Guest Blogger: Rob Shakespeare

We invite you to read why Lotus Education & Arts Foundation board president Rob Shakespeare is passionate about supporting the Lotus mission:
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Lotus is such a gift to Bloomington, the surrounding counties, and to Indiana! I am so appreciative of serving on the board of this organization with its far reaching mission and impact.

The Festival is indeed the Lotus Flagship Event, with four days of programming accessible to all and celebrated throughout Downtown Bloomington, in tents, churches, theatres, on the streets and in the parks.

In addition to enjoying the music, art and the cheering crowds of Lotus Festival fans, what makes Lotus so distinctive and culturally relevant  is how the organization invites, promotes, and engages difference, particularly during these politically challenging times, as our country sends a message of exclusion to many cultures and world citizens.

Focused on the future, and with such positive impact, I am passionate about Lotus Blossoms: the manifestation of Lotus’s outreach to our children…our future.  Particularly during the spring, Lotus Blossoms provides World Artists for residencies in local and regional schools, an initiative that puts a positive face on other cultures: a solid step towards world tolerance and peace.  Gifted artists, through live song, dance, and art, present themselves and their cultures, face to face with thousands of school children every year. For many young people, this is their first contact with someone looking, sounding, and expressing themselves differently. With smiles of joy and clapping hands, these performances are planting seeds of cultural inquiry, open-mindedness and an appreciation of difference in the education of our children.  Blossoms also offers free concerts and events, open to all. Lotus Blossoms is enabling a more tolerant and peace filled global future.

Guest Blogger:
Robert Shakespeare,
President
Board of Directors
Lotus Education & Arts Foundation