Senses Cultural is excited to announce a new collaboration with the Resource Center for Nonviolence, or RCNV, to display the Enduring Power photography exhibit this fall. Anita Heckman, who has been with the organization since 1981 and is a strong leader in coordinating projects, spoke with Senses last week in anticipation of this new partnership.
Located in Santa Cruz, RCNV is a peace and justice organization that promotes the practice of non-violent social change. Scott Kennedy and Peter Klotz-Chamberlin co-founded the Resource Center for Non-Violence in 1976. Kennedy, a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, ran the center’s Middle East Program – Ms. Heckman fondly noted that Kennedy’s passion was issues regarding the Middle East, and he would have appreciated the images found in the Enduring Power exhibit.
Ms. Heckman was quick to note that an integral step of achieving peace is the understanding of differences and similarities between people, and notes that this can often be achieved through collaborations with other organizations. She believes that “art can often tell stories or bring forth ideas in unique and engaging ways”, and noted that the upcoming collaboration with Senses Cultural will create a great opportunity for art to tell a story about the Middle Eastern woman’s perspective. Ms. Heckman is no stranger to powerful artistic collaborations through RCNV that tell stories “not always seen in the traditional U.S. media” – she has coordinated exhibits by Suzanne Klotz and Robert Shetterly for RCNV during her career.
Like Senses’ mission statement to promote a more peaceful world for all, RCNV’s mission is also for a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. We feel that RCNV is an outstanding example of the power of education and the positive influence that activism can have on both a global and local level, and applaud the powerful work that RCNV has consistently been doing for almost 40 years.
Ms. Heckman offered up this wonderful quote from social activist Dorothy Day as an inspiring reminder of what is possible when we collaborate and make efforts to create change: “By crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, of the poor, of the destitute… We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that the ever widening circle will reach around the world.”
We look forward to building our relationship with RCNV, and to sharing the Enduring Power photo exhibit with the Santa Cruz community. To learn more about Ms. Heckman’s work and more on the RCNV, please visit: http://rcnv.org/about.
By Silvana Gargione
