Meet Colorado state coordinator, Marianne Beard

Marianne Beard moved to Colorado eight years ago with her entire family and attained her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Studio Art and Art History from CU Boulder. In her short time as our Colorado State Coordinator, Marianne has engaged the entire state of Colorado in bone making, starting with the school system.

 

As she began her outreach she noticed Colorado Art Teachers had a need for projects that addressed current events and had purpose. “They needed something more than just showing students a technique” Marianne reflected, “they wanted a project that helped students understand that there something greater than themselves – and they found that with OMB”. Within the first two months, Marianne had sixty schools across the state committed to making bones! She’s presented for students of all ages,  pre-k to college, who have embraced this project as much as she has.

Marianne keeps super busy! This past week, she presented at three assemblies and taught four classes at Doherty High School in Colorado Springs. But the pay off is huge: the entire school has rallied behind the One Million Bones project wanting to make as many bones as possible. When Marianne showed up for her presentations, they surprised her with 1,200 pounds of clay and a commitment to make at least 2,000 bones for the final installation on the National Mall next year. They’re inviting community members, parents and students to participate in this endeavor and are planning an installation at the school later this year.

And William Smith High School in Aurora, Colorado has also embraced the project. Marianne met with the art, science, English and math teachers and discussed ways to incorporate the One Million Bones project across all subjects to address the question: What is the value of a human life?

From Colorado Springs to Denver, from Aurora, to Westminster, Grand Junction and Ft. Collins –Marianne has brought the project to all corners of the state. There is no limit to her reach!

Are you in Colorado?  Want to be part of the Colorado effort to place bones on the National Mall?  Let us put you in touch with Marianne.  

Update from DC

Wanted to give you a quck update from DC.  I'm here for meetings for logistical stuff having to do with the installation.  So many enthusiastic connections, great advice, and so much paperwork.  Not sure I'd call it glamorous, but amazing to be here.

Last time Naomi and I were here, the section of the National Mall we're applying to use was all torn up.  They're doing an extensive and wonderful restoration of the Mall, which you can read about here, if you're interested. I'll say that some of it is very interesting, particularly some of the things they're doing to make the space sustainable.  

Yesterday, one of the first things I wanted to check on was the progress of the renovations.  And they are sure coming along!

Here's a quick shot of one of "our" gorgeous sections. Imagine it with bones!

Sometimes you just need something a little shiny.

There are days when I never manage to think about the countries that we focus on past the immediate and seemingly perpetual crises. There is so much need and so much suffering, how is it possible to think about anything else.  And yet, these countries have wildlife and historic sites and culture.  Often it is harrassed by years of conflict, but it's there if you look.

Today, I want something different and new and wonderful about Sudan, and here are a couple things I found:

An article called In Sudan, an animal migration to rival Serengeti in the NYT ( it's old-2007-but still of interest)

Some photos of Suakin Island at this website. Suakin is a port on the west coast of the Red Sea. The old city there ws built of coral, and is now in ruins.

Photos of The Sudd, a gorgeous wetland in Southern Sudan, like this one:

Guest post-OMB Coming Together

You'll notice that lately we've been talking a lot about State Coordinators.  What the heck is going on, you might be thinking.  At the end of the summer, we received a very generous grant to allow us to hire coordinators around the country to work on the One Million Bones project in their communities. First, it's important to know, each coordinator is receiving a small stipend, and so the incredible amount of work they are doing is because they are dedicated and passionate about peace building and social justice. And we appreciate and love them all for that!

Today, we're sharing a blog post written by Oregon State Coordinator, Alysha Atma.  She is the founder of her own non-profit in Oregon, The Atma Foundation. Her inspiring blog post begins the story of how she is approaching the work of being a state coordinator from a wonderful perspective of bringing communities together.

From Alysha:

OMB – Coming Together

Why Bones?

Bones are universal. Bones are strong. Bones symbolize our common humanity. And, they are poignant reminders of unnecessary and preventable loss. They are the physical evidence that individuals, people, ever existed. The bone laying is the intersection of art and activism, of education and mass atrocities as well as reminds us that we belong to each other.

This is what this project means to me, TOGETHER. Our ability to see one another as each other, to smile, laugh and dance together no matter the distance, language, culture or ethnicity. This is the message that I want to amplify in Oregon, how we are all alike, UNIFIED in our differences.

7, 000 bones is my commitment, 7,000 voices are what I hear. Coming from Oregon, I am lucky to be surrounded by so much support, friendship and so many eager participants. My vision is a huge umbrella – which might literally be the case as we are here in Oregon; happiness IS rain – under which we all lay the bones of others. Christians, Muslims, Artists, Jews, Teachers, Advocates, Students, Indians, the LGBTQ community, Politicians, Mothers, Children, Sudanese, Survivors, Professionals, Runners, and Congolese; we all fit together as humans full of love, laughter, anger, frustration and compassion. This is the highlight, like pieces of a puzzle coming together to create a large, breathing picture.

So doing what I do best, I called, emailed, knocked on doors and asked for help, knowing that together 7,000 bones was the process but the outcome was so much bigger. Saying yes, we have and are coming together; the project is beginning to take shape, only it is no longer my vision but OUR vision, and that of the communities we represent.

All those identities listed above, they all have a leading voice that will represent their community as a whole; but what is even more special, is they all will take part, bringing their passion, art and words forward. 1,000 bones is the commitment of each community, what was once 7,000 voices are turning into 10,000. We will be coming together in April at the Oregon Holocaust Memorial, to stand together against genocide and mass atrocities. Coming together as one, very amplified voice in UNITY for a more just and peace-filled world that we all believe is possible to foresee.

We are blessed to have one another, no matter our difference; we are all the same in OUR vision for the future. We are all committed to hearing, respecting and learning from our differences and knowing that is what makes us stronger. 

Darfur, as seen by Mia Farrow.

Yesterday, my favorite hometown public radio station (shoutout to KUNM) played a program called Humankind. This particular episode of the program featured Mia Farrow talking about human rights and her experience in Darfur. There's a short, free, sample of the program available here or you can send them the few bucks they ask for and purchase the entire program. Depending on your means, it might be worth it; it's a really honest interview.

After hearing it, I wanted to know more about Ms. Farrow's time in Darfur and more about her thinking on it. I found her online photo gallery which is absolutely worth the time to look.

She also has a website where she has videos and where you can access her facebook and twitter feeds. I particularly like her How We Can Help page.