Details here for the Justice, Environment, & the Arts series hosted by Kalamazoo Friends Meeting (Quakers), 508 Denner St., for May 9 to 11.
* The flyer is here.
* Events are on Facebook.
“In Relation”
A mobile-arts installation by Mey Hasbrook
- May 9 & 10, 5pm – 8:30pm
- May 11, 10am – 6pm
Info tables
- Citizens’ Climate Lobby, May 9 & 10, 5:00pm – 7pm
- Kalamazoo River Watershed Council, May 9, 5:30pm – 7pm
- Potters for Peace with Steve Smith, May 11, 10am – 6pm
Programs: May 9th
5:30pm -6:30pm. “Mahatma Gandhi’s Mentors and Disciples: The Philosophy and Practice of Nonviolent Earthcare.” A presentation by environmentalist Tom Small. Lower level.
Professor Emeritus, Western Michigan University, Tom Small will trace the principal influences on Gandhi’s practice of nonviolence and earthcare, including Leo Tolstoy, John Ruskin, and Gandhi’s two mothers, his biological mother, Putlibai, and his spiritual “mother,” TheBhagavad Gita. His many notable followers include Vinoba Bhave (Land Gift movement), Arne Naess (Deep Ecology), E. F. Schumacher (Small is Beautiful), Sunderlal Bahuguna (Chipko movement), Martin Luther King, Jr., Satish Kumar (Soil, Soul, Society), and Vandana Shiva (Seed Satyagraha). We’ll also touch upon the many parallels between Gandhi’s principles and practice and contemporary native American activism.
Tom is co-founder of the Kalamazoo Area chapter of Wild Ones and co-author of Using Native Plants to Restore Community, now in its fourth printing. He is a former clerk of the steering committee for Quaker Earthcare Witness and a current member of the QEW Publications Committee. He is a founding member of Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War .
7pm – 8pm. Worship sharing with KFM Clerk Kathy Ossmann. Upper level. A brief introduction to the series that includes worship sharing, “a form of worship that helps us listen to each other in a deeply spiritual, loving, and prayerful way.” A query about the series’ theme will be shared, which is informed by the art campaign “Peace and Justice” with co-sponsor Fellowship of Quakers in the Arts
Programs: May 10
5:30pm-7pm. Arts reception. Upper level. Snacks and hot drinks.
7pm – 8pm. “A Quaker View on Connecting Concerns: Right Relationship, Justice, & the Environment.” Discussion with Mey Hasbrook. Upper level.
Mey will speak about how Right Relationship has become a focus in her daily life, artwork, and traveling ministry among Friends. This approach recognizes and respects how caring for the Earth is bound up with caring for human community. Poetry likely will make an appearance.
An artist and community organizer, Mey currently travels in the ministry among Quakers under the care of Kalamazoo Friends Meeting. She has created and exhibited visual arts in Michigan since 2012, Peru (2015-17), and England (2018). Her path in community arts began as a poet in 2006, and she has been with Friends since 2007.
Programs: May 11th
11am to 11:45am. “Introduction to Potters for Peace” with board member Steve Smith (Angola, IN). Upper level.
Professor Emeritus, Defiance College, Steve Smith will speak about how Potters for Peace came to be founded in response to war, how its work is carried out alongside women in indigenous communities, and how it’s impacted him personally. He’ll be with us for the day selling Nicaraguan pottery to benefit the nonprofit (see photo below).
Steve produces functional, decorative and sculptural works in clay, steel and stone. He has exhibited in major regional and national exhibitions since 1974. He also has trained local potters on-site in Chile, the West Bank of Palestine, Belize, and Nicaragua. 4 Corners Gallery and Studio is his base in Angola, Indiana.
12pm to 12:15pm. “Solving the Climate Crisis – 20 images in 7 minutes” with Dana Mains (Fennville) of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Upper level.
This concise slide show is based on the Pechakucha design (patented by architects Klein & Dytham in Tokyo in 2003). Translated “chit-chat,” akin to visual Haiku, this presentation style keeps it short and sweet.
Dana Mains is a mother, climate activist, educator, and permaculture enthusiast. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Environmental Policy and Behavior in 2000, and now lives with her family in the Allegan forest. She volunteers as chapter lead for Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Kalamazoo (MI-6th district).
12:30pm to 3:00pm. Monthly meeting with Citizens’ Climate Lobby Kalamazoo. Lower level. Join CCL for a meet and greet (12:30pm), a live-stream guest speaker (1pm), and its local chapter meeting (1:30pm). For more details, visit CCL on Facebook.
2pm to 3:00pm. Family & School-Aged Youth (6+) Event with Dana Mains (Fennville) of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Outdoors (under balcony by parking lot). Art and story time! Mobiles will be decorated and a reading given from Gaia and the Golden Toad: A Tale of Climate Change.
