“Treat everyone like a friend, especially your enemies,” said Jeff Veley, a national speaker with Love Changes It All Tours, when I asked him how to communicate the Golden Rule to kids. We were discussing school bullying and teaching kids how to be resilient. Jeff’s strong words invited me to ponder their significance. The next…
A special thank you to Bridge Street Electric for creating custom fixtures and donating a large part of the lighting for Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind. It was a pleasure to work with the owners, Jim and Deb Dagley, and their staff at Bridge Street Electric. Life’s Circles Mom, 39 I remember when I was…
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is hosting ArtPrize Top 20 Artist Pamela Alderman’s work called Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind from September 21 to October 9, 2016. The interactive work highlights anti-bullying and invites visitors to counteract bullying, whenever possible, with kindness. Alderman has prepared 50,000 orange interactive ribbons for viewers to tie onto…
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can…Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can… Martin Luther King, Jr. Kindness matters. The paintings of the koi fish swimming against the strong currents in Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind depicts our struggles with difficult relationships. No one is immune from hate. The words “Stop bullying” don’t…
After the suicide of Zoe Johnson, a West Michigan thirteen year old, a fellow student wrote on the victim’s Facebook page: “Good ur gone.” I don’t know all the details involved. But after listening to the news report on bullying, I felt compassion for Zoe’s mother and what must be her complete devastation by her…
Courage Ablaze tells the story of the innocent women and children caught in the crossfire of annihilation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Though the fires of adversity scorched their families, these fierce women are salvaging what’s left and starting over. Since first debuting at ArtPrize 2012, I completed twenty-five additional portraits and recorded…