Brian Berman: Meeting in the Middle

As artists, we know that creativity is more than expression — it can be a path to healing. My own journey has shown me again and again that as an Artist for Peace, I have the power to transform sorrow into peace and fragmentation into wholeness.

Ready to March with the Mayor of Ferguson and City leaders

Last month, Lisa and I were participating in the cities of St Louis, Ferguson, and Kansas City, MO. We were invited to join an International gathering of peacebuilders to help heal the great divide within our nation. Our program and team gathered in Ferguson, MO, marching for peace with the mayor, chief of police, the fire department, police officers, and many locals. We marched together and rallied around a Peace Pole dedicated to helping heal this city and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Beginning to march together

The Ferguson protests erupted in Missouri on August 9, 2014, following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer, and were a catalyst for the national growth and solidification of the Black Lives Matter movement. The events in Ferguson, which included both peaceful protests and violent unrest, highlighted issues of police misconduct, racial injustice, and the systematic use of fines to generate city revenue, particularly against Black communities. The unrest and subsequent national attention from Ferguson helped propel the Black Lives Matter movement into a major global force for racial justice and police reform. 

We gathered around a Peace Pole for peace in Ferguson, representing all states within the US, and all countries around the world for peace.

In St Louis we came together to support the families who lost their homes and jobs by a tornado that tore through parts of the city. We brought teddy bears to help comfort the children.

We experienced the St Louis Arch as a great representation of a Public Artwork acting as a Portal for Peace.

Our team photo feeling the joy of what we accomplished. We are better together.

This year has been an important milestone for me. I’ve just completed my memoir, The Unseen Hand: My Journey of Becoming, which traces my path from inherited grief of the Holocaust and WWII, toward reconciliation and creativity. I have been working on this artful writing as an author for many years. Oh what a feeling, and soon I will have links to Amazon and paperback copies to share during the Ojai Studio Tour.

Alongside the book, I’ve launched a new website — BrianBerman.art — bringing together my sculptures, HOLOS sculptures and jewelry, wall artworks, peace products, and publications into one home.

I am also bringing together my Instagram into @brianberman.art. This is a work in progress, as for the past few years my two IG accounts have been dormant and now I'm bringing them together newly. I'll need support help for this, so please be patient.

BrianBerman.art is coming together soon.

On September 28th, 4:30-6pm at the Ojai Valley Museum, I’ll be giving a Town Talk on The Healing Power of Art. I look forward to sharing stories, sculptures, and symbols like HOLOS, which for me represent both personal healing and a vision for peace in our communities and the world.

Art saves lives — I’ve lived this truth — and I believe our Ojai Studio Artists community embodies this spirit every day in our work. Thank you for reading and please contact me if you'd like to discuss ways for greater healing and Peace.

Artist, Peacebuilder, Author