® EMBRACING OUR DIFF��CES ® Our Team Board Members Sarah Wertheimer, Executive Director Dennis McGillicuddy, Chair Linda Poteat-Brown OUR MISSION & VISION Liz Chicoine, Volunteer & Office Coordinator Graci McGillicuddy, Vice-Chair John Weber Through the transformative power of the arts, we educate and inspire to create a better world. We envision a world Ben Jewell-Plocher, Education Director Richard Bergman, Secretary/Treasurer Sarah Wertheimer that embraces diversity, respects differences and actively Brian Hersh, Sarasota County Schools Liaison Christina de Guia, M.D. Hon. Judge Charles E. Williams rejects hatred and prejudice. Ambassador Circle COMMUNITY PARTNERS Diane Cohen, Chair Brittany Bryant Trevor Harvey Ursula Nixon Delia Smith We are very proud of the relationships developed with our Community Partners – each of which plays an integral role in the success of our initiatives. Without their Genie Aberson Carol Camiener Dr. Larry Haspel Nick Owens Jeff Spalter support, our work would not be possible. Marvin Albert Aundria Castleberry Kathie Kaplan Anand Pallegar Dr. Joni Steinberg John Annis Lee-En Chung Roxie Jerde Donna Pedro Charlie Ann Syprett Clare Arguedas Alice Cotman Vlad Ladchuk Alfred Rose Regenail Thomas Pat Baer Geri & Lenny Drexler Nikki Logan-Curran Linda Rosenbluth Gloria Tracy Embracing Our Differences Don Bernstein Meredith Ernst Joan Lowery Jane & Paul Rosenstein Janet Udell P.O. Box 2559, Sarasota, Florida 34230-2559 Karen Bernstein Kristofer Geddie Leslie Malkin Nancy Roucher Dr. Tammy Walsh www.EmbracingOurDifferences.org Sondra Biller Deborah Gordon Brian Mariash Tobi Schneider Judy Weinstein All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior consent of Embracing Our Differences.® Sheila Birnbaum Susan Gorin Gila Meriwether Clare Segall Kaitlin Yelle “Embracing Our Differences” and the figures-logo are registered trademarks. © 2021, Embracing Our Differences, Inc. Fred Bloom, M.D. Arlene Greene Joy Moravitz Nancy Shapiro *In Memoriam: Barbara Brizdle Teri A Hansen Marilyn Naiditch Janet Smalley Carroll Buchanan & Carol Poteat-Buchanan 2 A MESSAGE FROM BOARD MEMBER CHRISTINA DE GUIA, M.D. As EOD’s newest board member, I am worries. But children are part of the larger forums for all our educational programs, TABLE OF CONTENTS honored to share a few words with you. online world and see and understand more including this exhibit. During November’s than we realize. “Bucket Fillers Reading Day,” hundreds of A Message from Board Member Christina de Guia, M.D. This year has been challenging. COVID-19 4 volunteers shared stories with children in has tested our resolve and changed the ways Children don’t always have the words to 5 The Exhibit a safe manner via the Zoom and YouTube in which we interact with others. It’s been express how they feel. Many might not platforms. It filled many buckets in so many Education Initiatives especially hard on children, who have had know how to handle their disappointment 6 - 10 ways—and enhanced intergenerational to forgo so many of the activities they love, and confusion—and that can manifest in 11 - 12 By The Numbers connections. including being with friends, celebrating aggressive and even destructive behaviors. 13 - 14 Art Index birthdays, playing sports and engaging in And we need this right now. We need to feel That is why this exhibit is so important. extra-curricular school activities. close without getting physically close. We 15 - 116 2021 Art & Quotations The art and quotes are used as tools to need to feel understood when we cannot This decreased connection with others spark discussion. Every year, dozens of 117 Submit Art & Quotations find our own words. We need to find small is taking its toll. As a psychiatrist, I’m high school docents, who are members of ways to connect with others to 118 Community Collaborations seeing more children expressing feelings our Coexistence Clubs, serve as guides for feel human. EOD can help of loneliness, anxiety and fear. While there thousands of students who visit the exhibit 119 - 125 Sponsors us find our light at the end is a glimmer of hope with the news of the every year. With planted seeds of inquiry, of the tunnel. 126 Special Thanks vaccine, it still could take time before we can docents help younger students discover be together in larger groups and feel safe. their own understanding of acceptance, Cover Art: Liberty Enlightening the World, Arya Badiyan, aryabadiyan.com, Page 74 connection and empathy. In this way, art Parents and caregivers find it difficult to see Christina de Guia, M.D. Catalog design by Jason Owens, webemissary.com helps children express their anxieties, fears, their kids distraught. It’s easier to tell their hopes and joys. children not to worry than to explain the harsh realities of the situation. Our instinct The EOD team has worked vigilantly to is to protect children from our fears and bring their programs online and create virtual 3 4 “Excellent exhibition of awareness and remembrance THE EXHIBIT of our dignity and humanity.” EDUCATION INITIATIVES The centerpiece of Embracing Our Differences is a juried, outdoor - Exhibit Visitor Our education initiatives represent the most important aspect of our art exhibit featuring 50 billboard-sized images created by local, efforts. Students participate year-round in a variety of activities based national and international artists, writers and students reflecting “The exhibit is such a wonderful addition to the upon a well-planned curriculum of art appreciation, social emotional their interpretations of the theme “enriching lives through culture of Sarasota and teaches an invaluable lesson learning and diversity education. Our education initiatives include: diversity.” The exhibit welcomed 388,000 visitors this past year, to adults and kids.” bringing total attendance, since 2004, to more than 3.3 million. - Exhibit Visitor • Free Field Trips • Student Docent Program • Make-A-Day Of It! • Coexistence Clubs • Bucket Fillers Reading Day & • Art Intensive Teacher Workshop Embracing Our Differences • Education Ambassador Program Reading Day • Lesson Plans • In the Classroom • Community Collaborations • Unity Day Independent evaluations, as well as our own internal evaluations, have consistently shown that teachers rate the Embracing Our Differences’ education initiatives as “outstanding” or “very good” and as “meaningful and beneficial” experiences for their students. “I love this experience with my students. These are the lessons that I hope they hold on to as they go through life!” - 5th Grade Teacher 5 6 FREE FIELD TRIPS BUCKET FILLERS READING DAY & “I just had about the best time I’ve had in six months. I loved every minute of it and thank you all for your hard Each year, our sponsors generously support in-person and virtual opportunities for students to experience our exhibit and EMBRACING OUR DIFFERENCES READING DAY work making this happen! I want to do this every day!” participate in diversity education programs with partner organizations. This has become a signature of our education efforts with For the past eight years, we have coordinated thousands of – Volunteer Reader tens of thousands of students benefiting each school year. volunteers to read to students in Sarasota and Manatee counties. This year, in partnership with the Suncoast Campaign for Grade- “This was an incredible program; they loved reading the MAKE-A-DAY OF IT! Level Reading and an anonymous family foundation, more than book while having a special guest read to us. The students Students who visit the exhibit in-person or virtually are provided the 15,100 books selected to stimulate conversations on diversity, and I loved our reader!” opportunity to continue their experience with one of our community partners inclusion and respect for others were provided to local students. – 3rd Grade Teacher including Asolo Rep, The Florida Holocaust Museum, Florida Studio Theatre, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota Film Festival, The Ringling Museum of Art, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and students reached in Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. 14,300 810 classrooms & 93 schools “Even first graders were recognizing what the artist was trying to convey 491 volunteer readers through art. Sometimes they would make comments about how a person in the picture was feeling and why before I even asked a question!” IN THE CLASSROOM - 1st Grade Teacher Each year, thousands of local students spend time creating art and quotations for submission to our annual competition. Each “My students were extremely appreciative and it broadened their knowledge student benefits through the creation process, engaging in critical and cultural capacity immensely.” thinking while developing an enhanced sense of self-esteem and - 7th Grade Teacher social skills. 7 8 UNITY DAY ART INTENSIVE TEACHER WORKSHOP EDUCATION AMBASSADOR PROGRAM Under the direction of a trained facilitator, high school students This intensive is designed to reinvigorate educators’ teaching This year-long program is designed to empower teachers participate in powerful, full-day team-building exercises that practices while inspiring their art integration skills in all to bring the messages of Embracing Our Differences into encourage compassion and empathy while fostering inclusive school subject areas. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, their classrooms