KY Center Announces Plans for 'Charter for Compassion'

This month, as the city prepares to welcome the Dalai Lama, several special events will be held to celebrate Louisville's status as a "Compassionate City" and Mayor Greg Fischer's mission to make the city a friendlier, more caring place to live and visit. The Kentucky Center will be participating in, hosting, and supporting many of these events.

The Compassionate Resolution

The Kentucky Center has drafted and approved a resolution to uphold the Charter for Compassion, signifying our commitment to being a compassionate organization via such elements as empowerment, transparency, hospitality and abundance. To ensure this resolution has tangible outcomes at The Center, a staff committee has been formed (named "Centered on Compassion") to identify the compassionate work The Center has already been doing, to monitor the progress of our "compassionate" identity, and brainstorm/execute additional ways in which we can embrace the principles of this resolution.

One Million Bones

On May 20, a version of the Washington, D.C. One Million Bones exhibit will be installed at The Kentucky Center. These bones were created by local community members, school children and participants in The Kentucky Center's ArtsReach program along with artist in residence Aletia Robey as a visible petition against genocide and conflict-related crises. Initially conceived for and soon to be placed on the National Mall, the One Million Bones initiative is designed to raise awareness of the suffering and struggle of people in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burma and Somalia. Each bone that is created nets one dollar towards reconstruction efforts in war-torn communities around the globe. The exhibit will be installed on the front steps of The Kentucky Center on Monday, May 20, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. This exhibit will be on display until 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 21.

Youth Engaging Compassion, A Dialogue with the Dalai Lama at The Kentucky Center

On May 21, The Dalai Lama will conduct a dialogue with student youth from across the Commonwealth at The Kentucky Center. These students were asked to describe what compassion means to them and develop questions for the Dalai Lama. During the dialogue, ten questions will be selected from among those submitted, and those that posed these questions will deliver them on stage. The mission of Youth Engaging Compassion (YEC) is to ignite compassion in the hearts of young people by sustaining the unquenchable fire that warms the world and the soul. The program celebrates acts of compassion so that suffering is eased and pain is lessoned on the journey toward a more compassionate world. For more information about YEC, please visit www.youthengagingcompassion.org.

The Weber Gallery Art Globe

Part of the Weber Gallery's wider Striped Show exhibition, The Kentucky Center's South Lobby will be hosting a floor-to-ceiling, 6-feet tall revolving globe of the earth from May 13-22. The Earth's continents and seas are comprised completely of 1,500 colored canvas stripes painted by children, the Louisville Visual Arts Association (LVAA) Open Door classes, and people with disabilities; after which the stripes are shaped and applied to the globe by Tara Remington of LVAA. The collage of stripes showcases the favorite colors, interests and ideas of its creators. One strip features a pair of hands cradling the Earth. Others display a cross, a Star of David, various music notes, a basketball court, a ladybug, suns and smiling faces-all illustrations of what the artists believed make the world a beautiful place. The Globe will be at the Kentucky Center in conjunction with the Dalai Lama's visit and a special series from the Festival of Faiths, "Sacred Silence: Pathway to Compassion," which will take place May 14-19 at the Galt House Hotel and Actor's Theatre of Louisville. These events will include lessons on and practice of meditation, silence and compassion. Initial support for the exhibition was provided by a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support provided by Louisville Metro Arts and the Council on Development Disabilities.

The Tibetan Freedom Concert

The Tibetan Freedom Concert, taking place at the Brown Theatre on May 21, will feature Kentucky native and popular cellist Ben Sollee alongside other local and Tibetan musicians, including Grammy nominated world music composer and former monk Nawang Khechog. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Drepung Gomang Institute, Louisville's Tibetan Buddhist Center and the host organization of Engaging Compassion and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Tickets available at www.kentuckycenter.org.

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