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Dear Commonweal Friends, Welcome to the Education & the Arts edition of the Commonweal newsletter. As we begin our 40th anniversary year in 2016, we find ourselves with more news than we can fit it into one newsletter. By focusing on one of our three program areas—Education & the Arts, Health & Healing, and Environment & Justice—we hope you can better experience the breadth and depth of each area. Some of you know that Rachel Naomi Remen’s Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (ISHI), after 25 brilliant years at Commonweal, is becoming the Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio. The Dean of Wright State School of Medicine made a wonderful offer to Rachel to provide a permanent home for ISHI’s work and to raise an endowment that will cover the costs for sustaining her work. The Board and staff of Commonweal strongly supported Rachel’s decision to accept the offer from Wright State. It is simply the best way to serve Rachel’s work. We feel a natural sense of sadness and loss at ISHI’s departure. But we are grateful for 25 years of truly extraordinary service to the fields of medicine, nursing, and healing. Most of all, we are grateful that Rachel is not leaving Commonweal. She will continue to live in Marin County and will continue to serve as Medical Director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program and as a senior faculty member for The New School and Healing Circles. Rachel and I have worked together for more than 30 years now. Our work together is not done. Even as ISHI departs, Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) has joined Commonweal. Oren Slozberg, our Chief Strategies Officer, served as Executive Director of VTS for a decade before he joined Commonweal. VTS has created a national network of schools where children learn new ways of thinking
Pictured above: One thousand origami cranes folded and hung in support of Lenore Lefer, beloved CCHP staff psychologist who died in 2014. Pictured below: Food writer and journalist Michael Pollan at The New School in April. (photo: Kyra Epstein)
through exposure to the arts. VTS was looking for a new home that would provide a solid platform for the next stage in its evolution. And VTS strengthens Commonweal’s longtime commitment to services for children—especially at-risk children from low-income communities. David Steinhart, working tirelessly in our Juvenile Justice Program, celebrated an important accomplishment in September. Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 666, a comprehensive measure sponsored by Commonweal and the California Juvenile Court Judges Association that allows for a new court process for the “auto-sealing” of juvenile delinquency records—a critical step in the “re-entry” process for juveniles coming out of prison. Another major development this year was holding the first Power of Hope camp for teens at Commonweal. As Oren Slozberg writes below, Power of Hope grows out of our Creative Community Institute partnership with Peggy Taylor and Charlie Murphy, who live on Whidbey Island, Washington, where Commonweal Northwest grows stronger with every passing year. Commonweal Northwest also includes: Elise Miller’s Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and CHE’s 5,000 partners around the world exploring environmental health science; Diana and Kelly Lindsay’s Healing Circles Langley; the partnership with Rick Ingrasci, Peggy Taylor, and others that has brought the Fall Gathering to Commonweal; and the growing number of New School conversations I have done in this extraordinary community an hour north of Seattle. Thank you for being part of the Commonweal community. Michael Lerner, President
ISHI Goes Back to Medical School by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, Director, ISHI Since the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (ISHI) began at Commonweal 25 years ago, almost 16,000 medical students have completed The Healer’s Art course. Thousands of doctors and other health professionals have renewed and revitalized their calling and commitment to the core values of their work in Finding Meaning in Medicine groups and the hundreds of presentations and training workshops offered by ISHI. Like an old tree, ISHI continues to grow and put out nourishing fruit despite its age. Our newest program is now poised for national dissemination. The Power of Nursing is a discovery model curriculum for practicing nurses and nursing students that strengthens the professional resiliency of nurses at all levels of training and empowers the voice and healing wisdom of the nursing profession to shift the goals and practices of healthcare overall. In 2016 I will be 78 years old. It is time for us to think not only of expanding our program of service, but also of ensuring that ISHI itself will continue to strengthen all health professionals in their commitment to the integrity of their work well into the future. Creating an endowment campaign that can offer this security of mission requires partners who are skilled in this outcome and resources beyond those necessary to simply create and implement programs. These skills and resources far exceed our own. Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, is one of the schools that has taught The Healer’s Art course for more than a decade. In June, Dr. Margaret Dunn, Dean of Medicine at Wright State, approached us with an offer of partnership. If we would consider basing ISHI at the Boonshoft School of Medicine under her direct authority as Dean, she would hire the former Assistant Vice President of
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Advancement for the medical school to coordinate a multimillion dollar legacy fund and endowment to ensure ISHI’s future. In doing so she committed the expertise and support of the medical school’s grant writers, publicity and marketing departments, Internet experts, and fundraisers to achieve this goal. Her message was one that I had never before heard in more than 50 years of academic medicine. “I believe in your work,” she told us. “Let us help you.” The depth of my gratitude to Michael Lerner for his extraordinary vision, his ability to withstand opposition and endure, his courage to generate and embrace new ideas, his profoundly intuitive recognition and nurturing of the seeds of change that hold the future, and his commitment to a better world know no bounds. Commonweal has been the birthplace of the ISHI work. There is no other place where we could have found the colleagueship and support to openly express radical ideas within the medical system or have the freedom to speak radical truth, the courage to take major professional risks, the encouragement to follow the best we knew, and the love that enabled us to face criticism and harsh judgment and persevere. Commonweal has made the work of ISHI possible. Wright State will make possible its future. Many years ago at a dark time in the history of Commonweal and ISHI, Michael said to me, “Peace of mind is never the outcome of success; it comes from knowing that no matter what the outcome, we have chosen to live our lives dedicated to what matters.” Twenty-five years ago Commonweal put its arms around ISHI and made it safe for us to dare. Commonweal and ISHI have grown up together and together we have grown large enough to put our arms around the world.
ISHI Founder Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, and ISHI’s Power of Nursing Director, Dianne Duchesne. (photo: Ayn Plant)
Bless you Michael. Bless you Commonweal. It has been an extraordinary journey and a great blessing. With a deep and enduring love,
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD Founder and Director, The Institute for the Study of Health and Illness All of us at ISHI are profoundly grateful to the many foundations who have supported us over the past 25 years, including the ALMI Foundation, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, The Bernard Osher Foundation, the Bravewell Collaborative, the Brind Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, The Flow Fund, the George Family Foundation, the Growald Family Fund, the Kalliopeia Foundation, the Levi Strauss Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Pinewood Foundation, Rockefeller Financial Services, RSF Social Finance, the Soros Foundation, the Tara Foundation/Baldwin Bros. Inc., the Tides Foundation, the V. V. Cook Foundation, The Weigand Foundation, and a great many loyal and generous individual donors. Their belief and support has inspired us and has made our work possible. For more information about ISHI, please go to ishiprograms.org/
Photos: courtesy KulKul Farm, Bali
Sowing the Seeds of Permaculture: Commonweal Garden Inspires Projects Across the Globe A half-hour outside of the tourist center of Ubud in Bali, The Green School lies in the forest, with tree-house-like buildings completely constructed from sustainable bamboo, solar panels in clearings between palms and huts, and more than 500 kids everywhere who are helping in the permaculture-inspired gardens, working in open air classrooms, and learning through all kinds of hands-on activities. This Waldorf-inspired school (named the 2012 Greenest School on Earth by the U.S. Green Building Council) is the only one of its kind in Bali. It has grown over the past few decades to be a demonstration site for resilience and sustainability by founder John Hardy, with help and inspiration from James Stark and Penny LivingstonStark, co-directors of Regenerative Design Institute at Commonweal Garden (RDI). In August of this year, Penny joined students at Kulkul Farm, a farm on the Green School campus founded by John’s son, Orin Hardy, as lead facilitator for a Permaculture Design Course. Orin lived at Commonweal Garden in 2010 as an intern, learning and living the permaculture model developed there. Permaculture teaches how to design ways of living that have the stability and resiliency of natural systems, allowing positive solutions for creating and managing food systems, medicine, water, and shelter. “Orin was a part of our Regenerative Design and Nature Awareness year-long course,” Penny said. “Now he is trying his hand. He wants to create the same kind of model in Bali as we have on our farm.” After more than 35 years of teaching many hundreds of people, both Penny and
James have seen students moving into the world to apply permaculture principles to projects all around the globe. These past few years, Penny has spent time teaching in other countries as well, where interest in the ideas behind permaculture is growing. In addition to Bali, recent courses around the globe include: ■■ Turkey: In 2011, Penny was asked to teach permaculture and natural building on a farm in southern Turkey to a sold-out group of 50 people, including farmers from the Black Sea region, writers, artists, students, and architects. In 2013, she returned to teach a fourday resiliency workshop for 70 people in a wheat-growing area two hours west of Istanbul, in the mountains, where proposed controversial gold mining operations were causing tension. ■■ Brazil: In February 2015, Penny taught permaculture, agroforestry, water systems, and permaculture philosophy to more than 100 people at a budding food forest permaculture farm in the northern Bahia area, outside of Valencia, at the home of Cobra Mansa, a well-known Capoeira master. ■■ Peru: In December 2015, Penny has been invited to The Sacred Valley, an area near Pisac, Peru—sacred to the Incas—to teach a two-week permaculture design certification course. In addition, she hopes to help bring the communities of the area together—communities that are separately struggling with poverty and hunger as the traditional agrarian culture takes on “modern” farming, which is destroying much of the soil system.
Penny sees more opportunities coming in the future to bring the healing of nature to communities world-wide. “Permaculture encourages people to look to traditional methods that sustained their ancestors for generations, and to look at the resources of their land to create resilient systems,” Penny said. “Many of these opportunities came because people have visited Commonweal Garden and were inspired.” —Kyra Epstein, Commonweal Communications Manager The Regenerative Design Institute at Commonweal Garden is grateful for the support of the Jenifer Altman Foundation, Morning Glory Family Foundation, Panta Rhea Foundation, Muriel Murch Full Circle Endowment Fund of Marin Community Foundation, and many individual donors for supporting our work. To learn more about RDI, please go to www.regenerativedesign.org/
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The Rainman’s Third Cure: Peter Coyote Reflects at Commonweal by Steve Heilig, TNS Host and Director of Public Health and Education, CHE
“I can just see the audience thinking, ‘Oh gawd, an actor who has now written two books about himself, how wonderful.’” The audience at Commonweal laughed heartily at that, but still there was a full house on a sunny Sunday afternoon, eager to hear actor, narrator, political activist, and cultural chronicler Peter Coyote talk about his new book, The Rainman’s Third Cure: An Irregular Education. His first book, Sleeping Where I Fall, was a memoir primarily of his halcyon days as a countercultural figurehead, integral to the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the fabled Diggers in the Haight-Ashbury, as a communalist in Marin, chair of the California Arts Council under Governor Jerry Brown’s fist term, and coming to grips what “the sixties” did and didn’t mean. “The first book was about trying to get the 60s into some kind of perspective, and not be like a frat boy always looking back on his golden past,” Peter was quick to explain. “I wanted to do a hard but fair appraisal—before Henry Kissinger wrote his own—and then let it go.” The writing of his new book was so much more difficult that he admitted it felt like “crapping a porcupine.” “I did really want and need to look more at my family and past, and come to terms with my father, who died just as we had a first glimmering of reconciliation,” Peter said. “He was an astounding man, a polymath, really...but he had only one competitive mode, which was practically homicidal. A very good therapist much later told me, ‘It’s as if God looked down and said, How can I give this child the most difficult adolescence I could conceive?’ ” Coyote’s story was diverse and dramatic, much of it emblematic of the 4
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tumultuous times he lived through. By A newly-ordained Zen priest, Coyote the time he was a teen he had been found through long struggle that “the first busted for pot in Mexico (“Luckily I was two ‘cures’ of love and power are illusions 17, because if I were 18, I might still be and not cures at all, but wisdom actually there.”). Then, while in college, he had is the cure.” his first taste of political activism, which There was a long line for signed books found him on the cover of The New York after his talk, and Coyote graciously spoke Times after a prolonged White House with each attendee as he inscribed his student peace protest. Landing then in San Francisco, he began acting, and by the time he wound up in a West Marin commune, he, like so many others, was a drug addict. In fact, regarding the “counterculture as a whole,” TNS Host Steve Heilig (left) with actor, narrator, political activist, and author he reflected, Peter Coyote at The New School in July. Drawing, at top, by Stuart Chapman. “one problem was that we were so busy trying to be heroes and work. “Nobody left after even two hours?” solve the world’s problems that we Coyote asked me, when the candid, forgot to create a viable life.” searching, enthusiastically received Over time, people grew up and moved event was over. “That never happens!” on. “But becoming a part of mainstream society did not also mean people A video podcast of Coyote’s talk is abandoned their principles or beliefs,” available on The New School website Coyote held. “Sure, we didn’t end racism, (www.tns.commonweal.org). sexism, or capitalism, but culturally, the impact was wide—environmentalism, The New School would not be possible organic food, alternative spiritual and without the support of Bet Lev Foundation, medical practices, civil rights, and much Kalliopeia Foundation, West Marin more blossomed as we responded to Fund, The Whitman Institute, and moral imperatives that others raised. individual contributions from hundreds Culture is much deeper than politics.” of TNS supporters. Thank you.
Youth Making a Difference Through the Arts at Commonweal by Oren Slozberg, Commonweal Chief Strategies Officer, EDGE Program Director
In July, 30 young people transformed our Bolinas site into a vibrant, tent-filled artistic wonderland— with collages and flipcharts hanging on walls, and instruments, singing, and theater productions in various parts of the grounds. This was our first Power of Hope camp, a week-long youth arts camp at Commonweal, bringing together youth of different backgrounds to build a diverse community, develop creativity, and explore activism. “We need the voices and energy of young people to help build a world that works for everybody,” said Power of Hope co-founder Peggy Taylor. “Young people have important gifts to offer.” For 18 years, Power of Hope youth camps have provided the opportunity for youth to discover and focus their skills, talents, and spirit. This year, Power of Hope came to the Bay Area, co-presented by Commonweal, Partners for Youth Empowerment Global, and Oakland-based Destiny Arts. This new Bay Area camp was based on the Creative Community Model, developed by Peggy Taylor and co-founder Charlie Murphy, which
encourages “creative risk taking” and progressively invites the community to be artistically and emotionally vulnerable. By the end of the week, youth are leading the camp and running their own workshops. They move from connecting to self to connecting to others to connecting with the wider world while discovering the roles we can play in it. Camp goals, adopted by the campers on the first day, included expanding creativity; learning from people of different social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds; learning from nature; exploring inner lives; discovering ways to bring change into the world; and having fun. With everything from theater, to hiking, to a beach day, to “Activism Day,” youth were supported by more than 20 adult staff to explore themselves, their understanding of the world, and the powerful influence of nature on the Commonweal land. As in many other Commonweal programs, such as the Commonweal Cancer Help Program or the Healer’s Art, participants supported each other, made new friends, and lifted each other up. Staff were equally affected by this unique model of community
building and found themselves stepping into new power within themselves. “I liked the deep interactions with people of a variety of ages,” one camper said. “The way that we were being asked to make ourselves vulnerable was balanced by the adults’ openness, which made me more comfortable.” Another camper said, “In school, I will treat people with more respect because you never know what they are going through.” Commonweal plans to work with Destiny Arts and Partners for Youth Empowerment Global to bring the Power of Hope youth camp back to Commonweal on July 13–20, 2016. Registration is through the Commonweal website (www.commonweal.org). We are grateful to the West Marin Fund, Germanacos Foundation, New Ground Fund of Marin Community Fund, and many individual donors for their generous support of the Power of Hope youth camp. To learn more about the Power of Hope youth camp, please go to www.commonweal.org/news/poh-camp/ Photos: Pamela Palma Photography ©2015
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Healing Circles: Old and New Partnerships by Michael Lerner, President Healing Circles is a learning community for practitioners dedicated to transformative healing for people with cancer and other conditions of loss. A practitioner may be someone who holds a health license, but may equally be someone suited by temperament and experience to do this work with no official credential. Consider Alcoholics Anonymous as a healing circle for people addicted to alcohol who have suffered devastating life losses. AA is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it offers a model of a free, enduring system of transformative healing work. We’re exploring an open source model of deep intentional healing work for people with cancer and those who care for them. We know it applies equally to many other forms of illness and loss, and we welcome those explorations. It is fascinating to watch Healing Circles grow. It is not a forced growth, not an artificial growth. Healing Circles has a life of its own.
Harmony Hill in Union, Washington, and Callanish in Vancouver, British Columbia, are cancer support centers inspired by the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. Harmony Hill sits on a site that rivals Commonweal for its natural beauty. In fact, the circuitous hour-and-a-half drive from SEATAC airport, much of it on back roads, is very similar to the drive from SFO to Commonweal. Gretchen Schodde, the founder, and Eric Blegen, the executive director, have have created an astonishing center, offering free threeday retreats for people with cancer. Harmony Hill takes 22 participants at a time for their three-day programs. Callanish has stayed with the original Commonweal model and takes only eight people at a time. They do four retreats a year, one for each season. And they do gatherings for past participants and their families at their exquisite Vancouver center on the solstices and the equinoxes. Their website is a thing of beauty
Healing Circles Langley
(www.callanish.org). And I love their self-description: Callanish creates a healing space for people who have been irrevocably changed by cancer. This summer, J Fields and I drove up to Vancouver to visit Callanish. J is faculty coordinator at Harmony Hill. He is an Army veteran and stage 4 colon cancer survivor who attended a Healing Circles training at Commonweal two years ago. When J and I arrived at the unmarked modest but beautiful center on a leafy street in Vancouver, we were greeted by Executive Director Janie Brown and two of her colleagues. The sense of resonance among the five of us was immediate. The spiritual energy of the building is so thick you simply cannot deny its reality. Downstairs, an office, a beautiful gathering room, and a kitchen. Upstairs, treatment rooms for one-on-one sessions. We left four hours later with an extraordinary
by Diana and Kelly Lindsay, Co-directors Healing Circles Langley on Whidbey Island, Washington, became a program of Commonweal last November, and we opened our doors to the community in January. Our original mission was to offer Commonweal Cancer Help Programstyle support on a no- to low-cost, non-residential basis. We immediately recognized that the population of the island was too small to remain exclusively focused on those impacted by cancer, and have consequently placed the emphasis on the “healing” part of our name. We broadened our scope to include those impacted by other chronic conditions as well as those suffering the trauma of grief and loss. But what is Life if not a chronic condition? An early Community
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sense that we had found our peers and partners in Healing Circles work, and plans for mutual visits stretching out for the foreseeable future. The new partnership with Callanish builds on our partnership with Harmony Hill, with Healing Circles Langley (which Co-directors Diana and Kelly Lindsay describe below) and with Smith Center for Healing and the Arts in Washington, D.C. Harmony Hill, Callanish, and Smith Center are each about two decades old. All were inspired by the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. And each has forged its own way and its own modifications of the Cancer Help Program model. Meanwhile, the number of other practitioners and centers engaged with Healing Circles continues to grow. The three Bay Area Cancer Help Program alumni circles have
internalized the practices that Healing Circles explores, which promote transformative work with people with cancer and other conditions of loss. And we continue to hear from others across the country whose work is being inspired by Healing Circles initiatives. The beauty of seeing Healing Circles as a learning community is that we don’t privilege the approach of any single center or practitioner. In circle work, the cardinal rule is that each person in the circle speaks her or his own truth to the circle, and others practice a special kind of deeply attentive listening. Healing Circles does the same. We share a commitment to transformative healing work for people with cancer and other conditions of loss. We want to learn from each other how better to do this work. This is a lifelong study. It can always go
further and deeper. We are all pilgrims. The road stretches ever before us. To learn more about Healing Circles, please go to www.commonweal. org/program/healing-circles/ Healing Circles is grateful for support from the Park Foundation, the Kat Foundation, and the generosity of many individuals who have attended Healing Circles workshops. The Commonweal Cancer Help Program is supported by generous grants from the Alberta S. Kimball–Mary L. Anhaltzer Foundation, Morning Glory Family Foundation, The Wyss Foundation, and individual contributions from CCHP alumni and other Commonweal friends.
Commonweal Founder Michael Lerner in conversation with Clinical Advocate Mark Renneker, MD (left) and Integrative Oncologist Donald Abrams, MD (right).
Conversation (held the first Tuesday of each month), in which Michael Lerner hosted a discussion about Atul Gwande’s Being Mortal, spawned a local initiative—South Whidbey @ Home— that addresses aging in place, and another that seeks to define the next generation in graduated assisted living. We also have healing circles centered around cancer, loss, neurological conditions, caregiving, care receiving, and aging. Some of these are organized around writing, some around art, one even around weaving, and all around sharing. We have spaces devoted to drop-in oneon-one and one-on-none time, or what we think of as “secular sanctuary.” It often feels to us that Healing Circles Langley has its own agenda, and it unfolds at a rate and in directions that are often determined by who walks in the door.
Some want to offer help; some seek help; for most, the distinction is blurred. We are finding that our job as director is largely a matter of getting out of the way, because, frankly, the way this is evolving exceeds our wildest imagination. That’s not to say anything goes at Healing Circles Langley. We do have criteria. We had the pleasure of mapping Michael’s mind last summer, which resulted in a “Healing Tree” representing his decades of experience in the healing process. The tree is painted on our wall. If someone wants to offer a program at Healing Circles Langley that corresponds to one of its leaves, then it falls within our mission. We also have standards. We were trained in the PeerSpirit methodology of hosting circles and insist that each program—whether a circle of two, few, more, or many—adopt
agreements about confidentiality, honoring each other, kindness and compassion, and the use of silence. After seven months of operation, Healing Circles Langley has become several things: 1) a healing center for those wanting to get well, be well, and stay well; 2) a center for social support and education; 3) a beta site for the broader Commonweal Healing Circles initiative; 4) a focal point for the loosely organized affiliation referred to as “Commonweal Northwest;” and, best of all—according to the friends and neighbors who offer and receive support here—5) “Home.” Healing Circles Langley would like to thank the many individuals who have supported our work with their generous contributions and their participation in our community. C O M M O N W E A L ■ D e c e m b e r 2 0 15
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Turning On Tastebuds in Healing Circles Commonweal’s Healing Kitchens Institute Director Rebecca Katz knows tastebuds. She brings decades of experience as nutritionist and chef with the Commonweal Cancer Help Program to the Healing Kitchens Institute, and to her series of nutrition-focused cookbooks. Partnering with Commonweal’s Healing Circles program, and working with the Coastal Health Alliance’s Dr. Anna O’Malley, Rebecca and her staff have created a popular educational series of Culinary Nutrition workshops, held at Bauman College in Berkeley, that fill to capacity. “The whole idea of the culinary part of Healing Circles is to help people find their healthy connection to food—so that they have a healthy connection to life,” Rebecca said. “When your life is turned upside down due to an illness, finding that place of empowerment with food is a really magical thing. Here, we are in a community of people who come together around food—a wonderful convergence of community—the making of food and then the sharing
of food. It is stunning to watch as people’s tastebuds get turned back on.” In February 2016, the next workshop in the series will once again feature Rebecca, Dr. Anna O’Malley, as well as Healing Kitchens core faculty Cathryn McConkie and project director Jen Yasis. “These workshops are seasonal, so we’re always cooking something different,” Rebecca said. “Anna gives the medicinal savories, Cathryn focuses on the somatic response to food, I focus on taste and flavor. Participants take all of that knowledge to the kitchen and whip up a whole lot of yum.” —Kyra Epstein, Commonweal Communications Manager The Healing Kitchens Institute is profoundly grateful to the Bellwether Foundation and the Morris Schapiro and Family Foundation for their generous support of our work in the emerging field of culinary medicine. For more information about the Healing Kitchens Institute, please go to www.commonweal.org/program/hki/
Director Rebecca Katz puts finishing touches on her Clean Green Soup.
April Menu Snacks: Triple Triple Brittle Coconut Curry Cashews Toasty Spice Pumpkin Seeds Lemon Thyme Olive Almond Muffins Menu: Clean Green Soup Cauliflower Tabbouleh Kale Quinoa Salad with Red Grapes Technicolor Slaw with Lemon Tahini Dressing Mediterranean Lentil Salad Chocolate Cherry Walnut Truffles
Participants in the Culinary Nutrition workshop this April.
Strawberries with Balsamic Reduction
October Menu Snacks:
Rosemary Pear Almond Muffins Triple Triple Brittle Fresh Fruits - Grapes and Pears Menu: Curry Deviled Eggs Clean Out the Fridge Soup Spiced Butternut Squash Soup with Cardamom and Ginger Lentil Salad with Roasted Ruby Beets and Toasted Cumin Citrus Vinaigrette Photos: Jen Yasis 8
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Kale Salad with Oranges and Dates Julie’s Best Apple Crisp
Visual Thinking Strategies Comes to Commonweal by Amy Chase Gulden, Program Director, VTS
What’s happening here?
Unknown Mughal Painting of Village Scene c. 1770 Worcester Art Museum and School, Worcester, MA. © Burstein Collection/CORBIS 4.4.1
It makes you think, doesn’t it? And that’s what Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) does—it opens up discussions about works of art and supports deep looking and thinking. We are a passionate team of trainers dedicated to bringing VTS to an ever-growing community of learners around the world. Last year alone we supported VTS programs in over 50 schools, reaching 520 teachers and 12,000+ students in New York City, the Bay Area, and Portland. We also consult with museums and universities, and offer public workshops on the VTS method across the country, and increasingly, around the globe. Our programs and practices are built on a rigorous foundation of research, theory, and practice and are the result of more than 20 years of collaboration between our co-founders, cognitive psychologist and researcher, Abigail Housen, and veteran museum educator and author, Philip Yenawine. This combination of creative thinking and research-based practice helps us feel right at home with the Commonweal family of programs, which we are so pleased to join.
During VTS discussions, facilitators learn to support participants’ growth by asking three open-ended questions: ■ What’s going on in this picture? ■ What do you see that makes you say that? ■ What more can we find? There’s no “telling about” or “explaining” the art to the group. Rather, it’s the group’s job to make meaning of the art together, and the facilitator’s role to encourage each person to contribute their own insight and experience to the discussion. As our community grows, we are continually exploring new applications for VTS, moving beyond its roots as an approach to art museum teaching and a curriculum for elementary schools. VTS has found its way into university-level programs in education, art history, and medicine; into natural science museums as a method for supporting languagelearners, medical practitioners, and those with dementia and their caregivers; and more recently, in service of conversations around equity and social justice. Speaking personally for myself, I often think of VTS facilitation, with its structured open-endedness, as similar to
meditation: ask only these three questions, listen, point, and paraphrase comments without judgment. Simple enough to begin—but a rich practice that can be explored and refined for a lifetime. And the magic this process enables never ceases to amaze me. I am awed by the hush and intense focus a VTS discussion brings to a boisterous first grade classroom. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve witnessed a shy student, or one learning to speak English, participate for the first time in class. I relish the laughter, surprise, insights, and connections (even tears) that emerge when a group, often meeting for the first time, unlocks meaning from a work of art during a VTS workshop. I love hearing a museum educator say after a VTS discussion, “I’ve always loved this painting, but I’ve never really seen it until now.” I’m touched every time a teacher realizes just how little they’ve truly listened to their students until VTS opened their ears and delighted them with what they heard. As Commonweal celebrates its 40th anniversary, we enter our 20th year. I thank Oren Slozberg for hiring me nine years ago during his tenure at VTS. And I thank Commonweal for inviting us into their family of transformational programs, programs which, like VTS, support learning “through conversation, story, and art.” We could not imagine a better place to carry VTS forward. Join us Mondays 9:00 am to 2:00 pm EST as we moderate the on-line discussion of The New York Times photographs for the Learning Network Blog, reaching students around the globe. http://learning.blogs. nytimes.com/category/lesson-plans/ whats-going-on-in-this-picture/ Find Out More: VTShome.org
VTS Facilitators ask open-ended questions to students looking at artwork: What’s going on in this picture? C O M M O N W E A L ■ D e c e m b e r 2 0 15
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W I T H
G R AT I T U D E
We express our deep gratitude to the following organizations that have supported Commonweal this year: Alan and Nancy Baer Foundation ● Alberta S. Kimball Foundation ● AmazonSmile Foundation ● Annie E. Casey Foundation ● The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations As You Sow ● Battery Powered—Battery Foundation ● Bella Vista Foundation ● Bellwether Foundation ● Bet Lev Foundation Boston University/NIEHS-funded Superfund Research Program ● California Cancer Care ● The California Endowment ● The California Wellness Foundation Charity Choice ● Colla-Negri Charitable Trust ● Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation ● Death Under Fire ● El Norte Foundation ● Fetzer Institute Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund ● Germanacos Foundation ● Green Valley Ranch, Napa ● Group 170 ● Healthy Children Organizing Project The Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation ● Jenifer Altman Foundation ● Joel Coen Charitable Fund ● John Hancock—Matching Gifts Program Kalliopeia Foundation ● The Kat Foundation ● The Kelter Foundation, Inc. ● Lagunitas Brewing Company ● Lion and Hare Fund Lloyd Symington Foundation Inc ● Marin Community Foundation ● Mayo-Smith Fund ● Morning Glory Family Foundation ● Mumm Gift Account Muriel Murch Full Circle Endowment Fund of the Marin Community Foundation ● Murphy Productions ● New Ground Fund ● Nike Inc. Pacific Union—Christie’s International Real Estate ● Park Foundation ● PlatinumTel Communications, LLC ● Point Reyes Books ● Reframe It Consulting RSF Social Finance ● The San Francisco Foundation ● Schwab Charitable Fund ● Sierra Health Foundation ● Silicon Valley Community Foundation Silver Lining Images ● United Way of Metro Chicago ● University of California ● van Löben Sels/RembeRock Foundation ● VTS Israel Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation ● Wallace Genetic Foundation, Inc ● Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign ● West Marin Fund The Whitman Institute ● W.K. Kellogg Foundation ● W.K. Kellogg Fund ● The Wright Gardener ● The Wyss Foundation and several foundations that prefer anonymity.
We offer special thanks and gratitude to the following Commonweal Friends for their generous contributions during the last six months: (Donations received after 10/6/15 will be acknowledged in the next newsletter.) Joseph Abboud Lynda Abdoo Omar Abhari Sheryl Abrams Deborah Agre Francine Allen Arlene Allsman Gail Altschuler Thomas Anderson Anne Meade Andrews Adelina Aramburo Susan Arndt Thomas Arndt Stepanka Atwood Justine Auchincloss Brian Baird Deborah Baker and Telk Elkus Andrew Barlow Jacqueline Bays, MD Lynda Beigel Clement Bezold Diane Blacker and Ben Davis Ann Blake Joseph and Maureen Blumenthal Lawrence Boly, MD Rose Ann Bongiovanni Ed and Nancy Boyce Christine and Jim Boyd Sandra Brod Rebecca Broder The Christine Brodie Trust Susie Buell Linda Burlak Paul Buscemi Dana Cappiello Tehan Carey Andrew Carman Delia Carroll Michael Carter Victoria Castle Ross Chapin
Jnani Chapman Lorraine Chapman Robert Cheatham Joan Cheng Georgann Chiozza Donald Clark, Jr. Susan Cochrane Deborah Cohan John Colla-Negri Linda Conley Ella Cooper Joseph Corbett Maureen Cornelia Steve Costa and Kate Levinson Pamela Culp Catherine Daniels-Landeros Phyllis Dantzler Marlaine Darfler Linda Dauterman Diana Deering Karin DeSantis Catherine Dodd Elizabeth Doerr Emily Doskow Diane Downey James Dreyfous Amber Dyson Stephen and Sharon Edelman Amira Elgan Catherine Edgett Robert Estes Jesse Estrin Hilarie Faberman Donald Fink, MD Catherine Fitzgerald Kristina Flanagan Mary Fleming James Flesher Fletcher Elizabeth Foree Elizabeth and David Fortier Perri Franskoviak, PhD
Sue Frause Sylvia Gallego Janet Gallin and Ted Kelter Patti and Ted Garber Matthew Gardner Neil Gendel Alice Giblin Jaine Gilbert Diane Gillen Peter Glading William Glenn Marilyn Goode John Gouldthorpe II Lindy Rose Graham Bess Granby James Grant Sadja Greenwood Susan Gretz Eileen and Paul Growald Judith Guerriero David Gullion, MD Alan Gump and Serena D’Arcy-Fisher Narissa Hadap Joanna Haigood Stan and Diane Hales Betsy Hall, PhD Jason Hallman Belinda Halonen Susan and Charles Halpern Jeanne Halpern Susan Hanson Mary Kay Hardwick Steve Heilig Linda Henderson Leslie Hoelting Sharon Hoevel Ned Hoke Ellen Holmes Christopher Hormel Catherine Howard Diane Huerta
Jacqueline Hull John Hunting Rita Hurault Terry Husebye Jeff Hutton Eric Hyman Mami Ishii Eileen Jackson Richard Jackson MD, MPH Kara Jacobs Michele Jirek Mariam Jobrani Jacqueline Jones Jennifer Jones Marina Kameneva Eric Karpeles Fred Karren Miki Kashtan Rebecca Katz Lisa Keller Gary Kelson John and Marissa Kiemele Ann Kim Kathleen Kimball Heidi Klauser Roger Kovach Elizabeth Kranz Alex Kushner Alyse Laemmle Beth Lamb Joan Lamphier Larry and Marilyn Landes Philip Landrigan, MD Timothy Lane Hiram Larew Jane Larew Harry Lasker Nancy Leatzow Mary Lenox Michael Lerner Iyana Christine Leveque Shelley Levine
Diane Levy Cynthia Li Kristine Lienhart Lauri Lind-White Devon Little Hanmin Liu and Jennifer Mei Connie Lloyd Victoria Locke-Carty Juliet Lockwood Haven Logan Yuan Ma Vanessa Marcotte Marsha Maslan Terri Mason Carole Matthews Dr. Georgia Lee May Katrina Mayo-Smith Nancy Mayo-Smith Thomas McClintock Ellen McCormick Nancy McFadden Donald and Yoshiko McFarland Heather McFarlin Deborah McMurray Joshua Mehlman Paul Merrill Amy Metzenbaum Doris Meyer George G. Mills Mimi Mindel Lee Carpenter Mitchell Joanie Mitchell Cecile Moochnek Jill Moore Gwendolyn Morgan Mary Morgan Betsy Morgenthaler Eric Mulholland John Hall Moss Fitzhugh Mullan, MD Elinor and Mark Mumm
Erma Murphy Robyn Muscardini Teresa Myers Kerri Nahrwold Corinne Nakao Sara and Charles Neidhoefer Lynn Nelsen Shirlee Jeanne Newman Sylvia Nobbmann Kitty Okamura Shannon Lea Oleary Janice Cummings O’Mahony Mary O’Mara Renee Oneil Shelia Opperman Ann-Ellice Parker Margaret Partlow J. R. Payne Claire Peaslee Christina Perez Janet Perlman, MD Lon Peterman Julien Phillips Edith Piltch Robert Pittman Ayn and Charles Plant Gary and Jean Pokorny Julie Ann Portelli Catherine Porter Rebecca Posmentier Janet Poutre James and Caren Quay Lisa Rabinowitz Josefa Rangel Daniel Raskin Linda Ray Erica Rayner-Horn Abbie Ann Read Sara Reingold Toni Rembe Mary Beth Reticker Susan Richter
Bill and Joan Robbins Arthur Rock Karen Roekard Jiordi Rosales Ruth Rosen Dalfred Ross Norizah Rossi Julia Rowland, Ph.D. Ruth Royal Bryn Rueb Lenore Jean Ryberg Catherine Sanchez-Corea Nicholas Scales Heather Schermerhorn Suzanne Schlicke Patty Schmidt Philip Schrodt Sandy Scull, Julia Weaver and Xander Weaver-Scull Jun Sellers Paula Sheridan Thomas Silk Jill Silliphant Linda Silvers Jennifer Antes Sivertson Selma Skobac Susan Sloka Rachelle Sloss Oren Slozberg Jo Anne Smith Kathryn Louise Smith Lynda Smith Robin Smith Travis Smith Carl Snook Suzanne Sopko Sterling Speirn Aliyah Stein Kathryn Stevens William Stockton Stephanie Sugars Carolyn Tamler
Pauline Tesler and Peter Sandmann Glen Thomas Juliet Thomason John Thompson Carlota Thorne Louise Todd Gregory Todd Eden Trenor Kamala Tully Margaret Tumas Melissa and John Tydlaska Deborah Umansky Mark and Tina Valentine Cheryl Vallat Martha VanDeMark Bertrand Vandeville Michael Vargo Katherine Vellos George Viramontes Vivian Weitzman Patricia and George Wellde Peter and Maria Wenner Catherine West, MD Walter and Melinda Williams Patrice Willig Courtney Wilson Dwight Wilson Serita Winthrop Nancy Witherell and Elizabeth Andrews Asia Wong Karen Sue Wright Cat Zavis Matthew Zwerling and several anonymous donors.
COMMONWEAL P. O. B o x 3 1 6 , B o l i n a s , CA 9 4 9 2 4
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Newsletter Editors: Diane Blacker and Kyra Epstein ■ Newsletter Design: Winking Fish ■ Printed on 100% post consumer waste recycled and 100% chlorine-free processed paper with soy-based inks.
P. O. B o x 3 1 6 , B o l i n a s , CA 9 4 9 2 4
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Newsletter Editors: Diane Blacker and Kyra Epstein ■ Newsletter Design: Winking Fish ■ Printed on 100% post consumer waste recycled and 100% chlorine-free processed paper with soy-based inks.
Reflections by Michael Lerner, President
In the chronicles of our time, historians will note five great trends: the life-changing environmental catastrophes, the staggering disparities between rich and poor, the tragic wars and conflicts, the terrible plight of refugees, and the breathtaking pace of technological change. Climate change is the most visible environmental catastrophe. But media coverage of climate masks the deepening pollution of life in all forms—chemicals, metals, radiation, nanotech, GMOs, synthetic biology, electromagnetic fields, and more. We are destroying the fabric of life. The staggering disparities between rich and poor are undeniable, even in mainstream media and political discourse. The erosion of working and middle class incomes in developed countries is following the downward trajectory. The wars and conflicts are ethnic, environmental, and territorial. What has changed most is the nature of asymmetrical warfare. Drones and the coming generation of autonomous artificial intelligence weapons of the great powers are pitted against the cell phones, social media, and improvised explosive devices of the non-state forces. The hundreds of thousands of refugees storming the gates of Europe bring home the hidden plight of millions forced from their homes around the world. The United States has a similar if less dramatic stream of those who brave death to get here. The technology revolution transforms everything. Privacy is gone. The technologies of social control are in place. Stock markets are in the hands of robot traders. Media platforms proliferate. Our smart phones have become extensions of our bodies and minds. The Internet of Things surrounds us. Most of us feel helpless to control
any of this. Climate change, the economy, wars, refugees, and technology seem beyond our control. Commonweal is dedicated to changing this. Commonweal is dedicated to healing ourselves and healing the earth. Across the country and around the world, there are others like us, working to make a difference. The secret to changing hopelessness into hope is to act. If we can make a difference for one person, one animal, one piece of land, we are acting. If we give as much of ourselves as we can, we are making a difference. When we act together, through Commonweal, our ability to make a difference is strengthened. Rachel Naomi Remen has changed medical education around the world through ISHI. David Steinhart has changed the lives of tens of thousands of young people through juvenile justice reform in California. Penny Livingston-Stark and James Stark have touched the lives of thousands of permaculture teachers and students. Rebecca Katz is changing the relationship of tens of thousands of people to the food we eat. Kate Holcombe and Jnani Chapman are teaching yoga teachers who in turn touch thousands of lives. The Commonweal Cancer Help Program and Healing Circles are touching thousands of people with cancer. The Collaborative on Health and the Environment is a leading global force for understanding how the
environment affects our health. The New School at Commonweal is carrying a message of hope, joy, and service to a growing community of people in the Bay Area and around the world. And now, Visual Thinking Strategies and our Power of Hope summer camp are reaching children across the country, using art to transform young lives. Our secret is simple. Our secret is you. You are the heart of our community, our work, and our service. We cannot do this work without you. For 40 years you have believed in our work and supported our work. You share our values and our belief that together we can make a difference. Whatever form your service takes, you are one of us. Please contribute what you can to our work. You can put a check in the enclosed envelope. You can contribute online at www.commonweal.org. You can include Commonweal in your estate planning (that makes a tremendous difference!). You can donate real things—cars, houses, land—anything of real value. And you can bring your ideas to us. We welcome them. Let’s build the next 40 years together. Let’s make a difference that lasts. Please go to www.commonweal.org to learn more about our work. We are profoundly grateful to the Jenifer Altman Foundation, two anonymous foundations, and many individual donors for their generous core support of Commonweal.
C O M M O N W E A L ■ D e c e m b e r 2 0 15
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P. O . B o x 3 1 6 Bolinas, CA 94924
40th
SARY ANNIVER EVENTS
Open House: May 1, 2016
Gala and Celebration:
September 24, 2016
Keep up with our celebrations at commonweal.org!
SPIRIT OF PLACES -DIETER TREMP
Bolinas artist Dieter Tremp exhibited his paintings in the Commonweal Gallery, August – September 2015.
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