Past Events

Mark Lakeman is a visionary architect, founder of Portland’s City Repair Project and its 10-Day Village Building Convergence, and director of the ecological design firm Communitecture. Now a national movement, City Repair combines architecture, urban planning, anthropology, community development, public art, permaculture and ecological design in projects that transform public space. Mark is also founder of Portland's paradigm shifting model homeless village/cooperative Dignity Village.

Manish Jain is founder of Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development and as Chief Editor of the journal, "Vimukt Shiksha" (Liberating Learning). He also helped start the Swapathgami (Walkouts-Walkon) movement in India which works actively with local children and families on community video, healthy cooking, zero waste living and rooftop organic farming. He also serves on the advisory board of several organizations committed to nurturing innovative forms of learning, leadership and convivial communities. He has spent several years trying to unlearn his Master's degree in Education from Harvard University, and a B.A. in Economics, International Relations and Political Philosophy from Brown University. (2004)

City Repair & Dignity Village: Models of Placemaking & Neighborhood Building

Free presentation for elected officials, city planners, community & neighborhood leaders and all others interested in learning about City Repair and the topics of placemaking & homelessness. ALL are welcome.

History and progression of City Repair in Portland, as well as on Dignity Village, which Lakeman founded. Dignity Village is a formerly mobile tent city in Portland, Oregon, well on its way to becoming a green, sustainable, urban village. It is home for people who might otherwise inhabit doorways and sidewalks. Dignity provides a peaceful community, a clean environment, a center, and safety. It is governed by the residents. www.dignityvillage.org/index-2.html

Revitalizing our Neighborhoods through Community, Creativity and Communication

This interactive event is designed for ANYONE (all ages, all backgrounds!) interested in building stronger, safer, more connected neighborhoods. Engage in the process of visioning your ideal community with people from all over the city of Madison & beyond. A morning presentation on City Repair by Mark Lakeman and a presentation on Swaraj/Shikshantar by Manish Jain, will be followed by small group visioning around neighborhood and community building, and a hands-on placemaking experience with Mark Lakeman & Manish Jain.

in the back yard of Zoma's - along the bike path - near the intersection of Ohio St. & Atwood Avenue.

All are invited! Join neighbors far and wide for an evening of conversation, performance & fun for all. Permaculture & kids activities, info on Dane County community gardens, neighborhood associations, sustainability organizations & more.

Madison's volunteer-run, community-building, substance-free, open-floor dance for people who love to dance and express themselves through movement. All are welcome! $5-10 donation requested.

Saturday July 19, 9am
Join us for Madison's first ever CYCLE YATRA experience
with Manish Jain!

Need a ride to the afternoon West Side event? Come to the community breakfast and hook up with others to carpool. Or bike...if you're an ambitious biker! Look for us in the back parking lot of Revolution Cycles next to the bike path (corner of Ohio & Atwood.)

We are excited to invite you to join us for the first ever Cycle Yatra in Madison on July 19, 2008. The Cycle Yatra has been taking place in India since 2005 as a key activity of the Walkouts Network. The intergenerational yatra (journey or pilgrimage in Hindi) seeks to explore and regenerate various facets of the gift culture in our lives, our communities and the universe, while riding on bicycles. It is essentially about reconnecting us to our own gifts and goodness and co-creating public spaces for others to connect to and share their gifts and goodness – in a spirit of spontaneous co-learning that is not mediated by money, big institutions or technologies. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_YQsaFLOvM for a glimpse.

We will explore an abbreviated version of this on Saturday morning – covering about 20 miles over 2.5-3 hours. In preparation for the Cycle Yatra, we ask that you bring any of the following with you to share with others along the journey: your favorite quotes, questions which are burning within you, waste materials to decorate bicycles, masks, musical instruments and songs to share music, juggling and dance/street theatre, poetry, stuff you would like to freecycle, your favorite homemade food, your labor, aspects of your culture, plus anything else you can think of which you would like to share…It will be a zero waste process so please don’t buy anything new to participate. Just bring whatever you have available around the house and neighborhood. We also ask that you don’t bring any money, credit cards, cell phones, walkmans, disposable plastic, processed food, etc. ~ Manish Jain

At the Wisconsin Youth & Family Center, 1201 McKenna Blvd. (across from Elver Park.)

What are the first steps in creating community and place in a diverse neighborhood without a central gathering place? How do we invite all people to the table, engage and motivate active participation, assess the needs and assets of a neighborhood in transition - and have fun in the process? All are invited to join in! Let's spark some creative projects on the Southwest Side! Performance by youth, refreshments, exhibits by grassroots organizations, activities and more.

Made possible in part by a grant from the
City of Madison Dept. of Planning & Development Neighborhoods Fund to East Isthmus Neighborhoods Planning Council

Goodman Atwood Community Center, Wisconsin Youth & Family Center, Worthington Park Neighborhood, Aries Rising Productions

With support from: Absolutely Art, Community Action Coalition Community Gardens, Dane Buy Local, Dane County Timebank Eastside Kitchen Cabinet, Grassroots Leadership College, MG&E, Revolution Cycles, Cafe Zoma & others

The City Repair Project www.cityrepair.org
...an all-volunteer grassroots organization helping people reclaim their urban spaces to create community-oriented places.

Join us for a Community Drumming Experience. You will learn how to play the Djembe and Dununs (base drums which are the heart of the Malinke drum orchestra). Learn traditional music from the Hamana Region of Guinea, West Africa. Drums will be available for your use. All levels are welcome from beginner to advanced. You will be challenged at your level.

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Helen Bond is a performer, percussionist, educator and storyteller. She is the founder and owner of Medusa's Musical Mysteries, and co-founder of the Performance Ensemble "Diamana Diya" and the "Benkadi Project" charitable effort. Helen is the North American Representative for the Living Legend Famoudou Konaté and toured with him for nearly three months throughout North America 2006.

Helen has traveled to Guinea, West Africa over the past six years where she lives among the Malinké people. While there, she studies under world-renowned musician Famoudou Konaté , grand master of the djembe drum and its orchestra (bass drums-dununs). Helen spends her time learning traditional music, dance, songs and local culture of Guinea.

(the podium stage area at the University end of State St. in front of UW Bookstore and the Pres House - parking in Lake St. ramp). Featuring the music of Shawna Carol with Tom Cobb & pianist Anne Silverman, Celia, Wendy Bugatti, DevaNation, The Raging Grannies, Pete Calgaro, Rich Baumann, Natyarpana School of Indian Dance, YouthSpeaks Poets, and the artwork of Andre Ferrella & others. Join us for an uplifting grassroots concert for peace co-created by artists, musicians and creative folks from all walks of life! Dance, sing, drum - BE peace! Family friendly and free. All are welcome. Endorsed by the Madison Area Peace Coalition and welcomed by Community Radio WORT89.9FM in Madison. Additional support provided by: Ward Brodt Music Mall, QiWorks, Peaceful Heart Books in Oregon, Tao Shiatsu Center, Earth Wind & Flowers. Special thanks to Ron Dennis for sound and State St artist Taylor Knapp for the poster artwork.

This is a totally volunteer event - donations gratefully accepted to cover costs.

Shawna Carol is an internationally recognized composer, recording artist, sound healer, and author. She served as the musician-in-residence at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies for five years, and has performed from coast to coast, including serving as the Song Weaver at many major conferences including, the Women of Wisdom Festival, and the Body & Soul Conferences. Carol has shared the stage with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Michael Jones, Jennifer Berezan, Babatunde Olatunji and Ubaka Hill among others. She is a top selling artist on Ladyslipper Records with her CDs, Goddess Chant, Songwriter's Sketchbook, and Gaia Rocks.

In addition to her work as a composer/performer, Carol founded and directs the SpiritSong Center in Bedford, Massachusetts, and is the author of The Way of Song: Freeing the Voice Sounding The Spirit, St. Martin's Press. She has facilitated SpiritSong Workshops at the Omega Institute, The New York Open Center, Julia Cameron's "Creativity Camp", The Glastonbury Goddess Conference, and at Paul Winter's "Living Music Village".

Clare Norelle & The Book of Embraces: Music for peace in a time of war. Clare Norelle performs widely as a songwriter and storyteller. Book of Embraces is Norelle (vocals, guitar & mandolin), Scott Caldwell (percussion), and Ken Keeley (bass). The band plays original and international songs in several languages. Their all-ages music moves the body and soul, touching on themes of peace, justice, human rights, love, humor, and healing. See http://web.mac.com/clarenorelle or http://www.broadjam.com/clarenorelle

Olenka: Multiple music arts grant-award winner Alexandra "Olenka" Gadzik emigrated from the Carpathian Mountains of Poland with her parents and sister in 1977. Growing up in the multi-cultural atmosphere of New York City nurtured in her a love and affinity for world music. Now with her second profes-sional release, Rhythms of Another Life, Olenka's world fusion pop, relentless grooves and spiraling Euro-fringe melodies, sing the stories of women and foreigners.

"People come from all walks of life, most without previous singing experience, to sing in community and allow their spirits to find a voice," comments Carol. "Witnessing people finding their true 'Spititsong' has been one of the most profound experiences in my life." And meaningful it has been to its thousands of participants. Carol notes that within a year of coming to SpiritSong many have left dysfunctional jobs or relationships, or made other life-altering changes. "I hope people leave SpiritSong workshops or concerts with the sense that they have an authentic and unique voice, with important work to do and to offer."

To register via Visa or MC call 608-206-6219.
or mail payment to: Aries Rising Productions, PO Box 3230, Madison, WI 53704.

For 10 years, the Madison Children's Museum has hosted Kids for P.E.A.C.E. Day in honor of the United Nations' International Day of Peace/Hear the Children Day. From its humble beginnings in 1997 with 4 performers and 200 people attending, this event has grown to offer dozens of performances, a children's art exhibit, and all sorts of hands-on activities for thousands of area families.

This year's event features the International Clay Stomp with artist Joel Pfeiffer, Kids for P.E.A.C.E. Choir (all are welcome to join!), the Peace Mobile, a showing of the Peace Quilt - created by hundreds of kids over the past 10 years, and much more. For event details contact the Children's Museum at (608) 256-6445.

Kids of all ages are invited to join the Kids for Peace Community Choir! No previous experience necessary. Children will be singing the choruses to two powerful planetary anthems written after 9/11: Bless Our Planet by Shawna Carol and We Rise! by Gemma Bulos.

Following a performance at 11:00am by the Call for Peace Drum & Dance Company, the choir will be singing at 11:45 with lead vocals by Myschelle Kober. This will take place on the State Capitol steps & landings on the State Street side (facing the Madison Children's Museum).

To join the choir, or create squares for the peace quilt contact Mariah Miller at 608-206-6219.