Executive director, Sankofa Community Development Corporation, Lower Ninth Ward After Rashida Ferdinand earned her master’s degree in ceramics, she considered moving to New York for its energy and professional opportunities. “But I wanted to also be in a warm environment, physically and culturally,” she says. “Being around blue, purple, yellow houses. Being around my family. My grandmother was getting older. So it was a no-brainer.” … Continue reading Rashida Ferdinand
I pulled into the drive for Everwood Farmstead on a warm afternoon, feeling the luxury of time at the start of a week-long artist’s retreat and the self-imposed pressure of wanting to use it well. In my backpack was a partially finished manuscript. The first two hundred pages were pretty well crafted, the last hundred trailed off into notes and incomplete thoughts. The bones of … Continue reading Everwood
Natalie Brewster Nguyen is an artist, a mother, a social justice advocate, a business owner, a writer and a sex worker. I met her in Tucson, Arizona. Because of COVID, I interviewed Nat outside on a windy day, in a busy neighborhood, so the sound quality is challenging, but the conversation is powerful and interesting. “We need broad-based movements. We need to be working on … Continue reading Natalie Brewster Nguyen
Howard Zehr has been called the grandfather of the restorative justice movement: the notion that justice can be about repair, responsibility and healing rather than just punishment. A retired professor from Eastern Mennonite University, Howard is an accomplished photographer and author who has published several books including Doing Life, a collection of stories and portraits of life term prisoners. “I often talk about three core … Continue reading Howard Zehr
Fiona Orr, fifteen-years-old, is home schooled in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she volunteers regularly at the Omni Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology where she has found positive adult mentors. Fiona draws and paints. From a very young age, she liked to put beautiful things on paper so that other people could see the same beauty she did. “Yes, you’re one very small person, but you can always make … Continue reading Fiona Orr
Eugene Joe is a Navajo sand artist who lives near Shiprock, New Mexico. At an early age, Eugene’s grandfather helped him discover his gift of art. His grandfather would send the boy to meditate on a nearby hill and say, “You have a gift that’s inside of you. Go there and find it.” “Your creator gave you a special tool in your life. To find that is to learn … Continue reading Eugene Joe
Ray Padre Johnson served as a medic in the Vietnam War. He worked as a cowboy on ranches in Wyoming’s Wapiti Valley, and discovered his love of painting. He spent a dozen years traveling the world, living in 159 countries, where he ate with people, danced with them, and got to know them. Padre painted the portraits of more than 500 people from that experience … Continue reading Ray Padre Johnson
Amy Cordova sees her work and her life as inseparable. She is a visual artist, writer, and educator based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Amy has been creating art for as long as she can remember and finds the combination of art and nature to be transforming. She sees hope in children and her work calls on adults to wake up to the wonder, beauty, … Continue reading Amy Cordova
Peg Carlson-Hoffman is co-director of Holden Village with her husband, Chuck Hoffman. Holden is a faith-based intentional community nestled in a remote valley of Washington’s North Cascades, accessible by a 30-mile boat ride and a 10-mile gravel road. Peg and Chuck create art around conflict and healing. They lead creativity workshops with people who have historically experienced conflict as a way to build relationships. “The beauty … Continue reading Peg Carlson-Hoffman
“A number of years ago I was teaching a seminary course called “Pottery and Proclamation.” One woman had recently lost her partner to cancer and was mourning the loss of someone incredibly important to her.As she learned how to make pots, she decided it would be powerful for her to make a pot to hold her partner’s ashes. There is an understanding in Native American cultures that you’re making pots out of … Continue reading Kelly Connole
