SEPTEMBER 2009

I’m so excited to announce our newly redesigned website!! We now have the ability to post videos, a blog where readers can read thoughts on peace offered by others, as well as a more interactive photo gallery of peace mandalas created around the world. We hope you enjoy your visit. If you happen to find any links or pages not working properly, please contact our webmaster.

A first for the community of Cambria just occurred on September 19th. An offering of Peace Through Art, featuring the creation of Peace Pie Mandalas, was given in honor of International Day of Peace. This family-friendly event was hosted by the Creativity Club and was also a fundraiser for the Joslyn Center—the facility that provides the space for Creativity Club meetings. Check out the photo album and video of this fantastic event.

MARCH 2008

A public Peace Pie Mandala playshop was held April 12th, 2008, in Walnut Creek, CA.

NOVEMBER 2007

The 3rd International Women’s Peace Conference this past July was a great success! Twenty women joined my “peaceshop” and created 5+ peace mandalas. View these mandalas in our Mandala Gallery.

Since the conference I’ve been contacted by a number of women and organizations from numerous states in the US asking if I would travel to their area and offer PPMP “peaceshops”. Yes, I said, of course this is an option. Yet bringing the PPMP to your own community by presenting a peaceshop yourself is simple, and at a much lower cost! Visit Seeding Peace for more information on bringing the PPMP to your area.

JULY 2007

It is official. Jennifer Star, director of the Peace Pie Mandala Project, has been invited to be a presenter and delegate at the 3rd International Women's Peace Conference (IWPC) in Dallas, Texas, this July 10 - 15, 2007 (www.womenspeaceconference.org). Ms. Star will present a workshop on the theme "Peace and the Divine Feminine", using her Peace Pie Mandala Project as the format to make Peace Mandalas. Participants will be Visioning® Peace using the trademarked method of author Dr. Lucia Capacchione.

Following is Star's workshop description as it will appear in the IWPC schedule:

PEACE & THE DIVINE FEMININE:

Using the sacred form of a mandala to represent the 'Womb of the Divine Feminine', participants create a unique visual interpretation of peace in a fun and safe atmosphere using magazine photo collage on pie-shaped pieces of paper. These individual interpretations of peace will then be brought together in a unified whole as a group activity.  Meditation, journal exercises, and verbal sharing in groups about the meaning of each collage, reinforce the element of community.

Ms. Star's conference workshop session is scheduled for Wednesday, July 11th, from 2:00 - 5:30 pm, and is part of the Mind, Body, Spirit section of the conference. In addition to Star's presentation, she will attend the conference as a participant, increasing her knowledge of "peace activities and solutions" on a large scale, incorporating this knowledge where she can into the Peace Pie Mandala Project.

The invitation to present at this conference, as well as attend, is a HUGE honor for Star, and a number of firsts. This will be the largest audience she has ever facilitated a workshop with, her first conference ever attended, and her first time in Dallas, Texas.

IWPC coordinators expect nearly 2,000 women (and men) to attend and currently have delegates from over 25 countries represented. Three Nobel Peace Laureates will be keynote speakers: Rigoberta Menchú Tum (Guatemala), Nobel Peace Laureate, 1992; Jody Williams (United States), Nobel Peace Laureate, 1997; and Betty Williams (Northern Ireland), Nobel Peace Laureate, 1976. The two previous conferences were held in 1988 and 1999.

The IWPC's mission is "to create paths of peace by example and positive action, both locally and globally, through encouragement, communication, education and friendship." Their perspectives include:

    * Peace is the imperative for our world;

    * Peace is a vigorous dynamic through which each individual and group can bring

       forth their best;

    * Peace is a pre-requisite to solving the world’s problems, not a consequence;

    * Peace is profitable;

    * Peacemaking is a positive process of building, not tearing down. We are “pro”

      peace, not “anti” anything;

    * Peacemaking skills can be learned and taught;

    * It is time for women, the traditional teachers and peacemakers in the private

      worlds, to take responsibility for public peacemaking.

The IWPC is a non-profit event and Star will not be receiving any payment for the presentation, only the conference fee has been waived. Star is actively seeking sponsors who will donate funds towards travel and supply expenses. All sponsors will be acknowledged in a brochure Star will hand out to workshop participants, as well as a listing on her website. If you are inspired to become a sponsor, please contact Star in order to make arrangements.

A BIG“Thank You” to my sponsors.

Your generosity has helped to make my dream come true!

IWPC Peace Pie Mandala Project SPONSORS:

•Bluebird Inn - Gisela Cooper, California - www.BluebirdMotel.com

•Celebration Healing - Rebecca Marina, Texas - www.EFTexpert.com

•Intuitive Journey - Claire Perkins, Arizona - www.IntuitiveJourney.com

•Hot Rod Nostalgia - Dave Wallace Jr., California - www.HotRodNostalgia.com

•Project Insight - Edinburg, Texas - www.Project-Insight.org

•Hauser Brothers Goldsmiths - Joel Hauser, California - www.HauserGold.com

•Fiskars® - Wisconsin, USA - www.Fiskars.com

•Vicki Muir - Edmond,Oklahoma - Visioning® Peace Workshops - InnerCircle@cox.net

•Mary Webb, VP - Greenspace: The Cambria Land Trust - www.greenspacecambria.org

•Sheila Hollingshead - California

•Nancy Lemke - California

•Christine Shirtcliff - Massachusetts

•Rita Hildebrandt - California

•Susan Conners - California

•Lynne Singer, CPA - California

•Sara Blair-Field - California

•Teresa Lees - California

•Cat Madama - California

•Betty Gates - California

•Roz Barbier-Clark - California

•Nancy & Anne Zinke - California

•May 20th 2007 Workshop - Nancy, Dianne, Roz, Diane, Lisa, Tobey, Lela, Joy - Cambria, California

•June 16th 2007 Workshop - Keiko, Lucia, Lisa, Anita, Dorothy, Mary, Linda - Cambria, California