine Arts artist and Art Therapist with extensive experience working with children and adults with special needs. She travels around the world learning exotic techniques, teaching art, collaborating with well knows painters and sculptors, and showing her work in prestigious art galleries. She has created projects in Favela Santo Cristo in Rio,  Beatrice believes in the healing power of art, nature, and playfulness.

 

www.beatriceartsoul.blogspot.com
              GlobalDanceInitiative Global Dance Initiative
and The Poetry in Motion Project
La Mixta CreolThe Spirit Garden's Global Dance Initiative brings dancers from around the world to perform and collaborate towards the common vision of cultural inter-connectivity.In the last ten years we have produce three hundred international dance groups from across the globe. We honor and celebrate culturally diverse dance forms through presentation, education and support of artists and their traditions.

           

 The Spirit Garden Global Dance Initiative works with artists, organizations and communities, to advance cultural understanding, and to achieve universal appreciation and support of the world's diverse dance traditions as a vital and essential part of life.

The Spirit Garden's Global Dance Initiative brings dancers from around the world to teach, perform and enhance dance and multicultural departments of education nationwide. Our Artists present culturally authentic and innovative dance forms while  encouraging a common vision of cultural inter connectivity.

We honor and celebrate culturally diverse dance forms through our presentations and education assemblies. The Spirit Garden Global Dance Initiative works with artists, organizations and communities, to advance cultural understanding, and to achieve universal appreciation and support of the world's diverse dance traditions.To date we have presented hundreds of dancers from over 50 countries in educational workshop, festivals, community centers and special events.

Spirit Garden Global   

Dance Initiative   

 


PartnershipOrganizationsRelated Links &
Partnership Organizations


International Council
of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers

We are thirteen indig13 grandmothersenous grandmothers who came together for the first time from October 11 through October 17, 2004, in Phoenicia, New York. We gathered from the four directions in the land of the people of the Iroquois Confederacy. We come here from the Amazon rainforest, the Alaskan Tundra of North America, the great forest of the American northwest, the vast plains of North America, the highlands of central America, the Black Hills of South Dakota, the mountains of Oaxaca, the desert of the American southwest, the mountains of Tibet and Nepal and from the rainforest of Central Africa.

Affirming our relations with traditional medicine peoples and communities throughout the world, we have been brought together by a common vision to form a new global alliance.

We are the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. We have united as one. Ours is an alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all Her inhabitants, all the children and for the next seven generations to come.

Arvol looking Horse: Mending the Sacred Hoop  

Arvol looking horse 

The Prophecies of the ancestors of the Lakota Nations have important meaning for the future of Mother Earth.Through generations, these prophecies have been maintained courageously, methodically, and accurately.Now we are in a critical stage of our spiritual, moral and technological development as nations.All life is precariously balanced.We must remember that all things on Mother Earth have spirits and are intricately related.The Lakota prophecy of Mending the Sacred Hoop of all nations has begun. May we find, in the ancient wisdom of the Indigenous Nations, the spirit and courage to mend and heal.Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the Sacred Pipe, Lakota Nation   

 

 

Seven fires Foundation    

 

Wodakota Foundation
Arvol Looking Horse
The first prophecy-honoring the Seven Sacred Council Fires (Oceti Shakowin) was given to the Lakota people during the challenging times of the 1890's. The prophecy in part stated, "the Seventh Generation would come together to Mend the Sacred Hoop, restore the Spirit of the Nations, and unite all Nations to heal our Mother Earth." Now is the time of the seventh generation. More information on the Seven Sacred Council Fires and the Seventh Generation can be found at this site

Seven fires Foundation

morning star foundation
Morning Star Foundation, Grandmother wisdom Keepers:
is committed to educating and creating public awareness for the protection and preservation of Native/Indigenous Nations.
Our service is supporting the needs of Native/Indigenous Traditional Elders, Women & Youth. Our responsibility is protecting our Sacred Traditions, Ceremony, Songs/Language, Sacred Sites, Burial Grounds and Environment. MSF's vision is working towards Unity, Peace & Balance with all Nations living on Mother Earth.

https://themorningstarfoundation.org/Home.html

 

Jun-San Yusada

Jun-san Yasuda  (as she is called in the Japanese way) has fasted and chanted for days in rough weather outside the prisons of Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal. She has walked to challenge the root causes of nuclear weapons, the African slave trade, and many injustices to Native people. With community volunteers and scavenged materials, she has built a resplendent Peace Pagoda in the rugged mountains east of Albany, New York-the only woman-initiated project of its kind. Local people report that their first view of this huge white dome rising out of the forest brings mysterious tears to their eyes. (When she's not walking, Jun-san lives in an adjacent temple, where simple living includes woodstoves for heat and cooking and one cold water faucet.) And she has stitched together an intercultural network of friends and supporters. Her acute political sense; her creativity, wit, and charisma; and her deep connection to allies -- especially Native Americans -- are exemplary.  

http://www.dharmawalk.org/junsan1.htm   

 


Black Elk-Neihardt Park in Blair, Nebraska,
 is a city park named for Black Elk, an Oglala LaTower of the four windskota, and John G. Neihardt, Nebraska's Poet Laureate. Neihardt is the author of Black Elk Speaks, which he wrote after a series of interviews with Black Elk in 1931 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where Black Elk lived.The most prominent mosaic is on the Tower of the Four Winds. This 45-foot tower is illuminated at night, displays a colorful mosaic of approximately 50,000 pieces. The mosaic illustrates a recurring vision that Black Elk first had as a nine-year-old child. In this vision, he said, he saw the universe as a hoop holding all living things.
The hoop was bisected from east to west by the black road, the road of worldly difficulties, and from south to north by the red road of spiritual understanding. A sacred tree, full of leaves, blooms, and singing birds, grew where the roads cross, Black Elk said, and "that place is holy." 

http://www.benpark.org/

    Mending the  Sacred Hoop: Sarah Penman 

Sarah Penman photo

 

Mending the Sacred Hoop is a photographic essay that celebrates the spiritual rides of the Lakota and Cree Nations, whose traditionalist leaders have been working to create community through a reaffirmation of spiritual and cultural beliefs and practices. The essay was first presented in a showing at the

Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1998  

    

The massacre at Wounded Knee symbolized to the Lakota the shattering of the Sacred Hoop - the traditional circle of the Oceti Sakowin, representing the unity of the Seven Council Fires of the Lakota Nation, and the prosperity, health and spiritual well-being of the people. "A way of life ended," says Kills Straight, "Our prophecy said that for the next seven generations, we would need to adapt. Now, in this seventh generation, we can rebuild a new philosophy - recover what was in the past." By completing the ride he says that the Lakota would begin mending the Sacred Hoop. 

Besides ending a century of mourning, Kills Straight says the ride and ceremonies at Wounded Knee were also a celebration of unity and life. "We leave the time of mourning, live in a new world. Let us tell the world that we lived and will continue..."

photo by Sarah Penman  

http://www.sarahpenman.net/portfolio/hoop.html   

 

 

WIPING OF TEARS/MENDING THE SACRED HOOP RIDE
   
Sarah Penman
These rides began with the Chief Sitting Bull - Chief Bigfoot Memorial Rides held on December 15th through December 29, 1986-1987-1988-1989 and the wiping the tears Mending the sacred Hoop in 1990. These rides were foretold through visions and dreams of several Lakota/Dakota/Nakota Men who dreamed that the mending of the Sacred Hoop of the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota Nations was at hand and it was time to prepare the Sacred Seventh Generation for their part in fulfilling the Prophecies of the Medicine People of the past.  

 

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com   


Mending the Sacred Hoop

 A Gathering of the Five Colors is a conference planned for October 13-15, 2000 (following Columbus Day). It will be held at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, hosted by the College of Public and Community Service. The intent of this event is to bridge the spiritual and the political communities, bringing together anti-racism activists, community groups, youth, spiritual teachers and elders of many traditions,  

and interested individuals of all five colors to share and learn from each other in the quest for reconciliation and healing. Keynote address by Babatunde Olatunji   


The Sacred Hoop : Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions
Paula Gunn Allen, award-winning American Indian scholar and poet For the last thirty years Allen was a foremost voice in Native American literature and the study of American literature.  She was also a founding mother of the contemporary women's spirituality movement.  Her most recent work, Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat (2004, Harper-Collins), received a Pulitzer Prize nomination.  The
Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions
(1986, Beacon), a collection of critical essays, is a cornerstone in the study of American Indian culture and gender.  
http://www.paulagunnallen.net/
Tom Little Bear Nason:

 

Tom Little Bear Nason:  is a seventh-generation spiritual leader of the Esselen Tribe of Big Sur and a wilderness guide who is dedicated to helping others to mend the sacred hoop of life.On November 20th, 1999, Joan Baez, percussion king Babatunde Olatunji, and other performers put on a concert at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, California. The show benefited the Esselen Indian tribe.Joan Baez and Baba Olatunji  performed a benefit concert to raise money to help the Tribe through the Winter and continue to preserve this ancient culture. Over the years, Joan, Baba and Little Bear have become great friends, and have spent long evenings of storytelling, singing and dancing around campfires in the Esselen homelands.
 html http://esselen.com/benefit.html  


Paula Gunn AllenThe Sacred Hoop : Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions
Paula Gunn Allen, award-winning American Indian scholar and poet For the last thirty years Allen was a foremost voice in Native American literature and the study of American literature.  She was also a founding mother of the contemporary women's spirituality movement.  Her most recent work, Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat (2004, Harper-Collins), received a Pulitzer Prize nomination.  The
Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions
(1986, Beacon), a collection of critical essays, is a cornerstone in the study of American Indian culture and gender.  
http://www.paulagunnallen.net/

The Fourwinds Council is a cooperative association of four spiritual centers located in the Santa Lucia Mountain range of Central California in what is known as Big Sur. The centers are all located in and adjacent to the Ventana Wilderness and the Los Padres National Forest.  

http://www.nativeguides.com/fourwinds.   


The Sacred Hoop of 100 Eagle Feathers: Black Elk's vision, the Hoop of the World  

Sacred hoop 100 eagle feathers

The Sacred Hoop of 100 Eagle Feathers

In Black Elk's vision, the Hoop of the World referred to the communities of Native people.    The Elders have told us that we have now entered the time of healing and the "coming together time."  The Sacred Hoop is the symbol of that time of healing. Mission of the Sacred Hoop: Healing Individuals, Families, Communities and Nations The Hoop was built in a sweat lodge over a weekend in may of 1995.  On the first day of summer that year, a multicultural Elders gathering was held in Janesville, WI to provide prayers for the Hoop and align its purpose to the coming healing time.  The Elders placed the four gifts of Healing, Hope Unity and the Power to Forgive the Unforgivable into the Hoop.  The first Sacred Hoop Journey began in the Spring of 1999.


Since the Sacred Hoop was blessed, it has traveled over 53,000 miles to Native American communities across the United States.  Since 1999, there have been a number of Sacred Hoop Journeys.  When the Sacred Hoop comes to a community, the people gather for ceremonies and talks about living a sober and healthy life that is balanced emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually.  many communities have decided to begin a process of learning and planning that includes the building of a vision of wellness.  This is accomplished through the community development process offered by White Bison.

http://www.whitebison.org/wellbriety-movement/story-sacred-hoop-journeys.php

 

 


Spirit Garden Productions
Director Jayson Fann
WWW.bigsurspiritgarden.com
Jayson@bigsurspiritgarden.com
831-238-1056