USC IGM Art Gallery hosts Global Development Forum, Spiritual Matrices/Free Will: Uniting the People to Divide and Conquer the Challenges of Rapid Change

On Sunday, February 14 over 50 public, private, nonprofit, faith-based, academic and media leaders joined in an art-framed forum to confront challenges, share and leverage resources and begin determining next steps.  Inspirational presentations and discussions highlighted important policy changes as well as innovations in Information Technology, Molecular Biology and Complementary and Alternative Health Care. Partner organizations included ENCOUNTER, SelfMaydStudios,  United Voices of Literacy (UVOL), The Yes Salon, Earthrights, SPOTBALL USA and Weingarten Communications,

Speakers included Artist Mike Becker who explained the IGM Art Gallery’s mission to serve as an incubator for social Capital.  Its art-framed forums provide deliberative discussions on complex social issues that interface with the creative process and findings of research in molecular biology, health and social systems. Mike shared his book, Free Will/Positive Moment and the process of its images and inspirational mottos serving both as an exhibition as well as a book, to be used in classrooms, faith-based and NGO organizations around the globe.  With partners he found through the exhibition, Mike has translated the book into five languages and aims for many more.

Artist Susan Sims-Hillbrand screened her Spiritual Matrices: Penlight Performances and Poetic Prayers and engaged the audience in group recitation in one of the prayers, followed by a discussion of numerous dichotomies, i.e.  joy/despair, trust/fear, birth/loss of people, ideas and things we hold dear, then conducted a discussion on how to find balance in the midst of rapid change.

Christopher Toussaint – Editor of The Science of Miracles: The Quantum Language of Healing, Peace, Feeling and Belief, An Illustrated Interview with Gregg Braden, discussed this film that explores paradigm-shattering revelations demonstrating why we are not limited by the laws of physics and biology as we know them today, and why our DNA is a code that we can change and upgrade by choice.

The IGM Art Gallery serves as an incubator to inspire, develop and sustain social capital. Through art-framed, open-minded forums with leaders from the 6 sectors, a network of networks is emerging to facilitate collaboration and economic self-sufficiency in an environment of social justice. With annual exhibitions on four themes: Global Health, Global Environment, Global Development and Global Peace & Security, these discussions include businesses development, homelessness, housing, healthcare, and an evolving criminal justice system.  The IGM Art Gallery’s exhibitions, forums and events have the capacity to wield substantive influence across the LA County and beyond.  The traveling exhibitions are organized to take the process of self-organized stewardship and mindful choice making to global leaders and their communities as well.

The Institute for Genetic Medicine Art Gallery and our partners organize exhibitions and programs for local, self-organized events that bring leaders together to share and leverage existing resources.   Incubating economic self-sufficiency, social justice and innovative institutional transformation is our mission.

Gallery projects combine video examples and live speakers that spark deep discussion and connection within small groups that then share discussion conclusions in plenary sessions. These projects are designed to provide general guidance for Public, Private, Nonprofit, Faith-Based, Academic and Media leaders who then stimulate activism among their constituents after mindful discussion on:

• How to develop partnerships with leaders from 6 sectors
• How to generate cross organizational and cross department sharing and leveraging of resources and manpower
• How to attract underwriting for events
• How organization leaders can serve to develop capital philanthropy, creating new jobs and evolutionary institutional transformation
• How to use information technology to produce leveraged return on social and capital investment

To view a short version of the Forum CLICK HERE

To view the whole documentary of the Forum CLICK HERE

For more information contact lynn.crandall@gmail.com or 213-705-7489