Dear Reader,

I’m not sure of the date, but something like a million years ago Susan and I were leading a workshop in Santa Monica hosted by an organization then called the Pedagogical Institute of Los Angeles. Before we started our session, Alise Shafer Ivey offered a short presentation about the organization’s work - and it bowled us over. In Los Angeles, the group was partnering with teachers to transform their public school classrooms into spaces that offered something different to their communities, invigorating physical landscapes and pedagogical practices in ways that nourished creativity, voice, and connectedness. And then, there was what they were doing beyond Los Angeles: Alise and her team were supporting these same practices in Greece, adjacent to sprawling refugee centers that struggled to serve the thousands of people living there - and in the midst of competing demands had allotted not time to imagining high quality experiences for young children.

Through play and the arts, these centers in Los Angeles and abroad strove to provide refuge, protecting and preserving the beautifully human qualities of the people who lived there.

In the Studio over the last two months, we’ve asked, Why do we need the arts?

Our reading of Your Brain On Art answered, We need the arts to flourish - to be healthy individuals and communities.

Our direct experience with the arts - guided by Miriam Beloglovsky, Jesús Oviedo, Georgia Heard, and Sophie Anne Edwards - confirmed that assessment. When gathering online to play with the arts over Zoom, I heard members from around the world delight in using materials for the first time or the first time in the longest time, connecting with them (and each other) like old friends - friends who help you be open, curious, generous, expansive, and whole.

Since Alise’s long ago introduction to the project, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the work of Nest Tijuana. Through visits both in-person and online, I’ve witnessed the beautiful way the team cares for children and each other. I’m excited to build from our inquiry into the arts as we think with them - and all of you - about conditions that provide refuge for all the members of our communities. Over the coming month, we’ll interlace that study with the language of weaving and our reading of Margaret Wheatley’s newest book, Restoring Sanity​

Current conditions are crazy-making. Just like all the members of our communities, we long for refuge. Over the coming month in The Studio and beyond, I look forward to building toward deeper construction of cultures that provide it.

¡Adelante!

All Studio Members are invited to join this conversation with Xitlali, Alicia, and Vane and will be able to watch the recording all month. Members at the Inspire and Transform levels have access to this and all past Guide Line conversations on an ongoing basis.

We've been thrilled by the initial interest in this new project focused on supporting leadership. If you'd like to join us, we'd love to hear from you soon: limited spaces remain.

Our upcoming course with Shawna Coppola is now open for registration with a generous early bird discount!

Remember: Registration for this and other courses is included with Transform Plan Memberships.

WATCHING, LISTENING, READING

Good things:

• Want to learn more about the Global Nest project? Watch Learn Play Heal.
• Mary Helen Immordino-Yang continues to deepen our thinking in bold and provocative ways. I loved her recent presentation for the Human Restoration Project Conference and this shorter video for Big Think.
• Fiction deepens my thinking about how the spaces we create offer refuge (or don't.) Two recent recommended readings along these lines are Daniel Nayeri's Everything Sad is Untrue and Marie Helene Bertino's Beautyland. Whether you've landed in an American classroom from Iran or a distant planet, that school needs to be ready to love you.
• ​Mara Krechevsky others thoughts on me and we in learning that are sure to spark good conversations at staff meetings.
• ​Bevan Holloway goes deep on the politics of national curriculum redesign in New Zealand - a story that will feel maddeningly familiar in so many other places, and that suggests why we need to create islands of sanity in our schools.

"An Island of Sanity is a gift of possibility and refuge. It is a true island because it sets itself apart from the destructive dynamics, policies, and behaviors that are afflicting people on the mainland. It needs to be an island because there is no other way to preserve and protect our best human qualities. We are not seeking sanctuary; we are seeking contribution. We are magnetized by the island's offerings - the possibility of working together in harmonious relationships to accomplish meaningful work."

​Margaret J. Wheatley​

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