Celebrities & Artist I Want To Thank for Their Inspiration This Season

Touched by Angels in the Arts

This holiday season I am reminded and grateful for the angels of art who have graced my life in painting, photography, storytelling, dance, songwriting, musicians, singers, promoters and producers who make it all possible for the world and whose work has deeply touched my life.  

I have to start with my father, who played and sang beautifully, accompanied by his soul, his heart and his guitar;  actress Dolores Hart who chose God over Hollywood, and depicted her story in a documentary titled "God Is The Bigger Elvis"; John Lennon's songwriting including IMAGINE,  The Flying Laser Guitarist Graham Gillot and  HyperHarp Jeff Grossberg who light up the world with music and light creations; Little Feat who rocked for PeaceJourney Hawaii on 4-islands in 5 days to help us bring computer labs to the islands and that included Ben Taylor (Peace Journey Trips documentary) and  son of James Taylor; Yuri Lane beatbox extraordinaire who recently performed on the Steve Harvey Show and who through his beats, connects our hearts; and Sandro Miller, photographer, who just won the Lucie Award for Best International Photographer of the Year; and Peter Exley and his wife Sharon with their amazing work to beautify the world through architecture and the arts. And Ben Mugisha, Rwandan Hip Hop sensation, Helene Henn, South African singer, Peyton Tochterman a rising star n the American Roots Music and traveler to Afghanistan in support of our troops through the State Departmen, Mimi Machado-Luces film and documentary producer, and Rocco Cataldo, who helps me make sense of the world of music and film through his own art!   Learn more about them here:  Bios at Peace Journey  And Richard Cahan, photographer, who bravely traveled and documented in the West Bank this year.  His photo display titled Night Raid can be seen now at  Art Works in River North-Chicago, Illinois thru December 15th 2014.

There are many people who have touched my life, who I know are there to step up to make this world better, but now in the latter part of 2014, finding out about so many local people and the beauty they bring to the earth has touched my heart, and reopened my creative senses,  which can only enhance our next Peace Journey adventures 2015, and the good we can all do for the world.  

Happy Holidays as you learn more about these amazing people. 

PEACE JOURNEY Seven Paths Venue Search for Songwriting Camp 2015 Underway

PEACE JOURNEY Venue Search Taking Us Down More than Seven-Paths!

www.peacejourney.com

Saturday was a day-trip for us to look at a farm music event venue for our upcoming songwriting/concert camp, on a very cold and blustery early fall Illinois day. 

Stonehouse Farm is only 1 hour and a half from downtown Chicago, but working 2-GPS systems simultaneously gave us two different directions to go in.  We decided to chose the road less traveled, adding another 45 glorious country road minutes to our drive.

Cornfields were abundant.  After a few years working at sponsorKIDS to promote healthy food in our local schools, I learned about all the corn that is being grown for sucrose in Illinois, eliminating many other crops that could be grown for food.  All I can tell you is growing up in Ohio with it's abundant cornfields, I have never seen as many cornfields as on the back roads trip to Stonehouse Farm near Sandwich, Illinois. 

We passed a small sign announcing Stonehouse Farm and immediately pulled in.  We first noticed that the farm's wood fences on the property needed repair and a coat of creosote or paint.  Following the driveway to the front porch of a mid-size barn-like structure,  we walked inside, where we found  a chef preparing food for that nights sweat lodge.  We sat down to enjoy coffee and meet the primary owner.  The building was rustic and cozy.

I had read about Yurts, the temporary tent structures around the farm that sleep 2 to 8 people each, depending on the size.  These are the only accommodations currently available outside acres of campsites on the premises. Rachel, the assistant in charge of events (oh and by the way, also an anthropologist and gourmet French Chef),  drove us around the property in a bright yellow one-seater golf cart as we viewed the campgrounds, garden and compost area, overnight parking for 500 cars, newly constructed showers, the pond, a sweat lodge, a large area where a stage can be erected, a grassy field large enough to accommodate up to 2,500 music concert goers on the lawn and barns, where yoga and other performances could be held.

The actual Stonehouse Farm four-bedroom house is to be rehabbed, but it doesn't sound like that will be completed in time for our event in 2015

Our songwriting camp needs to house about 30 to 40 people plus our production crew, and Stonehouse Farm would be a rustic choice with a lot of hidden costs. 

But I keep thinking that the best creativity happens when we are close to nature. And I also remember Woodstock, although this would be a much smaller and less celebrity driven undertaking.  So, I am getting out the spreadsheet and seeing how viable this venue might be for 2015.   

I do know this: the spirit of the land is amazing and it just felt good to meet people so grounded in what matters for the use of the land. On the way back, we drove past Aurora University.  It's beautiful and I understand they have a fine music school there that could be an asset to our project.  

So the search for the perfect home for Peace Journey Seven Paths songwriting camp and concert continues. Please leave a message if you know another location like Stonehouse Farm, a spiritual retreat,  or a venue that collectively cares about community and nature, in and around the Midwest and within 3 to 5 hours from Chicago that might work for us in 2015.  

I have no choice but to run down parallel paths looking for just the right home. And it's fun to explore all the options as this important decision will lead us to find what we hope will become a permanent and annual home for us to live, create and breath for peace.  

We are charting our next Peace Journey Adventure Trip 2016 to Peru where we will explore with high school students the amazing rain forest and indigenous people as we work on a deeper connection with the earth.  Stay tuned. 

Thank you. 
Jeannette Barcelos Kravitz
jkravitz@peacejourney.com

www.peacejourney.com

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3-TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL EVENT PROMOTION

THE "3" EVENT SYSTEM TECHNIQUE TO SUCCESS

This system has led me to produce national events, 

get major sponsors on board, 

and have a ton of fun in the process.

I have been so fortunate to work with amazing artists over time and to learn from the best!  People like Ken Kragen from "Hand's Across America" and "We Are The World Fame" who found his success in following the theory that when launching a brand, event, product, or a series, the best strategy is to plan 3-events over a relatively short period of time to get the most bank for your efforts.

Personally, the number "3" has always been a favorite number for me. It reminds me of the trilogy of birth, life, death; the father, son, holy spirit; the beginning, middle and end.  So when I read Ken's book years ago titled "Life is A Contact Sport", every page jumped out to say "Hey girl, you are doing some things right, so just keep doing them"

This theory set the stage now, after over 14 years of PeaceJourney.com trips and events, to create a series of activities: I have written a book to be published in the early summer, followed by a documentary to tell the stories arising from the book of little known American heroes, and an online music, poetry celebration scheduled in the fall.

Any one of these plans could take a long time, but when you put a plan in the context of self-imposed schedules and deadlines, and in the context of 3-things happening, it's amazing how the big world of whittles down to 3 very strategic and doable and doable focuses.

I took it even farther and decided that each 'event' needed 3-items to help promote it, so for instamce  the book's strategy is : get book sponsors,  create a blog talk radio show & find a distributor, develop a 2nd reason to buy (discounts and gift items) for people who sign up for the book and so on.

So many people believe in 6-degrees of separation.  I believe in "3" degrees of separation and that everyone I know at this point in my life through their network, knows whoever I need to know at any given time, so by again applying the value of "3" it helps me to focus in more closely to the people in my life I can ask to help and get results more quickly.

This system has led me to produce national events, get major sponsors on board, and have a ton of fun in the process.

So off to work I go….and if you are reading this and want to be a part of my success for our work at PeaceJourney.com (sponsorKIDS Charities), send me an email or comment here and I will do my best to reach out to you. Basically, celebrities, sponsors, musicians, songwriters, event planners, technology whiz kids and social media gurus---come and be part of the "3" system -- and we can make the world a better place!!!