Visionary Arts & Media's mission is to help shape a more peaceful and joyful world by bringing together an international network of healers, artists, musicians, writers, and activists to create transformational media: media that educates, informs, and empowers.

In accord with our mission statement, “to help shape a more peaceful and joyful world by bringing together an international network of healers, artists, musicians, writers, and activists to create transformational media: media that educates, informs, and empowers,” we have three areas we are currently focusing our time, energy and resources on: Documentary films on progressive, socially important issues; our community-based Youth Empowering Youth project: Student Films for Social Change; and our new website, more than just a page on the web, but a place where community can gather, where our lives are enriched, positive change can be effected, and enjoyment is pre-eminent.

Documentary Film Group
Our documentary film group is currently in production on the film Deflating the Elephant . Deflating the Elephant is a major production dealing with the renewal of America's progressive culture using cinematic illustrations in the Fellini tradition based on Professor George Lakoff's principles of “framing” as described in his book Don't Think of an Elephant . His thesis is that the extreme right wing of the Republican party has systematically changed the language of the debate over the past thirty years which contributed to their winning elections, with the end result being the middle class and less priviledged struggling and betrayed and the world order on the verge on collapse because the frames the extreme right wing use for their own personal gain do not connect to reality, and we are unfortunately seeing and exoperiencing the result in our daily life of this disconnect: abusively exorbitant gas prices, home prices, rental prices, car prices, food, insurance, the indecent cost of education, the trashing of public schools so “school vouchers” (ticket to private school for the religious right) can finally be passed into law, etc. For the American people, wages are low while the cost of living more than doubled over the past ten years, although we have been told there is no inflation and the “numbers” say “we” are actually all so prosperous. Examples of framing include: the abortion debate became one centered around being “pro-life” thereby inferring opponents are against life; “supporting our troops” instead of being “pro-war” inferring those against a war began based on deceit are against our troops; “no-child left behind”, ia actually a way to leave all children behind if they wish to stay in public schools because it is a recipe for the dismantling of public schools so wealthy corporations can have “tax relief” as oppose to getting away without paying back their fair share in taxes. Deflating the Elephant will be complete by 2007 and we hope it will have an impact on the 2008 presidential elections.

Our first documentary film, Truth is Power, focused on the media's monopoly over the information we as American citizens are allowed to receive, thereby moving a step towards the loss of freedom as we know it, such as: freedom to have a transparent political system, the heart of our democracy; and freedom to choose our elected officials, possible only if we have information about what they have actually done and are doing.

Youth Empowering Youth
Youth Empowering Youth: Student Films for Social Change
Our extremely enjoyable community-based project, Youth Empowering Youth, is completing its first year with the First Annual Documentary Film Screening Gala, on Saturday evening May 26, 2006, at The Attic in downtown Santa Cruz. The Attic has become a center of art, music, film (a venue for the Santa Cruz Film Festival), and of community service, and we are very pleased to now be part of this tradition. Five documentary film shorts of approximately fifteen minutes each will be shown. Our program has a University of California at Santa Cruz film major mentor a group of High School (in this case San Lorenzo High School) assisting them creating a socially progressive community-based film.

In September we will begin our second program. We plan on expanding to three local high schools. Help support our children. In order to continue this exceptional program we need your support. If you can help with a one time or monthly support commitment this important new program can continue. We also hope to eventually expand to our program to other commuinties.