Last month I had the honor of representing UUFH at an annual art competition and exhibit sponsored by the Arts Council of Henderson County: Bring Us Your Best, which ran from August 5-19. UUFH sponsors an award called One Planet/One World, recognizing the work that best represents “a world community recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of all beings; and the oneness and interdependence of all life.” I would like to take this opportunity to share the many thank-yous that I received from participating artists for sponsoring this award. They thanked me, but I hardly did anything. Thanks to all of you for making it happen. Using art to communicate a message of respect for each other and the earth was important to many of the artists and, I believe, absolutely vital to changing the culture of how we treat each other and the planet.
As an engineer, I spend my days reasoning and solving problems, but no matter how innovative or clever I am, I know I will be upstaged by an amateur cat video every time. I am, without a doubt, a servant to the artists. How we treat each other and the planet is rooted in our culture, and that culture is rooted in our tribal survival instincts that have been reinforced by media conglomerates with something to sell. Guns or laws are not going to fix this problem. Fighting fire with fire requires artists/musicians/directors/etc. producing works that capture the interests of the public and slowly replace the culture of selfishness with a culture of respect. Handing out sandwiches or installing solar panels treats the symptoms; changing the culture treats the disease.
And speaking of being upstaged, our new membership committee chair, Susan Maybin, and the membership committee are doing an excellent job focusing the Board on ways to improve membership. If you see her, thank her for her effort because it is awesome! Hopefully we can reach more people with our message of respect and do our part to shift the culture.
Joe Criscione, President (Email)