March 30, 2025 • 33 mins
1st segment: Amber Banda interviews Denisse Arce, Planetarium Facilitator for the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium, ran by the EPISD.
2nd segment: Amber Banda interviews Laurie Marshall, Founder of Unity Through Creativity
2nd segment: Amber Banda interviews Laurie Marshall, Founder of Unity Through Creativity
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the al Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
I am your host, Amber Banda, and today we are
going to be talking to Denise Aarse. She is the
planetarium facilitator for the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Denise, thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
It's my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thank you for inminding me. Of course.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
So right off the bat, one of the questions I
was going to ask you Gene Roddenberry Planetarium. I know
there's probably a lot of sci fi people that are
going to get angry at me, but how did the
planetarium get its name?
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Well, the planetarium is named after Gene Roddenberry, but Jean
Roddenberry is the creator of Star Trek and a little
fun fact, Jean Rainberry was born here in Old Passo,
which is why they decided to name it after him.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
That is so cool.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, born here in Al Paso.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I had no idea.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
So you know, growing up, I remember going to the planetarium,
but it used to be on Boeing and you corrected me.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Now I thought I was going insane.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
They did move it to the northeast, so it's located
at fifty four eleven Reren Avenue.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Can you tell us a little bit first?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
What is a planetarium and what is the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
So all planetarium is a place where you can go
and look at stars, planets and everything that is space related.
And the Jean Rhyinberry Planetarium is our very own planetarium
here in Old Passo, the only one in Old Passo
and it is owned by the EPI sdthal pass Independent
School District. So one thing that a lot of people
(01:54):
don't know is that the planetarium it is open every
single day, but we cater to the because it is
run by a school district. We mostly just focus on
the kids and on their needs. So every single day
from Monday through Friday, we have field trips coming from
all around the area. It could be from KISD, from Islada,
(02:17):
from Sokora, from.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Cologne, So not just EPISD, okay, if we have other
districts as well.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
We even have homeschool groups that come in business. They
just have to you know, call us and make an
arrangement with us, basically just like to help a date.
And that's all I need because it is completely free.
So we usually start taking schedules, are scheduling everything in
(02:44):
August and we do get completely filled up.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I believe it.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I'm gonna bring this up. They know me pretty well
at my daughter's school. I used to SUP there and
I still volunteer there, and I'm going to bring it
up to them because I remember going to the planetarium.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
That's one of the few field trips I remember with that.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Like everyone here in El pas So they remember going
to the planetarium, and they remember going to the water
treatment center and looking at all like the stuff that
was in the water. But I remember like going into
a room and we'll talk a little bit about the
shows too, and it was like, you know, the huge
ceiling and it was like someone poked holes in the dark,
you know, in the darkness, and it was just like
the stars coming through and then when.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
You're little, right, so everything is so much bigger. But
that really stuck out in my mind.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
And so the planetarium during the week, like you said,
it's only open for field trips for the safety of
the students. I completely understand that. When are you open
to the public.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
For the public, we started opening once a month on
a Saturday. Once a month on a Saturday, we are
before the general public. And during the summer when there
are no kids, then we are open throughout the week
as well.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Okay, And how much is it to get into the planetarium?
Speaker 4 (03:54):
And it's completely free, that's the best.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Part, completely free.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
That helps a lot us by in the summer when
you're trying to find a million and one things I
swear on the summer, even like with the spring break,
I step out of my house and I spend one
hundred dollars. I'm like, oh my, so that's a great
you know, that's that's really good. So if people wanted
to get tickets because it's free, but you still need tickets,
are that are reservations?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Okay, but we can all have everyone at the same
time in there as well.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Where do they go for tickets? Oh?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Well, there are several ways to get tickets. But first
of all, you would have to go to a page
called ticket leap dot com because with memory playing time
and we have links all over our Facebook and our
Instagram pages, so you can just click there. But you
would go there a week before the day of the
show at eight am.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
By the way, okay, so eight am a week before
the show that you want to go to.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Yes, And it's very important because they do sell out
really quick or they do run out because it's free,
but they do run out really, really really quick. Last time,
I believe it was only like three minutes that they
were there.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Oh my gosh, insane.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
But that's one way. So you would just go reserve
your tickets. They will ask you a few questions to
pull out, and that's it. You get your free tickets
and you're able to come see us. But if they
do run out, which like I said, they do run
out really quickly, sometimes in minutes. Wow, what we have
as well, we have ten walking tickets first come for
(05:28):
served at the door, so you would just come in
a few minutes before the start of the show. I
would say fifteen twenty minutes before line up, and we
would just give out the tickets first come for served.
And the third way is that if there are still
people trying to come in to see us, then maybe
(05:48):
there are people who don't show up, which it happens.
It's free tickets, so sometimes they just reserve it and
then forget. But if they don't show up, then we
just let people go in to take their place.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Okay, So they would just show up before the show,
and if all the walking tickets are taken, then they
would kind of just be on a wait list. Yes, basically,
so when people are reserving their tickets online, some people have,
you know, a big family. Is there a limit as
to how many tickets you can reserve at ticket leap?
Speaker 4 (06:18):
So there are there is the limits five per transaction,
so you would preserve five and then you just do
another transaction to reserve more if you need to.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Okay, perfect, and I'm assuming that maybe the and correct
me if I'm wrong. But during the months where you're
only having a show once a month, well, first of all,
is the.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Show like is it on a first Saturday? Seconds? Like,
what's that like? Is it on a certain date every month?
Speaker 4 (06:43):
It depends on the month.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Also, the time is going to be by the end
of the month. Okay, arch is like by the end
of the month as well.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Okay, So for on Instagram, go find them at Roddenberry
L Passo.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
R O D D E N B E R R Y.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
L Passo on Facebook Gene Roddenberry Planetarium and that way
you can go and they'll have more information on where
you can go, find out when the show is going
to be so that we know when to reserve your
tickets again a week before the show at eight am
or ticket.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Leap dot com.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Now I'm thinking in the summer, maybe it's a little
bit easier to get tickets with us since there's more shows.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yes, in the summer, it's a little bit, yeah, because
we have three shows every day from Monday through Thursday.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Okay, Monday through Thursday. Yes, in the summer, okay. Perfect.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
And the other features of the planetarum, because it's not
just the shows. What other things does the We'll get
into the shows a little bit. What other features does
the planetarium have that you can go and look at well,
as you.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Come in, we have sorry, we have interactive screens. Okay,
as you come in. So in those interact screens we
have it's kind of like kiosks, so you go in
and you can just play around with them. You can
touch them, and you can move things around using the screen.
We have for example one kiosk because that is basically
just you trying to attach your spaceship kind of thing,
(08:04):
your rocket into a dog for the ISS, So you're
trying to do that and it's kind of difficult because
you don't take into account that there's no gravity over there.
So it's like once you click, once it's still going,
you cannot stop it unless you click the other way.
We have another one that shows you it's all planets,
(08:26):
what the planets are out there out of our Solar system,
so like what are the weirdest planets. There's a planet,
for example, that is pink about. There are some other
planets that are less dense, like they're kind of as
dense as tyro foam. There is all planets in our
(08:47):
own Solar system, but it's a dwarf planet. So most
people think of dwarf planets just like Pluto. But there's
a total of five dwarf planets that we system. Yeah,
and one of them is shaped like an egg. And
I think it's just very interesting just because it's shaped
like an egg because it spins very very very fast.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, I was gonna say, like the whole roundness of
it has to play in with gravity.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
But that's interesting. So those are things that you can learn.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
At the outside kiosks at the planetarium and the shows.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
How many different shows are there.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Well, every single one of our shows starts with us
what it's called the star talk. So we just look
around for constellations that we are able to look at
night that same day, So we show you the constellations
of that same day at night, just so you can
go outside and look for them as well when you
go back home. So every single show starts with that.
(09:41):
Sometimes we start we show planets as well. We talk
about the planets a little bit. The eight planet in
our solar system, were explain tohow and what happened to it.
And then the difference is that at the end we
have a different movie plane. And that's the main difference
in our shows. Okay, for example, the show at we
(10:03):
have three shows nine am, nine thirty am. Sorry, nine
thirty am is in Spanish, that's the main thing, So
we show movies in Spanish. Right then I can show
twelve thirty. It's scaling more towards kids, little kids, so
we have more animated movies and more things that will
help them out in comprehending. And the last show it's
(10:25):
more broad. I mean it's more usually we have movies
more for older kids maybe like twelve up and adults.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Okay, So it's three different movies and that's how it ends.
But of course you get the lesson beforehand, and again
if you want more information, find them on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Roden Berry l PASO R O.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
D D E N B E R R wile pass
on Instagram, Facebook, Gene Rodenberry Planetarium.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You can go to ticket leap.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Dot com for your tickets and so you know, Denise
I have here. Denise I, Planitarian Facilitator, have one last
question for you. We kind of went over the questions
Earlier'm gona ask a completely different question. Since you work
at the planetarium. Do you believe that there is intelligent
life like other life outside of.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Our Solar system? Outside of our planet? Are there? Do
you believe in UFOs?
Speaker 4 (11:19):
My personal opinion is that our universe is so big
it would be a little bit dumb to think there
couldn't be the possibility.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Of yeah existing, I agree.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I agree, And just for everyone listening out there, there
is an app that I use.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I don't know if you know about it. It's free.
It's called skyview Light.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
So if they go into that place and they learn,
you know, they go into the planetarium and they learn
what constellations they can look at night, download skyview Light
and you can like point it anywhere in the sky
and then you can actually like it'll show you on
your phone, like the constellations so that they can, you know,
reiterate what they learned there at the planetarium.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yes, well, Denise's really cool.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
We have used that before. It's really really cool and
it helps out a lot.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
It is and it's free. That's the best part.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
I'm like out there, you know, just doing it on
my own by myself, Like what is she doing?
Speaker 2 (12:07):
But Denise, is there anything else that you would like
to tell the listening audience? Yes, please come come by.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
It's a really really amazing experience for you and for
your kids. It's a whole family thing and it's really
different from everything that we have an old passo. It's
great and I assure you it's going to be something
that your kids will talk about for days.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yes, I still remember that vividly as a child. I
know a lot of my friends do that are my age,
you know, I'm old, so for them to remember it,
you know, from back then and again the only planetarium
in our pass.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
So, Denise, thank you so much for being here with
us today. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I am
your host, Amber Banda, and today we have Laurie Marshall.
She is the founder of Unity through Creativity or right.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
It is my joy to be with you here today. Amber.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So as you can tell, you know you have a
very calming voice.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
There's some people where someone like me who's just always
so high strung, and I talk to someone like you,
I try to take it down a couple notches. But
there is a reason that you know you have this
persona and why you are the founder of Unity through Creativity.
Can you tell the listening audience a little bit more
about this organization.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
I would love to Unity through Creativity is the opposite
of unity through force, manipulation, lies, violence and weaponry. Our
foundational idea is that everyone is inherently creative and collaborative,
that creativity and collaboration are a birthright. So we bring
(13:52):
people together, often very divided people, to co create large
images of success. What is the world we want? It's
very easy to get sucked into the world we don't want.
We focus on bringing people together to make murals and
(14:13):
use storytelling to heal their heartbreak and create solutions to challenges.
We've worked with over twenty six thousand people from fifty
two countries and we've created a forest of what we
call singing Tree murals, one hundred and forty four of them.
We have seven or eight in El Paso. And the
(14:37):
concept of the singing tree comes from a book that
was written by Kate Seratie about her father who was
a soldier in World War One, and her father came
back from this war, which was a time when the
white tribes of Europe were all fighting each other, the
tribe of the Germans, the tribe of the Russians, the
(14:58):
tribe of the Hungarians, the tribe of the g the drivere.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Of the Jews.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Everybody was killing each other, and her father had an
experience towards the end of the war when he was
crawling on his belly all night long with his battalions.
They were Hungarians and they were trying to escape the Russians.
Does this sound familiar? Everything had been destroyed by war,
as we are seeing now in Gaza, as was so
(15:25):
poignantly portrayed in Wonder Woman, which took place in World
War One, and the soldiers became more and more terrified
as the night went on. When the dawn came, they
looked up on a hill and one tree had survived,
and in that tree were birds who had come from
hundreds of miles, who aren't normally together, and they were
singing a song that had never been heard before. And
(15:47):
our earth is like the singing tree of the galaxy,
because for billions of miles, there's not life. Probably there's
so many galaxies there's life somewhere. But we know that
life is rare and precious, and we can choose to
destroy our earth and each other, or we can choose
to create beauty and story that has never been seen before.
(16:10):
So each of the one hundred and forty four murals
is used to again address a community heartbreak and to
envision it healed. And we use the image of a
tree on the earth in space as our structure, and
from there. We never know what a mural is going
to look like. We just know those elements and we
(16:32):
practice emergent wisdom, which is acknowledging we're in the unknown.
We don't know what it's going to look like. We
draw upon the genius of the community to create something
beautiful and every time it works.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
And when you say it works, what do you mean.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
Oh, great question. It works in three ways. One, the
process of creating the mural is a process where communication
skills grow. Works because everyone is creative and everyone increases
their creative self confidence. And when you create an image
that is unique to you, like your thumbprint, like your iris,
(17:13):
like your DNA, everyone comes in with these unique images
that are needed by the world. It increases respect for
each other because you know the people that you're with
on a whole new level. And the third way it
works is that you then have a unified image that
can share can be shared with the world about who
(17:35):
your group is. So we've worked with elementary schools, middle schools,
high schools, hospices, hospitals, prisons, corporations, government agencies. We worked
with the Interior Department with the Army Corps of Engineers
with FEMA, and we're very excited to develop in a
(17:55):
new direction of working with mid sized businesses. We had
the privilege of working with Asviel, which is a robotics
company from Japan based in Fujisawa and also Silicon Valley,
and they brought twenty six of their engineers and managers
to come together to make a Singing Tree mural because
(18:19):
they want to develop a growth mindset culture. We are
working with transforming turnover to team building and supporting the
connection and appreciation that people have. And we're very excited
because we're going to be doing a Singing Tree Mural training,
which is a leadership and team building training with Kasa
(18:40):
Auto here in al Paso. So we'll work with their managers,
twenty one managers from their eight locations, and then we'll
work with seven hundred employees who will all get to
contribute their vision of creating the most and family friendly
(19:02):
auto dealership in Olpaso.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Oh wow, so.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
A little bit more of the logistics of it. So
you said over seven hundred employees, correct, Yeah, how does
that work for businesses or organizations or maybe even large families?
Listening and would like to take advantage of the Singing
Tree project or creating a mural together.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
How does that work with that many people? What do
they do? How does it all come together?
Speaker 5 (19:28):
I love your question, Samper. The largest one that we've
ever done is fourteen hundred people. And the way that
it works is we start off with a leadership design
team and they are the ones who get the most
intensive communications skills training and they come up with the
master design by every one of them contributing their own
(19:52):
design of the tree, the earth, and the space.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And the leadership design team is from the organization that
yes okay.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
And so often that's with Asbil we had all twenty
six people, We'll have twenty one people from Casa Auto
do it. We've worked with a fourth grade glass where
we had sixty kids do input for the design, and
Unity through Creativity takes the responsibility of bringing in the
(20:20):
beautiful ideas that we could never think of our own
and making a master design. So then we have a
team of people who paint the mural and we invite
anyone who wants to do it to do it, or
the organization says we only have time enough for twenty
one people to do it for one day, which is
what's happening with Casa Auto. Because we use trees as
(20:43):
the structure. Trees have leaves, and behind me you'll see
I don't know if the audience will be able to
see because this is radio, but everybody gets a shape
of a leaf of the individual tree. And we'd love
to focus on native trees and the gifts that they
give to the ecosystem, the generosity of trees, because all
(21:07):
the leaves of a tree work for the whole tree.
No leaf ever says, this is my sun, you can't
have anymore. You know, this is my spot. You're in
my spot. Get out of my spot, you know, give
me your lunch money. The leaves never bully right. They
live together to take the sun and bring it into
the tree for food, and then the trees give food.
(21:32):
They support over three hundred and fifty species. They clean
the water so that other plants can use it. They
have an incredible network of communication and collaboration. So we're
surrounded by mutualism, and we harness that model for how
we invite others to do it. So there'll be seven
(21:55):
hundred leaves and sometimes for every singing tree, sometimes people
come up with the one we're currently working on, which
is the desert willow singing tree of branches to roots.
We're making water drops and we'll be celebrating World Water
Week at UTEP on Thursday to invite the campus, the
(22:20):
kids on the campus to make images and water drops.
Sometimes there's butterflies, sometimes there's stars, to honor people who
are gone, to honor our ancestors. We did the singing
Tree of Covid, the olive singing Tree of Health. We
called it because we always want to envision the solution.
We never stay stuck in the problem. We always go
(22:42):
to the next thing. As Jesus said, without vision that
people perish. So we're always encouraging people to vision. What
is the family you want, what is the school you want?
What is the world you want? And so the people
who add the leaves there, they are often involved for
an hour or forty five minutes to learn about the
(23:05):
singing tree project, which was invented by an eight year
old girl who said, what if the whole world made
a painting together, and we use leaves and trees and
forests as the model to invite the world to create together.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
And if anyone out there listening has any question about
what this looks like. I will be posting on our
social media for Power No. Two Sunday ninety nine point
nine and ninety six point three ky on our Instagram
and our Facebook, you can go see pictures of Laurie
as well as Alaska to share some pictures.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Of them girls with me, maybe even the one behind you.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
And if you're just tuning in, we have Laurie Marshall,
founder of Unity through Creativity. So, Laurie, you've done a
beautiful You've beautifully explained what this project is. So for
those maybe that are trying to get more of a
harder picture or of an example, because every when you're speaking,
(23:59):
I'm thinking of an organization that I'm a part of.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
It's called Guardians of the Children.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
We're a nonprofit group of bikers and we all have
the same mission, which is, you know, one of our
main functions is to support kids going through the court
system they have to testify against an abuser. So you know,
we all share in this mission. And it's not just
a regular type of volunteering like it's pretty you have
to be pretty committed. And if I wanted to get
our organization involved in something like this.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Can you take us through a step by step?
Speaker 3 (24:28):
We have a board of four members, for example, and
then we have about thirty patched members, you know they
wear the biker cuts with the patch in the back.
And then we have about you know, we have little
Guardians is what they call them, the children that we've
ceremoniously adopted. So if I wanted to get that group
to do a mural, how would that work?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Step by step?
Speaker 5 (24:43):
And how many children are in the Little Guardians?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
About the rough number? I can't give an exact number,
between twenty and forty, Okay.
Speaker 5 (24:52):
So part of it is is the goals and needs
of the organization a beautiful thing. When you work on
a common project together, you accelerate connection. Sometimes people have
very fractured boards and they really need people to get
on the same page. Sometimes the greater membership need even
(25:14):
more support because they have this common mission. They feel connected,
and you need an acceleration and deepening of that because
you're so committed to the service that you're doing. I
would imagine that it would be really fun to have
And it depends on time and money, but to have
(25:35):
the five board members be aware of this and begin
the process of choosing what is the greatest heartbreak that
your organization faces, that the children face. What is the
vision that you have of healing that. What tree would
you like? How would you like to portray the Earth?
(25:55):
Sometimes we've had the Earth as Pangaea for a symbol
of unity. The young people in Sarajevo whose parents had
murdered each other in the war, and I went in
twenty fourteen, one hundred years after World War One. They
only wanted to have musical notes on the Earth. They
didn't want to have any continents, they didn't want to
(26:17):
have any borders. So you would the lead design team
would choose how the Earth is represented, and what part
of the galaxy do you want to represent. We always
use the galaxy to help us. Remember we are alone
together on this Earth. We are one family. So perhaps
the board could begin that process and then invite the
(26:39):
thirty people, or you could invite anyone from the thirty
people who would like to help design to come have
a day or two of painting, even three days over.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
A month. Now, does this take place at your at
where where a certain location or where does the.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Paint It would usually with the organization.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Okay, so we would find the location.
Speaker 5 (27:04):
Yeah, we have a small studio that can fit about
eight people, so it could take place with us. And
the painting process is so exciting because you make a
decision and you make take action when you paint and
when you draw. And that's the tip I wanted to
share about reducing anxiety. When you make a decision and
(27:28):
take action through drawing or painting, you calm your worry
brain and you use your new thinking brain and it
helps to relax. So painting together is so much fun.
And then the children and the everyone, all the adults
(27:49):
and all the children could have two hours together to
make leaves, make birds and share the symbolism with each
other because sharing the story of your drawing it deepens
your understanding and other people's understanding of you. Then we
ask everybody to put their burder leaf wherever they want.
(28:13):
And then the unity through creativity. Artists take responsibility for
making the image coherent and harmonious, and we glue on everything.
That is another process that you all can participate in.
It's really fun to glue.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
And then there you have it.
Speaker 5 (28:34):
And the mural. We often make the murals on eight
foot by four foot wood panels eight feet high four
feet wide, which is what plywood comes in.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
We have a mural.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Right now at the YWCA that is eleven feet high
and seven feet wide on canvas. They often travel. They
have gone to youth courts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is
where I grew up. The youth made a mural for
the court room. We asked, you know, what image would
(29:09):
you like to see when you're sitting in court and
you have your fate decided by adults.
Speaker 6 (29:14):
Gosh, yeah, I'm thinking you know of my organization, but
if there's any organizations out there, whether you're a business
or a nonprofit, you want to picture what organization you're.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Thinking of and what you can create. And Laurie, what
do you see are the benefits for the workforce when
people do a project like this?
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Does it increase productivity? Does it increase communication?
Speaker 5 (29:38):
In the research that I've done about turnover, one of
the greatest things that causes turnover is people not feeling
connected and not feeling appreciated. And to combat that, when
you have peak team building experiences that allows them to
feel like they're growing and that they're appreciated and that
(29:59):
they're connected and we also offer ongoing creative collaboration training
using conversational intelligence, which is a fantastic neurobiologically based process
of understanding what gets triggered in conversations in your brain
and in your body, and how to maximize oxytocin the
(30:22):
hormone of being in love, the hormone of petting a dog,
the hormone of nursing a baby. We want to maximize that.
So increasing communication. So much of what causes a lack
of productivity is when communication breakdowns happen, we accelerate the
process of repairing them. They're going to happen. That's what
(30:44):
happens in life where we are off the mark. So
if you have these skills and the common experience of
creating something together, and you can point to it and
said we made that together. There I am, there you are. Also,
the image can be used in marketing. We've had many
(31:04):
businesses use details as well as the whole image for
their marketing purposes. You will create something that has never
been seen before on the earth, and you will be
part of a community of twenty six thousand people and
growing that believe the whole world can create beauty together. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Well, my wheels are spinning. Lore, I'm gonna have to
talk to a whole lot more. I wish we had
more time. But again, if if you've been listening, thank you.
We've been speaking with Lauri Marshall, founder of Unity through Creativity.
Find them on Instagram, Unity through Creativity on Facebook, Unity
through Creativity Foundation, have a YouTube channel at Unity through
Creativity or go to Unity through Creativity dot org. There's
(31:45):
so many great things to look at, Luri, is there
anything else that you would like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
I'm very excited to announce that I'll be doing a
training of from Turnover to Team Building April nineteenth from
ten o'clock to five o'clock at the YWCA on Brown Street,
who are currently exhibiting four Singing Tree Murals. And in
this workshop, we'll be focusing on three keys to stop
(32:14):
turnover and to deepen productivity. And you'll get to learn
more about those keys and practice them, and we will
be using creativity in the process.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
And people can sign up for that and get more
information at Unity through Creativity dot org.
Speaker 5 (32:30):
Yes, if you go to events, there'll be a place
to sign up there.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Perfect So Unity through Creativity dot Org Laurie, thank you
so much for being here with me today, my.
Speaker 5 (32:41):
Joy Amber, thank you for bringing positive stories to the world.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio l Paso. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to Epfum at iHeartMedia dot com
or call us at nine one five three five one
five four zero zero. Tune in again next week for
(33:06):
another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding program
was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio El Paso.
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the al Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
I am your host, Amber Banda, and today we are
going to be talking to Denise Aarse. She is the
planetarium facilitator for the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Denise, thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
It's my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thank you for inminding me. Of course.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
So right off the bat, one of the questions I
was going to ask you Gene Roddenberry Planetarium. I know
there's probably a lot of sci fi people that are
going to get angry at me, but how did the
planetarium get its name?
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Well, the planetarium is named after Gene Roddenberry, but Jean
Roddenberry is the creator of Star Trek and a little
fun fact, Jean Rainberry was born here in Old Passo,
which is why they decided to name it after him.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
That is so cool.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, born here in Al Paso.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I had no idea.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
So you know, growing up, I remember going to the planetarium,
but it used to be on Boeing and you corrected me.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Now I thought I was going insane.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
They did move it to the northeast, so it's located
at fifty four eleven Reren Avenue.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Can you tell us a little bit first?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
What is a planetarium and what is the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
So all planetarium is a place where you can go
and look at stars, planets and everything that is space related.
And the Jean Rhyinberry Planetarium is our very own planetarium
here in Old Passo, the only one in Old Passo
and it is owned by the EPI sdthal pass Independent
School District. So one thing that a lot of people
(01:54):
don't know is that the planetarium it is open every
single day, but we cater to the because it is
run by a school district. We mostly just focus on
the kids and on their needs. So every single day
from Monday through Friday, we have field trips coming from
all around the area. It could be from KISD, from Islada,
(02:17):
from Sokora, from.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Cologne, So not just EPISD, okay, if we have other
districts as well.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
We even have homeschool groups that come in business. They
just have to you know, call us and make an
arrangement with us, basically just like to help a date.
And that's all I need because it is completely free.
So we usually start taking schedules, are scheduling everything in
(02:44):
August and we do get completely filled up.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I believe it.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I'm gonna bring this up. They know me pretty well
at my daughter's school. I used to SUP there and
I still volunteer there, and I'm going to bring it
up to them because I remember going to the planetarium.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
That's one of the few field trips I remember with that.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Like everyone here in El pas So they remember going
to the planetarium, and they remember going to the water
treatment center and looking at all like the stuff that
was in the water. But I remember like going into
a room and we'll talk a little bit about the
shows too, and it was like, you know, the huge
ceiling and it was like someone poked holes in the dark,
you know, in the darkness, and it was just like
the stars coming through and then when.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
You're little, right, so everything is so much bigger. But
that really stuck out in my mind.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
And so the planetarium during the week, like you said,
it's only open for field trips for the safety of
the students. I completely understand that. When are you open
to the public.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
For the public, we started opening once a month on
a Saturday. Once a month on a Saturday, we are
before the general public. And during the summer when there
are no kids, then we are open throughout the week
as well.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Okay, And how much is it to get into the planetarium?
Speaker 4 (03:54):
And it's completely free, that's the best.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Part, completely free.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
That helps a lot us by in the summer when
you're trying to find a million and one things I
swear on the summer, even like with the spring break,
I step out of my house and I spend one
hundred dollars. I'm like, oh my, so that's a great
you know, that's that's really good. So if people wanted
to get tickets because it's free, but you still need tickets,
are that are reservations?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Okay, but we can all have everyone at the same
time in there as well.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Where do they go for tickets? Oh?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Well, there are several ways to get tickets. But first
of all, you would have to go to a page
called ticket leap dot com because with memory playing time
and we have links all over our Facebook and our
Instagram pages, so you can just click there. But you
would go there a week before the day of the
show at eight am.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
By the way, okay, so eight am a week before
the show that you want to go to.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Yes, And it's very important because they do sell out
really quick or they do run out because it's free,
but they do run out really, really really quick. Last time,
I believe it was only like three minutes that they
were there.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Oh my gosh, insane.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
But that's one way. So you would just go reserve
your tickets. They will ask you a few questions to
pull out, and that's it. You get your free tickets
and you're able to come see us. But if they
do run out, which like I said, they do run
out really quickly, sometimes in minutes. Wow, what we have
as well, we have ten walking tickets first come for
(05:28):
served at the door, so you would just come in
a few minutes before the start of the show. I
would say fifteen twenty minutes before line up, and we
would just give out the tickets first come for served.
And the third way is that if there are still
people trying to come in to see us, then maybe
(05:48):
there are people who don't show up, which it happens.
It's free tickets, so sometimes they just reserve it and
then forget. But if they don't show up, then we
just let people go in to take their place.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Okay, So they would just show up before the show,
and if all the walking tickets are taken, then they
would kind of just be on a wait list. Yes, basically,
so when people are reserving their tickets online, some people have,
you know, a big family. Is there a limit as
to how many tickets you can reserve at ticket leap?
Speaker 4 (06:18):
So there are there is the limits five per transaction,
so you would preserve five and then you just do
another transaction to reserve more if you need to.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Okay, perfect, and I'm assuming that maybe the and correct
me if I'm wrong. But during the months where you're
only having a show once a month, well, first of all,
is the.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Show like is it on a first Saturday? Seconds? Like,
what's that like? Is it on a certain date every month?
Speaker 4 (06:43):
It depends on the month.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Also, the time is going to be by the end
of the month. Okay, arch is like by the end
of the month as well.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Okay, So for on Instagram, go find them at Roddenberry
L Passo.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
R O D D E N B E R R Y.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
L Passo on Facebook Gene Roddenberry Planetarium and that way
you can go and they'll have more information on where
you can go, find out when the show is going
to be so that we know when to reserve your
tickets again a week before the show at eight am
or ticket.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Leap dot com.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Now I'm thinking in the summer, maybe it's a little
bit easier to get tickets with us since there's more shows.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yes, in the summer, it's a little bit, yeah, because
we have three shows every day from Monday through Thursday.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Okay, Monday through Thursday. Yes, in the summer, okay. Perfect.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
And the other features of the planetarum, because it's not
just the shows. What other things does the We'll get
into the shows a little bit. What other features does
the planetarium have that you can go and look at well,
as you.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Come in, we have sorry, we have interactive screens. Okay,
as you come in. So in those interact screens we
have it's kind of like kiosks, so you go in
and you can just play around with them. You can
touch them, and you can move things around using the screen.
We have for example one kiosk because that is basically
just you trying to attach your spaceship kind of thing,
(08:04):
your rocket into a dog for the ISS, So you're
trying to do that and it's kind of difficult because
you don't take into account that there's no gravity over there.
So it's like once you click, once it's still going,
you cannot stop it unless you click the other way.
We have another one that shows you it's all planets,
(08:26):
what the planets are out there out of our Solar system,
so like what are the weirdest planets. There's a planet,
for example, that is pink about. There are some other
planets that are less dense, like they're kind of as
dense as tyro foam. There is all planets in our
(08:47):
own Solar system, but it's a dwarf planet. So most
people think of dwarf planets just like Pluto. But there's
a total of five dwarf planets that we system. Yeah,
and one of them is shaped like an egg. And
I think it's just very interesting just because it's shaped
like an egg because it spins very very very fast.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, I was gonna say, like the whole roundness of
it has to play in with gravity.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
But that's interesting. So those are things that you can learn.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
At the outside kiosks at the planetarium and the shows.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
How many different shows are there.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Well, every single one of our shows starts with us
what it's called the star talk. So we just look
around for constellations that we are able to look at
night that same day, So we show you the constellations
of that same day at night, just so you can
go outside and look for them as well when you
go back home. So every single show starts with that.
(09:41):
Sometimes we start we show planets as well. We talk
about the planets a little bit. The eight planet in
our solar system, were explain tohow and what happened to it.
And then the difference is that at the end we
have a different movie plane. And that's the main difference
in our shows. Okay, for example, the show at we
(10:03):
have three shows nine am, nine thirty am. Sorry, nine
thirty am is in Spanish, that's the main thing, So
we show movies in Spanish. Right then I can show
twelve thirty. It's scaling more towards kids, little kids, so
we have more animated movies and more things that will
help them out in comprehending. And the last show it's
(10:25):
more broad. I mean it's more usually we have movies
more for older kids maybe like twelve up and adults.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Okay, So it's three different movies and that's how it ends.
But of course you get the lesson beforehand, and again
if you want more information, find them on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Roden Berry l PASO R O.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
D D E N B E R R wile pass
on Instagram, Facebook, Gene Rodenberry Planetarium.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You can go to ticket leap.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Dot com for your tickets and so you know, Denise
I have here. Denise I, Planitarian Facilitator, have one last
question for you. We kind of went over the questions
Earlier'm gona ask a completely different question. Since you work
at the planetarium. Do you believe that there is intelligent
life like other life outside of.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Our Solar system? Outside of our planet? Are there? Do
you believe in UFOs?
Speaker 4 (11:19):
My personal opinion is that our universe is so big
it would be a little bit dumb to think there
couldn't be the possibility.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Of yeah existing, I agree.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I agree, And just for everyone listening out there, there
is an app that I use.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I don't know if you know about it. It's free.
It's called skyview Light.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
So if they go into that place and they learn,
you know, they go into the planetarium and they learn
what constellations they can look at night, download skyview Light
and you can like point it anywhere in the sky
and then you can actually like it'll show you on
your phone, like the constellations so that they can, you know,
reiterate what they learned there at the planetarium.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yes, well, Denise's really cool.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
We have used that before. It's really really cool and
it helps out a lot.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
It is and it's free. That's the best part.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
I'm like out there, you know, just doing it on
my own by myself, Like what is she doing?
Speaker 2 (12:07):
But Denise, is there anything else that you would like
to tell the listening audience? Yes, please come come by.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
It's a really really amazing experience for you and for
your kids. It's a whole family thing and it's really
different from everything that we have an old passo. It's
great and I assure you it's going to be something
that your kids will talk about for days.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yes, I still remember that vividly as a child. I
know a lot of my friends do that are my age,
you know, I'm old, so for them to remember it,
you know, from back then and again the only planetarium
in our pass.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
So, Denise, thank you so much for being here with
us today. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I am
your host, Amber Banda, and today we have Laurie Marshall.
She is the founder of Unity through Creativity or right.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
It is my joy to be with you here today. Amber.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So as you can tell, you know you have a
very calming voice.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
There's some people where someone like me who's just always
so high strung, and I talk to someone like you,
I try to take it down a couple notches. But
there is a reason that you know you have this
persona and why you are the founder of Unity through Creativity.
Can you tell the listening audience a little bit more
about this organization.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
I would love to Unity through Creativity is the opposite
of unity through force, manipulation, lies, violence and weaponry. Our
foundational idea is that everyone is inherently creative and collaborative,
that creativity and collaboration are a birthright. So we bring
(13:52):
people together, often very divided people, to co create large
images of success. What is the world we want? It's
very easy to get sucked into the world we don't want.
We focus on bringing people together to make murals and
(14:13):
use storytelling to heal their heartbreak and create solutions to challenges.
We've worked with over twenty six thousand people from fifty
two countries and we've created a forest of what we
call singing Tree murals, one hundred and forty four of them.
We have seven or eight in El Paso. And the
(14:37):
concept of the singing tree comes from a book that
was written by Kate Seratie about her father who was
a soldier in World War One, and her father came
back from this war, which was a time when the
white tribes of Europe were all fighting each other, the
tribe of the Germans, the tribe of the Russians, the
(14:58):
tribe of the Hungarians, the tribe of the g the drivere.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Of the Jews.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Everybody was killing each other, and her father had an
experience towards the end of the war when he was
crawling on his belly all night long with his battalions.
They were Hungarians and they were trying to escape the Russians.
Does this sound familiar? Everything had been destroyed by war,
as we are seeing now in Gaza, as was so
(15:25):
poignantly portrayed in Wonder Woman, which took place in World
War One, and the soldiers became more and more terrified
as the night went on. When the dawn came, they
looked up on a hill and one tree had survived,
and in that tree were birds who had come from
hundreds of miles, who aren't normally together, and they were
singing a song that had never been heard before. And
(15:47):
our earth is like the singing tree of the galaxy,
because for billions of miles, there's not life. Probably there's
so many galaxies there's life somewhere. But we know that
life is rare and precious, and we can choose to
destroy our earth and each other, or we can choose
to create beauty and story that has never been seen before.
(16:10):
So each of the one hundred and forty four murals
is used to again address a community heartbreak and to
envision it healed. And we use the image of a
tree on the earth in space as our structure, and
from there. We never know what a mural is going
to look like. We just know those elements and we
(16:32):
practice emergent wisdom, which is acknowledging we're in the unknown.
We don't know what it's going to look like. We
draw upon the genius of the community to create something
beautiful and every time it works.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
And when you say it works, what do you mean.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
Oh, great question. It works in three ways. One, the
process of creating the mural is a process where communication
skills grow. Works because everyone is creative and everyone increases
their creative self confidence. And when you create an image
that is unique to you, like your thumbprint, like your iris,
(17:13):
like your DNA, everyone comes in with these unique images
that are needed by the world. It increases respect for
each other because you know the people that you're with
on a whole new level. And the third way it
works is that you then have a unified image that
can share can be shared with the world about who
(17:35):
your group is. So we've worked with elementary schools, middle schools,
high schools, hospices, hospitals, prisons, corporations, government agencies. We worked
with the Interior Department with the Army Corps of Engineers
with FEMA, and we're very excited to develop in a
(17:55):
new direction of working with mid sized businesses. We had
the privilege of working with Asviel, which is a robotics
company from Japan based in Fujisawa and also Silicon Valley,
and they brought twenty six of their engineers and managers
to come together to make a Singing Tree mural because
(18:19):
they want to develop a growth mindset culture. We are
working with transforming turnover to team building and supporting the
connection and appreciation that people have. And we're very excited
because we're going to be doing a Singing Tree Mural training,
which is a leadership and team building training with Kasa
(18:40):
Auto here in al Paso. So we'll work with their managers,
twenty one managers from their eight locations, and then we'll
work with seven hundred employees who will all get to
contribute their vision of creating the most and family friendly
(19:02):
auto dealership in Olpaso.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Oh wow, so.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
A little bit more of the logistics of it. So
you said over seven hundred employees, correct, Yeah, how does
that work for businesses or organizations or maybe even large families?
Listening and would like to take advantage of the Singing
Tree project or creating a mural together.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
How does that work with that many people? What do
they do? How does it all come together?
Speaker 5 (19:28):
I love your question, Samper. The largest one that we've
ever done is fourteen hundred people. And the way that
it works is we start off with a leadership design
team and they are the ones who get the most
intensive communications skills training and they come up with the
master design by every one of them contributing their own
(19:52):
design of the tree, the earth, and the space.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And the leadership design team is from the organization that
yes okay.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
And so often that's with Asbil we had all twenty
six people, We'll have twenty one people from Casa Auto
do it. We've worked with a fourth grade glass where
we had sixty kids do input for the design, and
Unity through Creativity takes the responsibility of bringing in the
(20:20):
beautiful ideas that we could never think of our own
and making a master design. So then we have a
team of people who paint the mural and we invite
anyone who wants to do it to do it, or
the organization says we only have time enough for twenty
one people to do it for one day, which is
what's happening with Casa Auto. Because we use trees as
(20:43):
the structure. Trees have leaves, and behind me you'll see
I don't know if the audience will be able to
see because this is radio, but everybody gets a shape
of a leaf of the individual tree. And we'd love
to focus on native trees and the gifts that they
give to the ecosystem, the generosity of trees, because all
(21:07):
the leaves of a tree work for the whole tree.
No leaf ever says, this is my sun, you can't
have anymore. You know, this is my spot. You're in
my spot. Get out of my spot, you know, give
me your lunch money. The leaves never bully right. They
live together to take the sun and bring it into
the tree for food, and then the trees give food.
(21:32):
They support over three hundred and fifty species. They clean
the water so that other plants can use it. They
have an incredible network of communication and collaboration. So we're
surrounded by mutualism, and we harness that model for how
we invite others to do it. So there'll be seven
(21:55):
hundred leaves and sometimes for every singing tree, sometimes people
come up with the one we're currently working on, which
is the desert willow singing tree of branches to roots.
We're making water drops and we'll be celebrating World Water
Week at UTEP on Thursday to invite the campus, the
(22:20):
kids on the campus to make images and water drops.
Sometimes there's butterflies, sometimes there's stars, to honor people who
are gone, to honor our ancestors. We did the singing
Tree of Covid, the olive singing Tree of Health. We
called it because we always want to envision the solution.
We never stay stuck in the problem. We always go
(22:42):
to the next thing. As Jesus said, without vision that
people perish. So we're always encouraging people to vision. What
is the family you want, what is the school you want?
What is the world you want? And so the people
who add the leaves there, they are often involved for
an hour or forty five minutes to learn about the
(23:05):
singing tree project, which was invented by an eight year
old girl who said, what if the whole world made
a painting together, and we use leaves and trees and
forests as the model to invite the world to create together.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
And if anyone out there listening has any question about
what this looks like. I will be posting on our
social media for Power No. Two Sunday ninety nine point
nine and ninety six point three ky on our Instagram
and our Facebook, you can go see pictures of Laurie
as well as Alaska to share some pictures.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Of them girls with me, maybe even the one behind you.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
And if you're just tuning in, we have Laurie Marshall,
founder of Unity through Creativity. So, Laurie, you've done a
beautiful You've beautifully explained what this project is. So for
those maybe that are trying to get more of a
harder picture or of an example, because every when you're speaking,
(23:59):
I'm thinking of an organization that I'm a part of.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
It's called Guardians of the Children.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
We're a nonprofit group of bikers and we all have
the same mission, which is, you know, one of our
main functions is to support kids going through the court
system they have to testify against an abuser. So you know,
we all share in this mission. And it's not just
a regular type of volunteering like it's pretty you have
to be pretty committed. And if I wanted to get
our organization involved in something like this.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Can you take us through a step by step?
Speaker 3 (24:28):
We have a board of four members, for example, and
then we have about thirty patched members, you know they
wear the biker cuts with the patch in the back.
And then we have about you know, we have little
Guardians is what they call them, the children that we've
ceremoniously adopted. So if I wanted to get that group
to do a mural, how would that work?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Step by step?
Speaker 5 (24:43):
And how many children are in the Little Guardians?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
About the rough number? I can't give an exact number,
between twenty and forty, Okay.
Speaker 5 (24:52):
So part of it is is the goals and needs
of the organization a beautiful thing. When you work on
a common project together, you accelerate connection. Sometimes people have
very fractured boards and they really need people to get
on the same page. Sometimes the greater membership need even
(25:14):
more support because they have this common mission. They feel connected,
and you need an acceleration and deepening of that because
you're so committed to the service that you're doing. I
would imagine that it would be really fun to have
And it depends on time and money, but to have
(25:35):
the five board members be aware of this and begin
the process of choosing what is the greatest heartbreak that
your organization faces, that the children face. What is the
vision that you have of healing that. What tree would
you like? How would you like to portray the Earth?
(25:55):
Sometimes we've had the Earth as Pangaea for a symbol
of unity. The young people in Sarajevo whose parents had
murdered each other in the war, and I went in
twenty fourteen, one hundred years after World War One. They
only wanted to have musical notes on the Earth. They
didn't want to have any continents, they didn't want to
(26:17):
have any borders. So you would the lead design team
would choose how the Earth is represented, and what part
of the galaxy do you want to represent. We always
use the galaxy to help us. Remember we are alone
together on this Earth. We are one family. So perhaps
the board could begin that process and then invite the
(26:39):
thirty people, or you could invite anyone from the thirty
people who would like to help design to come have
a day or two of painting, even three days over.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
A month. Now, does this take place at your at
where where a certain location or where does the.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Paint It would usually with the organization.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Okay, so we would find the location.
Speaker 5 (27:04):
Yeah, we have a small studio that can fit about
eight people, so it could take place with us. And
the painting process is so exciting because you make a
decision and you make take action when you paint and
when you draw. And that's the tip I wanted to
share about reducing anxiety. When you make a decision and
(27:28):
take action through drawing or painting, you calm your worry
brain and you use your new thinking brain and it
helps to relax. So painting together is so much fun.
And then the children and the everyone, all the adults
(27:49):
and all the children could have two hours together to
make leaves, make birds and share the symbolism with each
other because sharing the story of your drawing it deepens
your understanding and other people's understanding of you. Then we
ask everybody to put their burder leaf wherever they want.
(28:13):
And then the unity through creativity. Artists take responsibility for
making the image coherent and harmonious, and we glue on everything.
That is another process that you all can participate in.
It's really fun to glue.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
And then there you have it.
Speaker 5 (28:34):
And the mural. We often make the murals on eight
foot by four foot wood panels eight feet high four
feet wide, which is what plywood comes in.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
We have a mural.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Right now at the YWCA that is eleven feet high
and seven feet wide on canvas. They often travel. They
have gone to youth courts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is
where I grew up. The youth made a mural for
the court room. We asked, you know, what image would
(29:09):
you like to see when you're sitting in court and
you have your fate decided by adults.
Speaker 6 (29:14):
Gosh, yeah, I'm thinking you know of my organization, but
if there's any organizations out there, whether you're a business
or a nonprofit, you want to picture what organization you're.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Thinking of and what you can create. And Laurie, what
do you see are the benefits for the workforce when
people do a project like this?
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Does it increase productivity? Does it increase communication?
Speaker 5 (29:38):
In the research that I've done about turnover, one of
the greatest things that causes turnover is people not feeling
connected and not feeling appreciated. And to combat that, when
you have peak team building experiences that allows them to
feel like they're growing and that they're appreciated and that
(29:59):
they're connected and we also offer ongoing creative collaboration training
using conversational intelligence, which is a fantastic neurobiologically based process
of understanding what gets triggered in conversations in your brain
and in your body, and how to maximize oxytocin the
(30:22):
hormone of being in love, the hormone of petting a dog,
the hormone of nursing a baby. We want to maximize that.
So increasing communication. So much of what causes a lack
of productivity is when communication breakdowns happen, we accelerate the
process of repairing them. They're going to happen. That's what
(30:44):
happens in life where we are off the mark. So
if you have these skills and the common experience of
creating something together, and you can point to it and
said we made that together. There I am, there you are. Also,
the image can be used in marketing. We've had many
(31:04):
businesses use details as well as the whole image for
their marketing purposes. You will create something that has never
been seen before on the earth, and you will be
part of a community of twenty six thousand people and
growing that believe the whole world can create beauty together. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Well, my wheels are spinning. Lore, I'm gonna have to
talk to a whole lot more. I wish we had
more time. But again, if if you've been listening, thank you.
We've been speaking with Lauri Marshall, founder of Unity through Creativity.
Find them on Instagram, Unity through Creativity on Facebook, Unity
through Creativity Foundation, have a YouTube channel at Unity through
Creativity or go to Unity through Creativity dot org. There's
(31:45):
so many great things to look at, Luri, is there
anything else that you would like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
I'm very excited to announce that I'll be doing a
training of from Turnover to Team Building April nineteenth from
ten o'clock to five o'clock at the YWCA on Brown Street,
who are currently exhibiting four Singing Tree Murals. And in
this workshop, we'll be focusing on three keys to stop
(32:14):
turnover and to deepen productivity. And you'll get to learn
more about those keys and practice them, and we will
be using creativity in the process.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
And people can sign up for that and get more
information at Unity through Creativity dot org.
Speaker 5 (32:30):
Yes, if you go to events, there'll be a place
to sign up there.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Perfect So Unity through Creativity dot Org Laurie, thank you
so much for being here with me today, my.
Speaker 5 (32:41):
Joy Amber, thank you for bringing positive stories to the world.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio l Paso. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to Epfum at iHeartMedia dot com
or call us at nine one five three five one
five four zero zero. Tune in again next week for
(33:06):
another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding program
was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio El Paso.
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