Adult and Community Education of Martha's Vineyard

Born and raised on Martha's Vineyard, Susan Klein is an internationally-known, professional storyteller, and author of Through a Ruby Window and Martha’s Vineyard – Now & Zen with photographer, Alan Brigish. As owner of Ruby Window Productions, Susan offers acclaimed Story Wisdom™ workshops for educators, writers, and speakers, and coaching and editing for the page and stage through An Alien Eye. Susan is a director/producer of numerous award-winning spoken-word recordings, the 2007 recipient of the Creative Living Award presented by the Permanent Endowment of Martha’s Vineyard and the National Storytelling Network’s coveted Circle of Excellence Award. www.susanklein.net/

Robert Leaver, Facilitator

Educator, psychologist, writer and social entrepreneur Robert Leaver has facilitated thousands of groups seeking clarity and action plans for social problems.  Among many accomplishments, he helped found the Leadership for Change graduate program at Boston College, helped develop the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, and has worked on community planning issues with the cities of Providence, Atlanta, and Albuquerque, as well as on Martha’s Vineyard. He is the author of The New Commons papers on economy, community and organization. newcommons.com/

Gallery Exhibition

8:15 - 8:45 Guided Tour

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum – Sustainable Local History (www.mvmuseum.org)

Marnie Stanton – Raging Indifference: Nature’s Spin through Art

Susan Johnson – Sustainability and Personal Affect

Elissa Turnbull – Permanent Collection

MV Shell Recovery – Shell Recycling/Oyster Restoration in Great Ponds

Barney Zeitz – sculpture: extinction to revival - Barney Zeitz's sculpture, fused and stained glass pieces and public memorials are both elegant and energized. The touch of the artist's hand and passion is imprinted in the metal and glass. (www.bzeitz.com)

Maya Stiles-Royall – Bio Tour: Journey into a Sustainable Future  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJEoVVjWXzM)

Phil Kane – Tea Lane Farming Project - A photo montage of the community garden, farm plan, building plan, the concept of a trade school featuring practical life skills, an exchange program with people from the inner city, and an alternative form of education for kids from the island in farming, animal husbandry, building, green living, wool/yarn production and knitting, bread baking, welding, composting, etc.

Christa Fischer – Communal Felt Mural

Aquinnah Art Gallery – curator, Megan Ottens-Sargent

Island Grown Initiative/Island Grown Schools - films

ACE MV Adult Education - sustaining a community/film (www.acemv.org)

Kristina Hook-Leslie – Wampanoag Tribal elder, Foraging with Kristina – Kristina grew up learning about foraging for ingredients and preparing native food from her mother and grandmother in Aquinnah. Today, an elder in the Wampanoag tribe, she shares her stories and food preparation methods that date back centuries. (film by Film-Truth Productions - http://vimeo.com/18094350)

Harvey John Beth - Photographer - PeaceQuilts - relieving poverty in Haiti - PeaceQuilts is a non-profit humanitarian organization relieving poverty in Haiti by establishing and supporting independent women’s quilting cooperatives. Currently we work with approximately 100 women organized into seven cooperatives in Lilavois, Croix-des-Bouquets, Cayes, Bel Anse, Roche-a-Batteau, and Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince, with plans to expand. PeaceQuilts provides training, materials, supplies, marketing assistance, and educational opportunities. We also market their one-of-a-kind art quilts in the United States, and are in the process of developing a product line of affordable quilted items which are now being sold in retail shops, online and at Macy's as part of their "Heart of Haiti" initiative. Photographer Harvey John Beth is the Director and CFO of Haiti PeaceQuilts, Inc and a member of the Clinton Haiti Foundation Artisan Task Force. His 8 years of professional fine art photographer include publication of a book entitled  Patience to Raise the Sun- Art Quilts from Haiti & their Power to Change Women's Lives. He has served and is serving on numerous Boards for local non-profit organizations including ACE MV where he serves as Board Treasurer, photographer, teacher of Accounting, and volunteer CFO. (www.haitipeacequilts.org/)

Emma Young - Edible Eats Feasts – Sustainable Poetry/ Art

Immigrant Voices/Cultural Sustainability:

Lorena Grespo Garcia, Patty Gallardo, Nightmares and Dreams: Immigrant Voices –film/play

Washington Ledesma – artist (www.washingtonledesma.com)

Leandro Lemos – Capoeira Angola

Neila and Gunga – MV Capoeira (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlQjRb8Nr1w)

Jenna Weiss-Berman - WCAI-NAN – audio cultural tour with slides

Section A: Three-hour Workshop

10:15 am – 1:00pm (includes a 15 minute break)

A1. The Yes Men – Keil Troisi and Mary Notari

Workshop Description: After sharing some insider tips and tactics from recent pranks and interventions, we’ll facilitate a structured brainstorm with attendees on one or more new media-getting creative actions, focusing on a local social justice issue.

Leaders’ Biography: The Yes Men, called “the Jonathan Swift of the Jackass generation” by author Naomi Klein, pose as corporate bigwigs, infiltrate the world of big business, and scandalize unsuspecting audiences in ways that shame the world’s biggest corporate criminals. Although fronted by Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, their membership includes hundreds of secret agents, all of whom were recently acquired in a hostile takeover by the Yes Lab for Creative Activism. (see http://theyesmen.org/ and www.josephhuffhannon.com/)

Mary Notari is actor, activist, and jack of all trades.  After graduating from Oberlin College, she spent several years in the independent theater scene in NYC.  Her work with The Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics at NYU brought her into contact with The Yes Men and she has since become an integral part of The Yes Lab based there.  She helps radicalize creatives and creativize radicals.

Keil Troisi is an activist and filmmaker. After teenage years spent making movies, he studied at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, then spent several years as a screenwriting consultant and ghostwriter in LA. In recent years he has turned to activism and is thrilled to work with the Yes Lab combining his favorite ingredients: politics, media, and humor.

A2. Becoming a Skilled Change Agent – Barney J. Brawer

Workshop Description: This workshop will enable participants to refine and improve their skills as change agents.  Participants will be asked to define (privately) a problem or challenge that is real in their current work, and will be given tools to design effective responses now and in future endeavors.

Leader Biography: Barney Brawer is principal of the Michael J. Perkins School, a small public elementary school located inside the Old Colony housing development in South Boston. He has, for 30 years, taught the application of family therapy techniques to create change in interpersonal systems, including workshops with the Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

Marnie Stanton spent 52 weeks between 2009 and 2010 making interpretative sculpture of weekly environmental news with a special emphasis on climate change. She put together a film “Raging Indifference, Nature’s Spin through Art” with interviews from Bill McKibbon, founder of 350.org and George Woodwell, founder of the Woods Hole Research Center. Roundtable discussion will include showing a trailer of the film followed by discussion of the art pieces. vimeo.com/39297752

BiodiversityWorks with Liz Baldwin and Luanne Johnson

BiodiversityWorks is a new Vineyard nonprofit focusing on wildlife research and monitoring while providing mentoring opportunities with wildlife professionals. Current projects include river otters, kingfishers and swallows and nesting shorebirds. Round table discussion will include time to ask questions about our current projects and ways to get involved. We will also welcome discussion on other wildlife projects that the community would be interested in and feedback on current projects (i.e. nesting shorebird work) biodiversityworks.org/

Our Shell Resource with MV Shell Recovery Group

Learning from the Chesapeake; The Growing Shell Recycling Movement on Martha’s Vineyard and the MV Shell Recycling efforts modeled after the Chesapeake success concerning ocean acidification. Roundtable discussion to include successes and failures of the Chesapeake shellfishing community, drawing parallels between the Chesapeake and Vineyard fishing communities, learning from and drawing paths for our own shellfish future. How returning shell to the water closes a life-cycle loop for oysters. www.mvshellfishgroup.org/

The Farm Project with Kaila Binney

Vision Fellow Kaila Binney will lead a discussion about the Farm Project which she developed and piloted at The Farm Institute in the summer of 2011. Modeled on Boston's Food Project, The Farm Project involved young people in an 8 week program including all aspects of sustainable agriculture, from gardening and livestock care to gleaning and food distribution. In addition, the FARM PROJECT crew took a comprehensive look at issues of food security and food justice.

Island Grown Schools with Noli Taylor 

(IGS) works to grow community through sustainable agriculture, local food advocacy and education. strives to increase both the supply and demand of locally grown food for the health of the environment and our community through core programs: Island Grown Schools ,one of the five core programs, is our farm-to-school program. We seek to raise a new generation of Vineyarders who are connected to local farms and farmers, empowered to make healthy eating choices, informed about the food system, and engaged in growing food for themselves, their families and community. Join Noli, Coordinator for Island Grown Schools, as she discusses what is doing to bring healthy, locally grown feed to school meals, gardens, and food and agricultural based learning to island -schools and elementary schools. Also to be discussed will be how to start similar programs elsewhere. http://www.islandgrown.org/island-grown-schools/

Healthcare in our communities with Lorna Andrade, R.N., Ph.D. 

How do we maintain access to healthcare in a rural communities where we face considerable financial challenges? Dr. Andrade is a retired professor of Nursing Education in Medical and Surgical Nursing and Gerontology with a Ph.D. in Health Education and Administration. She taught at Mass Bay Community College and UMass Dartmouth. She currently works at Windemere and chairs the MV Health Education Collaborative.

Film and Social Change with Thomas Bena and Brian Ditchfield.

The Martha's Vineyard Film Festival produces community events that celebrate all genres of film and spark discussion, debate and action. http://www.mviff.org/

Bios: Thomas Bena - Executive / Creative Director MVFF -Thomas graduated with a degree in marketing from The University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1989.  In March of 2001 he founded the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival. For the past ten years he has been working on his first documentary feature, (untitled HOME project). His passions include creative woodworking, surfing, playing music, singing, and spending time with his daughter, Emma, and his wife, Mollie Doyle. He enjoys questioning his beliefs about everything and is a sucker for a good story.

Brian Ditchfield - Managing Director MVFF - grew up on Martha's Vineyard, where he was taught his passion for the creative arts. After studying at Boston University's College of Fine Arts, Brian moved to Chicago and formed Shack Productions, with whom he produced and wrote a nationally distributed feature film and award winning shorts and documentaries. While in the windy city he also was the Program Manager for the Chicago Loop Alliance with whom he helped produce Looptopia, Chicago's all-night arts festival attended by 250,000 people each year. He moved back to the Vineyard in 2006 and assisted his wife in starting her own theatre company, before finding a happy home as Managing Director of The Martha's Vineyard Film Festival.

Creating Community Art Space—The Pit Stop with Nina Violet 

The Pit Stop aims to establish a stable year-round, all-ages performance venue, recording studio, art gallery and artists’ work space and marketplace on the island of Martha's Vineyard. We aim to simultaneously support local artists and musicians as well as provide a venue to touring artists to perform, exhibit and collaborate. The Pit Stop not only serves as a venue, but also as a community center for locals to collaborate musically, artistically, and intellectually through workshops, performances and special events. We also provide a retail space/artisans market, where members/artists can sell/showcase their work. (The Pit Stop Workshop Co. on Facebook)
Bio: Nina Violet hails from the island of Martha’s Vineyard where she was classically trained from childhood on viola. Nina started touring with island favorites Kahoots while still in her teens. Her early twenties saw Nina collaborating, touring and recording with Willy Mason, whose hit song “Oxygen” both launched his career and enabled Nina and himself to crisscross the Atlantic and US on numerous headline tours and with Radiohead, Beth Orton and Elvis Perkins. Nina performs on and arranges for the entire family of string instruments and plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and keyboards. http://ninaviolet.bandcamp.com/