Welcome - Compassion Arts Festival 2020

PROGRAMS

“We join in a circle, to do together that which we cannot do alone”
– Unknown Author

VISUAL ARTS & EXHIBITS

• Forget Me Not Exhibit by Jane O’Hara

• Women Artists for Animals: “Seeing Animals More Deeply Through the Arts”
  A round-table presentation on using the visual arts for animal advocacy with Joanne McArthur, Jane O’Hara, and Janell O’Rouke for ArtAnimalAffect, moderated by curator Carolyn Merino Mullin. (This is a zoom event Tuesday 11/17/20 at 7:30-9:00pm EST. Advance sign-up required no later than 24 hours before event. Click here for info & to register.)

• Artists for Animal Advocacy

MUSIC, READINGS & PERFORMING ARTS

• Music: Videos & Song Links
• Performing Arts: Video from Michael Harren
• Poetry Reading Roundtable
  With poet and educator Donald Vincent, author of the recently released Convenient Amnesia, and Gretchen Primack, poet and author of Visiting Days and KIND (This is a zoom event on Thursday 11/19/20 at 7:30 – 8:30pm EST. Advance sign-up is required no later than 24 hours before event. Click here for info & to register.)

SPEAKERS & INTERVIEWS

• Kathy Stevens
  A virtual tour at Catskill Animal Sanctuary and talk with CAS founder/director and author Kathy Stevens, about the emotional lives of animals and why sanctuaries matter. (This is a zoom event on Sunday 11/15/2020 at 1:00-2:00pm EST. Advance sign up is required no later than 24 hours before event. Click here for info & to register.)
• Joanne Kong
  Video “The Act of Courageous Compassion That Can Heal Our World”
• Sailesh Rao
  Climate Healers (This is a zoom event on Sunday 11/22/2020 at 1:00-2:00pm EST. Advance sign up is required no later than 24 hours before event. Click here for info & to register.)
• “Finding Healing & Creating Peace in a Violent World”
  Roundtable discussion on the subject of compassion fatigue, with animal advocate Lisa Levinson of In Defense of Animals, therapist and author April Lang, and humane educator and animal caregiver Marla Andrews. (This is a zoom event on Tuesday 11/24/2020 at 7:00-8:00pm EST. Advance sign up is required no later than 24 hours before event. Click here for info & to register.)

ANIMALS & NATURE

• Sanctuaries
• Virtual Tour at Catskill Animal Sanctuary
  (see Speakers: Kathy Stevens)
• Thanks-Giving Compassion for Animals
  A virtual tour to meet the rescued animals of Unity Farm Sanctuary with humane educator Marla Andrews. Join us to get to know farm animals through a new perspective and explore some of the ways we can create a more compassionate world (This is a zoom event on Wednesday 11/25/20 at 1:00-2:00pm EST. Advance sign up is required no later than 24 hours before event. Click here for info & to register.)
• The Listening Project
  Once Wild, recordings and writings by Dawn Casteel Lorick

WORKSHOPS

• TMI Project True Storytelling Workshop
  A writing workshop and overview for discovering tools and creative exercises to help us give voice to the true stories of our relationships with animals (This is a zoom workshop on Saturday 11/21/2020 at 2:00-4:00pm EST. Advance sign-up is required no later than 24 hours before event. Click here for info & to register.)
• Creativity for Every Animal
  Video Workshop with Camille DeAngelis

FILMS, BOOKS & INSPIRATIONS

• “The Invisible Vegan” Documentary Film Screening
  (This is a zoom screening event on Wednesday 11/18/2020 at 7:00-9:00pm EST. Advance sign-up is required no later than 24 hours before event. Click here for info & to register.)
• Roundtable Interview with Filmmaker Jasmine Leyva
  By Marlene Narrow of Vegan Nation radio and educator /videographer Alfee West (This is a zoom event in partnership with Unity of Central Mass on Friday 11/20/2020 at 7:00-8:30pm EST. Advance sign-up is required no later than 24 hours before event. Click here for info & to register.)
• Creating Peace through Books & Reading
  Compassion Arts online book club and reading circle launches in February 2021 for sharing both fiction and non-fiction works on animals and expanding our circle of compassion, as well as vegan cookbooks and self-published independent works by new authors.
• Inspiration & Resources
  Examples of organizations, resources, and inspirations that can help provide a platform for creative works and advocacy, as well as initiatives that offer tools to seed or support compassionate living for all.

LOVE IN ACTION & HOLISTIC NONVIOLENCE

A sampling of videos and writings on the intersections of holistic nonviolence and the power of love as an action, both in society and in our personal lives; for expanding our circle of compassion, seeding positive change, and creating peace with our daily lives

• Anti-Racism Documentary Project
  Videos by Alfee West:
  • Unrest & Uprising
  • Recognizing Racism
• Environment & Climate Change
  Videos by Climate Healers:
  • Year Zero: The Year When All The Wild Animals Are Gone
  • Humanity's True Purpose
• Eco-Feminism
  Videos by Carol J. Adams:
  • Which Came First on Carol Adams by artist Suzy Gonzalez
  • Lecture on the Sexual Politics of Meat & #MeToo Movement
• Veganism
  Videos from Dr. Will Tuttle:
  • Introduction to the World Peace Diet
  • Love in Action & Holistic Nonviolence Talk & Meditation

ARTISTS FOR AHIMSA AWARD

• Cyrus Mejia Honoree 2020
• About the Award
• Past Honorees

This year’s 2020 festival image is from photographer, artist, musician, yoga teacher, and vegan activist Derek Goodwin from his beautiful photo library of rescued farm animals at sanctuaries. We encourage festival attendees to explore Derek’s photographs of animals on his website.