ArtSFest, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Motion, Diablo Grande Wine Gallery, and The John Ernest Foundation present Arts Reach 2004: The Healing Power of Art, a two-day conference teaching and promoting the healing power of the arts.

Current medical research validates an avalanche of anecdotal evidence
demonstrating that art has a remarkable healing power on the body and the mind. On the commemorative weekend of September 11th, as part of the national healing process, an extraordinary gathering of visual artists,
musicians, doctors, performers, psychotherapists, poets and writers will tap into the power of the creative arts to heal the individual and collective
spirit at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Saturday, September 11, 2004

Conference - 9am - 5:45pm

Evening "Wild Women" Performance - 8pm

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Conference - 9am - 5:45pm

Where

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission Street
San Francisco, California

Participants

Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist Dana King, CBS 5 co-anchor, Eyewitness News. To survive the emotional challenges of reporting in war zones, Ms. King paints portraits of the victims of violence. She will show her work and discuss how painting has been a crucial tool in helping her maintain psychological balance while witnessing traumatic events of a profound and international scope.

David Roche, born with a severe facial disfigurement, creates theater pieces about living with a visible and horrifying disability. His performances allow audience members to look long and hard at his face, when most would avert their gaze. In the course of his work, as one becomes accustomed to his appearance, Mr. Roche transforms into a being of tremendous charisma, charm, and appeal.

Cathrine Sneed, director of the Garden Project, has gained worldwide recognition for her brilliant work teaching prisoners to garden as both therapy and job training. The US Department of Agriculture called the Project "one of the most innovative and successful community-based crime prevention programs in the country." Cathrine's moving presentations bring you to tears as she explores the root causes of crime and her strategies for community and national healing; you leave uplifted and inspired. Cathrine and her work have been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, US News and World Report, The San Francisco Chronicle, the A&E Channel’s “Uncommon Americans” and the Lifetime Channel.

Michael Grady, Dean of the Department of Arts and Consciousness at JFK University, has recently curated a gallery show on death, assembling a body of extraordinary work by renowned artists whose lives have been transformed by life-threatening illness and death. "Art leads us from pain, isolation and ignorance into transformation and wholeness," writes Mr. Grady.

The Cultural Heritage Choir, led by Linda Tillery, sings the spirituals that have kept Black people alive through slavery, night rider's raids, and segregation. In addition to songs and chants, delivered through such stylistic forms as call-and-response, multi-layered harmonies, and repetitive verse, the Choir's repertoire includes intoned sermons, folk tales, polyrhythmic percussion, and dance.

Susan Griffin, writer and poet, has been a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Award and won the BABRA Award in 1992. Named by Utne Reader as one of a hundred important visionaries for the new millennium, she has been the recipient of a MacArthur Grant for Peace and International Cooperation and an Emmy award for her play, Voices.

Whether looking to revitalize one's life or enrich one's work as an artist,
healthcare or social work professional, this two-day conference offers
inspiring talks, performances, and contemplative practices for everyone.
There will be a wide array of workshops, ranging from coping with illness and grief to developing emotional intelligence.

Healthcare and social work professionals will have ample opportunities for networking and expanding their practice.

Continuing Education Credit available for MFCCs and LCSWs.

Saturday, September 11th "Wild Women" Performance - Open To The Public

Performances by Linda Tillery, Barbara Borden and Nina Wise

8:00 p.m.

These three performers--renowned for their abilities to move audiences to tears and laughter, bring them to their feet with song and rhythm, open
hearts and revitalize minds--will be offering an evening of song, drumming, dance, and improvising.

Nina Wise is a theater artist known for her provocative and moving original works. Her pieces have garnered seven Bay Area Critics' Circle Awards and she has received, among other prestigious honors, three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. "A metaphysical vaudevillian for the new millennium," writes NY Times columnist Bob Morris, "who shows us how twisted and funny and loveable we all are."

Linda Tillery is a veteran vocalist, percussionist, producer and cultural historian whose career has spanned 34 years. Since the 1960's, Tillery has been regarded as one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most versatile singers. Her powerful, shimmering alto voice has been showcased in such groups as Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra and Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra. She also is the leader of the Cultural Heritage Choir, which is performing Sunday morning.

Barbara Borden has been drumming since the age of ten. As a freelance performing and recording artist she has been a member of the band Alive!; as composer, with her latest album Beauty in the Beat; as solo performer, most recently in the "percussion play," She Dares to Drum; and as peace drummer, performing in refugee camps and peace concerts in the former Yugoslavia and peace rallies in the United States.

Cost

$249 includes 2-day attendance
(Subtract $50 for ArtSFest subscribers, $199)

$139 includes 1-day attendance
(Subtract $20 for ArtSFest subcribers, $119)

Saturday evening performance, $15.
Box lunches, $12.50/day.

Work exchange available be calling 415-459-3766 x2

This conference is for anyone seeking to experience the renewal and transformation through the arts. For those interested in passing on this same gift to others, it is also for:

* Artists of all genres
* Art Students
* Art and Drama
* Therapists
* Aging Services Providers
* Cancer survivors and anyone dealing with chronic illness
* Clergy Community
* Arts Administrators
* Hospital Administrators
* Hospice & Hospital
* Volunteer Coordinators
* Medical Students
* Mental Health Professionals
* Nurses
* Nursing Students
* Occupational Therapists
* Physical Therapists
* Physicians
* Social Workers

Artistic talent is not a pre-requisite; all activities are appropriate for the fit and not so fit.

Register through ArtSFest at 415-978-ARTS(2787). Become a member of ArtSFest to get a $50 discount for the two-day conference or a $20 discount if you attend just one day.

For further details, go to: ArtsReach.com