OCTOBER 2021
OCTOBER 2021
As we prepare for our upcoming virtual Compassion Arts Festival 2021 starting Sunday November 14th thru Wed. November 24th , we’d like to use our October newsletter to mention a few more of the programs to look for next month.
For additional information, you can find a general listing of festival programs here or on our website’s events page . A full festival schedule with all event details will be available in our November newsletter.
Festival events (live or pre-recorded) will be streamed on the festival website at compassionartsfestival.org on the date they are scheduled for, except for programs that require advance sign-up at info@compassionarts.org which are:
WRITING LIKE AN ANIMAL Persona Poetry writing workshop with Gretchen Primack,
TEACHING OUR CHILDREN humane education roundtable program hosted by Zoe Weil
THE FIFTH TRUST virtual art opening event hosted by Carolyn Merino Mullin and exhibit curators Jane O’Hara and Janell O’Rourke.
ARTISTS FOR AHIMSA AWARD 2021
Artwork by Aysha Akhtar
Compassion Arts gives special recognition for artistry in animal advocacy with its annual ARTISTS FOR AHIMSA AWARD, presented by Compassion Arts Festival every year, to highlight the work of a devoted individual who is helping animals by using creativity in exceptional or extraordinary ways. In celebration of visionary changemakers advocating for animals through unique and distinctive work, the Artists for Ahimsa Award seeks to bring attention to the power of creativity in helping animals and the ways that artistry can deepen our understanding, raise awareness, cultivate positive non-violent and peaceful change, and provide a path or platform for others to help animals as well.
Aysha Akhtar
This year our 2021 Artists for Ahimsa Award honoree is Dr. Aysha Akhtar for her work in the Center for Contemporary Sciences, a non-profit organization using creativity, compassion, and innovation in science for the replacement of animal testing. The author of Our Symphony With Animals: On Health, Empathy and Our Shared Destinies, Dr. Akhtar is also an avid gardener and artist who uses her artwork and illustrations of wildlife and nature to raise funds for her work in advancing animal-free research.
Dr. Akhtar is also a Tedx speaker who talks about the connections between plant-based living and compassion for animals with our daily lives and human health. A US veteran and a double-board certified neurologist and preventative medicine specialist with a background in public health, she is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and the author of numerous articles and essays about animals and our relationship with them.
COMING THIS MONTH…
EIGHTH TRUST SYMPOSIUM
hosted by Donald Vincent
Artwork by Alise Eastgate
We are pleased to share that our fledgling COMPASSION SPEAKS podcast is on track to launch at the end of this year. The focus Poet, educator, and Compassion Arts presenter Donald Vincent will host (and be featured in) a virtual symposium on The Eighth Trust tenet “Having the Courage of Our Convictions” on Sunday, November 21st at 2pmEST. A multi-arts, multi-media program on the role of creativity and veganism for social change, the event will include a panel discussion, readings, videos, and interviews of people with groundbreaking projects for expanding our circle of compassion. Presenters will include artists Jack and Alise Eastgate of Eastrand Studios, Sentient Media director Ana Bradley and Kami Komuhangi of the Writers Collective, and After Animals podcast creators Ulara Nakagawa and Sharanya Krishna Prasad, among others TBA.
Donald Vincent is the author of Convenient Amnesia, creator of That’s So Vegan video series, and producer, writer and performer of the Vegan Paradise album. He teaches writing at UCLA & Emerson College ( Los Angeles) and is founder of LePamplemuse, a content development platform dedicated to spreading the awareness of vegan companies.
LIFT UP ALL WHO CARE
hosted by Marla Andrews
Rivers Wish Sanctuary
“The Ninth Trust: Praise and Help those Who Work With Animals and the Natural World” will be explored in LIFT UP ALL WHO CARE, a virtual event hosted by Marla Andrews on Monday, November 22nd at 7-8:30pm . The multi-presenter program will look at ways we can support people who help animals, how we can help animals with our own lives, and how we can better understand ways to prevent Compassion Fatigue in ourselves and in the ways we work with others. The event will feature a pre-recorded panel discussion, stories, live interviews, and videos from guest presenters Rivers Wish Sanctuary, photographer and animal advocate Isa Leshko author of “Allowed To Grow Old”, artist and animal activist Helen Barker, and artist Cyrus Mejia co-founder of Best Friends Society.
THE ABSENCE OF UNNECESSARY HURTING
Gretchen Primack & Mandy-Suzanne Wong
Artwork by Pascale Salmon
An evening of readings of selected poems by Gretchen Primack from her book “Kind” and excerpted essays by Mandy-Suzanne Wong from her book “ Listen, we all bleed”, will reflect on “The Seventh Trust: Refrain from Harming Life In Order To Learn About It”on Saturday, November 20th at 7:30-8:30pm EST . The program’s title references the poem by Gretchen Primack The Absence of Unnecessary Hurting, from "Kind" new edition 2021 Lantern Publishing.
VIRTUAL ART OPENING
The Fifth Trust
Hosted byCarolyn Merino Mullin
with curatorsJane O'Hara &Janell O'Rourke
Thursday, November 18th 7:30—9:00pm EST
Linnea Ryshke "Embers"
Linda Brant
Lee Deigaard
Patricia Denys
Alise Eastgate
Kathryn Eddy
Karen Fiorito
Erica Gajewski
Suzy González
Isa Leshko
Jane O’Hara
Janell O’Rourke
Colleen Plumb
Linnea Ryshke
L.A. Watson
Gretchen Woodman
A virtual art opening for The Fifth Trust group exhibition will be hosted by Carolyn Merino Mullin and exhibit curators Jane O'Hara & Janell O'Rourke on Thursday, November 18th at 7:30-9:00pmEST to celebrate the exhibition's launch that day. The art opening event will include artists from the group exhibit and will reflect on The Fifth Trust tenet " Be Wise Stewards of Life on Earth." The program will also look at the role of the visual arts in animal advocacy and conservation, for cultivating compassion and raising awareness about animals, nature, and our relationship with the life we share the planet with. Advance sign-up is required to attend this virtual event by emailing info@compassionarts.org before November 14th.
The 7th Annual
COMPASSION ARTS FESTIVAL
is COMING SOON!!!
The 2021 COMPASSION ARTS FESTIVAL is almost here! Please be sure to check our upcoming November newsletter for the complete schedule guide with detailed program listings for all twelve virtual (free) festival events, which will also be listed on our website November 1st www.compassionarts.org
All of our festival events are free and are made possible by our dedicated presenters, who donate time and work to offer these programs. We encourage people to visit their websites and to learn more about their important work, in support of all they do for animals, the earth, and all of us.
To view past newsletters visit our website at www.compassionarts.org
For more information please email info@compassionarts.org
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