PROGRAM

 

 

 

​​

Immigrant Advocates Networking Session with Alyson Ball

Join this discussion if you want to become a part of a nationwide network of concerned citizens who work on immigration issues. There will be a short presentation on what immigration policy and procedural changes have been implemented recently. Then there will be a brief overview of the various roles that community members are playing to partner with, support and protect at-risk families, participants will share best practices, struggles, and questions related to this important work.  Whether you are new to immigration work or have been proactively involved for years, please join this discussion to create a community that will continue throughout the year.     

Alyson Ball, a winter resident of Green Valley, volunteers with the International Rescue Committee in Charlottesville, Virginia where she resides.  She has studied global migrations, US immigration history and law, and current US immigrations policies for over 8 years – and gives fact-based presentations in Arizona and Virginia to inform the general public.​
 

Listening with the Border: The Still Small Voice with Ted Virts

The focus of this workshop is one of silence and reflection through journaling, sketching, color play, and more. This safe space invites you to listen to the soft whisper of your experience here and to express those experiences as seems best to you. Paper, pens, pencils, colored brush pens, colored pencils will be provided. Meditative music will be played during the workshop. The session will last about an hour, with permission to leave early or stay longer.

Ted Virts is a retired United Methodist minister, convener of the Good Shepherd’s monthly Taizé service, and an author of poetry.  His interest is in how to connect everyday life with the holy that surrounds us. 

​

Weaving a Desert Memory with Charlene Virts

Fashion a piece of art that will remind you of the beauty and the harshness of the Sonoran Desert.  In this workshop you will create a woven piece using cactus, bark, vines, grasses and found objects from the desert.  Whether you participated in a trip to the wall or visited the mission or wandered the desert on the memorial walk, this weaving will be a reminder of your time there.  All materials provided.

Charlene Virts is a fiber artist who has been weaving and creating pine needle baskets and sculptural pieces for 40 years. Limit: 12 participants

​

Bridging the Border/How Can You Help with Rita Danks (offered Friday only)

Many people ask how they can help. This class will present various ideas on how to help those at the border, as well as those in your community.  Different examples will be shown in class from the various projects currently in use to serve many.  Ideas will also be presented on how to network and obtain donations.

Rita Danks has been an active volunteer with Samaritans and Voices from the Border for over 10 years. She has created various projects to help those most in need. She was also very involved with immigrant activities in the Cleveland area before moving to Green Valley.

 

Dora's Story with Dora Rodriguez (offered Saturday only)

In a life-saving attempt to flee El Salvador’s civil war in 1980, Dora Rodriguez was one of thirteen survivors found near death while crossing the border though the Sonoran Desert.  Her story of bravery, tenacity and advocacy for migrants’ rights is inspiriting and life-giving.  How can each of us inspire and give life to the people around us?  Dora and her co-author Abbey Carpenter will lead the conversation.

Dora Rodriguez is a long-time humanitarian worker and speaker bringing the issues of the border across the country.

Abbey Carpenter has worked, taught and volunteered in the areas of social justice and environmental sustainability.  She is the author of several book relating to the border.

​

Border Theology and Other Spiritual Thoughts with Randy Mayer and Father Ray (offered Saturday only)

Father Ray Ridings and Rev. Randy Mayer will share thoughts and reflections about the border and immigration through the lens of faith and action. Both Ray and Randy are active Samaritans spending lots of time in the desert and with thousands of migrants and volunteers. In the midst of that work, the holy and sacred have appeared.

Randy Mayer is pastor of The Good Shepherd UCC and longtime humanitarian along the US/Mexico border. 

Father Ray is a Catholic priest who spent years doing ministry in Latin America and is now doing ministry along the border.

 

 The Welcome Quilt Project: Building a Movement to Reframe the Immigration Narrative with Gale Hall  

In this “make and take” workshop you will experience a presentation about the Welcome Quilt Project (WQP) that you can replicate in your community when you return home. The WQP presents a public counter-narrative to the current negative rhetoric surrounding immigration in the United States. Instead of fearing or dehumanizing people who are seeking refuge and asylum in our country, this project strives to create a sense of community, hope, and support for them. Using the symbolic warmth of quilts, it welcomes them as neighbors and friends.

​

You will participate in empathy-based activities that accompany the actual making of Welcome Squares. The activities are vehicles to help you and others investigate and reflect on immigration—a topic that seems so big that we often feel overwhelmed or think that one person can’t make a difference. This workshop dispels that thinking by helping you offer concrete ways to encourage people to get involved, and then numerous ways to grow as they are moved to do so. The goal is to lead to positive creative activism as we examine our role as a welcoming nation.

Gale Hall, a retired professor of early childhood education created the Welcome Quilt Project in partnership with Voices from the Border to offer a counternarrative to dehumanizing language aimed at immigrants.  Currently, as part of the Episcopal Migration Caucus she is developing curriculum for a church wide formation project on migration with a focus on children.

 

The Revolution Starts at Home with Erick Meza (offered Friday only)
Regenerative Site Design for the Sonoran Desert: Join us for an introductory workshop where you’ll learn how to work with nature—not against it—using permaculture principles and holistic design. The workshop is perfect for homeowners, gardeners, community advocates, and anyone ready to make a positive impact-starting right in their own backyard.

Erick Meza is the current Borderlands Coordinator for the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter and Permaculture educator from the Sonoran Desert.

​

Olé Guacamole! with Zandra Clarke
Experience the glowing, colorful and lively Mexican culture in this class.  One of the many doorways into shared appreciation between the US and Mexico is food.  There are few places in the southwest without an abundance of Mexican restaurants and cuisine.  Learn the ancient history of the Avocado, as well as other wonderful products from Mexico.  These products have original “Nahautl” names that were modified when the Spanish language adopted them.  Learn about this most popular of moles in the United States—guacamole—through stories, history, and maybe even a song or two, and of course a tasting!


Zandra Clarke was born in Morelia, Michoacán México. She has studied ballet and folkloric dances at Conservatorio de Bellas Artes in Jalapa, Veracruz, México and earned her degree in Administration of Tourism in Puebla, México. She has been a Spanish Instructor for more than 25 years and has  organized and presented many traditional Mexican celebrations in the communities of Tubac, Green Valley and Sahuarita.  She brings with her the rich gifts of her family—music, dance and cooking that reflect the art, color and delight of her culture and heritage.

​

Dismantling Detention in Southern Missouri and Beyond with Miles Pearson

The border industrial complex is a massive machine that exists not only at the border, but all across the United States. ICE Detention continues to ramp up as more prisons are being built and used to detain immigrants. The Southern Missouri Immigration Alliance (SMIA) is a grassroots organization that started to combat ICE detention happening in their own back yard. In this class, learn what SMIA has been doing to fight back against the due process and human rights violations that are happening, not only in Missouri, but all around the country. Learn about what others have done and what you can do to stop detention in your areas, and the importance of this work in complimenting direct service organizations and changing the narrative on immigration. 


Miles Pearson is one of the co-founders of Southern Missouri Immigration Alliance (SMIA), a non profit formed to make Springfield, Missouri a more welcoming place to migrants, and to stop ICE detention in the local Greene County Jail. Miles's grandparents immigrated to the United States from Greece. He is passionate about migrant rights and continues to work to make the world a place where all people are free to move and exist. Miles also has an MS in Anthropology, an MS Chemistry, and owns a small home repair business.


​

Indigenous Art and the Artisans with Harry March

Explore the significance and value of indigenous art and its artisans. Harry’s extensive travels throughout Mexico have provided him with firsthand knowledge from the artisans themselves. 
 
In this session, you will discover the rich cultural heritage behind Southwest-inspired and borderlands pottery, vibrant textiles, and intricate beadwork, including Xoichotl and Popotillo Grass Art, as well as symbolic milagros offerings from Mexico.This interactive experience will uncover the stories and traditions embedded in each piece, highlighting how these artworks connect us to the past while enriching our contemporary lives.
 
Expand your appreciation for the artistry and craftsmanship that shape our cultural landscape and leave inspired to incorporate these unique treasures into your home.


Harry March is the owner of Native Gardens of Green Valley, a plant nursery and retail gallery featuring handcrafted gifts from around the world.
 

​

Gospel Singing Class with Dr. Kathy Bullock (offered Saturday only)

Join us for a fabulous time of singing with world-renowned gospel leader, Dr. Kathy Bullock.
Kathy will lead us in spirituals and gospel music, weaving history into the singing as we explore the connections between African American music, history, and its African origins.
In all of her work, Kathy shares infectious joy and inspires heartfelt connections as she celebrates the transcending power of love and spirit through music.



​

Healing the Divides through Storytelling with Sheila Arnold
 (offered Friday only)

Storytelling is a surprisingly flexible tool. It can entertain, inspire, inform, and even heal. Building on the use of storytelling as a healing practice in communities, schools, health care facilities, and religious institutions, Sheila will demonstrate how stories can help us heal divides and create a more inclusive and equitable world. The session will begin with a conversation-sparking story, then Sheila will teach participants how to find stories, use them to facilitate discussion, and create spaces where they can be received.


Sheila Arnold was gifted by God a talent for storytelling, a passion for history, and compassion for people everywhere. She shares these gifts as a full-time Storyteller, Historic Character Interpreter and Workshop Facilitator traveling throughout the United States and Canada. Using enthusiasm and empathy, she engages, educates and entertains audiences of all ages and varieties.


​

Making Crosses with Alvaro Enciso (offered Friday only)

We will examine the cross not only as a symbol of faith, but also as an object of art, and as a point of departure for exploring other ideas such as personal loss, remembrance, and honoring. We will also deconstruct the cross as vertical and horizontal lines, connections, sculptural implications of space, or simply as containers for memorie, feelings, endings, and more. Participants will have blank wooden crosses to experiment with decorative options and finishes using found objects, paper, fabric, paint, pencils, etc. Limit: 15 participants. A $10 material fee will be collected in class.
Alvaro Enciso is a multi-media contemporary artist living and working in Tucson, AZ. In addition to his studio practice that deals with the American dream, migration, cultural identity, and bilingualism, he has been working for the past 12 years on a conceptual, land art project titled, "donde mueren los sueños (where dreams die),” which marks the locations in southern Arizona and New Mexico, where migrants have lost their lives in search of that elusive American dream. Alvaro has planted more than 2,000 crosses in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, where the bodies and remains of migrants have been recovered. 

 

​​​​​