July 2008 News from
The Dalai Lama Foundation

Peace Through Art

Happiness & Its Causes

Combined Federal Campaign Participation

TMP exhibition at Butner Federal Prison Complex

Peace Through Art

From time to time we feature like-minded organizations whose mission and vision are aligned with The Dalai Lama Foundation. This month we feature Kids for Peace.

Kids For Peace, awarded the 2001 Fete d'Excellence Gold Medallion of Excellence, is a collaborative living arts mural program. Founded in 1995 it is committed to engaging a global perspective as a means to create visual art that reflects a more universal society through distinct cultural contributions worldwide. Gayle Gale founded KFP in Los Angeles with her deeply held belief that peace starts within one person, then goes to the home, the community, and the world.

KFP is currently collaborating with FOJAC/Barnsdall Arts and the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity. People of all ages and gender come together to create interactive art that is meaningful to both the participants and the viewer developing the framework for inter group cooperation and self expression that is essential for peace.

Gale brings to this project her experience in coordinating and directing international large scale community based art activities. She leads the educational arts workshops where murals and postcards are created. Yoga, videos, music, poetry and dialogue are used to provide inspiration.

Numerous workshops and exhibitions of the murals have been held throughout the world with the most prestigious being the Palais Des Nations, Geneve, Switzerland 1999. This mural created by youth in America on 400 1'x1' painted wood tiles is currently being stored at the Mission of Israel, Geneva. It is available for exhibition and needs a permanent home.

Funding for the project is provided by institutions, foundations and private sources. KFP is currently seeking collaboration with organiztions that have a similar purpose.

For more information contact:
email: gaylegale@aol.com
http://www.kidsforpeace.com
phone/fax +1 323 874-3887

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Happiness & Its Causes

An Exploration of Human Happiness

What is happiness? Is it possible? What holds us back from it? How to find happiness in the midst of suffering and sadness? How to forgive? How to bring happiness to others?

Coming to San Francisco, CA November 24-25 forty of the best minds in psychology, philosophy, science, business, the arts, medicine, and politics will explore answers and provide tools for achieving happiness and wellbeing, for ourselves and others at Happiness & Its Causes.

Speakers include Paul Ekman, considered one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the twentieth century; Melissa Mathison, award-winning screenwriter of ET and Kundun; Ross Mirkarimi, San Francisco Board of Supervisors and co-founder of California Green Party; Thupten Jinpa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama's principal translator and Visiting Scholar in Stanford Neuroscience Institute's Project Compassion; Anne Harrington, Professor of History of Science at Harvard; Robert Sapolsky, Professor of Biology at Stanford School of Medicine and author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers; KRON 4's Pam Moore; and Liberation Prison Project's Robina Courtin.

Also speaking will be Project Happiness's Randy Taran, who will join Pamela Cayton, founder of Tara Redwood School near Santa Cruz, and other educators to discuss in depth how to open up teachers and parents to skillful ways to teach happiness to children.

A special guest will be Google's Jolly Good Fellow, Chade-Meng Tan. He and the head of Google University's School of Personal Growth, Monika Broecker, will talk about the amazing environment that their company provides for the wellbeing of its employees.

World Premier: On the first evening of the conference, Monday November 24, Guatemalan Igor Sarmientos will conduct the San Francisco Sinfonietta in a program that includes the world premier of an orchestral poem, Buddhafonias, commissioned by Liberation Prison Project of Igor's father, renowned composer Jorge Sarmientos.

For information and registration: http://www.happinessanditscausessf.com/

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Once again in 2008 the Foundation has been accepted to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), making it easy for over 1.3 million federal employees in the United States to make tax deductible donations to the Foundation through payroll deductions.

For more information please visit Human and Civil Rights Organization's website. To make a non-CFC contribution directly to the Foundation, please visit the Foundation website.

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TMP exhibition at Butner Federal Prison Complex

Representing the project, The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama, Tony Hoeber and Darlene Markovich presented the Compassion in Action Award to Warden Art Beeler at Butner Federal Prison Hospital Facility on May 28. The award is given to individuals or organizations that exemplify the spirit of compassionate action in communities hosting The Missing Peace.

Captain Michael Doyle, the son of exhibit sponsors Suzanne Martin and John Doyle, is head of security at Butner Hospital. Through him, Tony and Darlene met Sue Etheridge, the only credentialed art therapist in the U.S. federal prison system. Sue and her small team of inmates created a Missing Peace display at each of the five facilities comprising the prison complex.

The display was artfully created using only materials found within the facility. Posters of the exhibit were hung in front of sheets of black paper mounted from the ceiling ñ and matching the size of the original work. Two inmates also constructed models of three artworks in the larger exhibit: a salt and water piece suggesting impermanence as the water slowly erodes the salt; a work featuring gears that allow spools of golden thread to spin so that people can pull the thread an arm's length, thereby "linking arms" with others; and a plastic bench with the words: "it is in your self-interest to find a way to be very tender."

More than 5,000 inmates at Butner will have the opportunity to see the exhibit. Those who attended the opening event on May 27 created a mural of peace ñ their own response to The Missing Peace.

One aim of The Missing Peace project is to connect audiences not ordinarily found within museum walls with the messages and artworks of the exhibit. We never could have hoped for so great an opportunity as that found at Butner Hospital.

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