Why Did RisingLeaf
Form as a Nonprofit?

70%…It is the amount of water that flows in our bodies. Earth is 70% water. Here, at home in the Carmel River Watershed, approximately 70% of the water supply for Carmel Valley and Monterey Peninsula comes from the Carmel River. The Carmel River was named one of ten endangered rivers by the American Rivers organization in 1999, due, primarily, to excess water withdrawals and urbanization. The report by the Pew Oceans Commission released in the fall of 2002 issued a clarion call to fundamentally change the way we live on the coasts and in the heartland of America.

Conceptual plans for RisingLeaf Watershed Arts began in 1991. In the spring of 2001, RisingLeaf Watershed Arts formed as an organization to raise awareness of the Carmel River and its watershed and watershed health in general. One may ask why "Watershed Arts?" Thinking in terms of living in a watershed helps humans see their connection to the land and water that supports all life. Art awakens and stimulates intuition and creative energies. Watershed Arts reintegrates the arts and sciences to foster holistic thought which can help to forge a fundamental restoration of our culture, community, and habitats.

Our immediate goals are two-fold: The first is to establish a fund and place to build a Watershed Arts Community Center in Carmel Valley. As most people in the developed world spend approximately nine-tenths of their time indoors, the built environment shapes the way we think and act. The creation of this center, through an integrative process of learning and understanding the rhythms of nature, will help people cultivate new approaches to fully realize their relationship to the land, rivers, oceans, and all inhabitants. The RisingLeaf Watershed Arts Community Center will be one of a growing network of ecologically- designed centers around the world.

The second goal is to continue to provide classes, programs, and events that feature local and visiting nature writers, artists, musicians, chefs, theatrical performers, place-based educators, and bioregional thinkers. Service-learning projects will be organized on topics ranging from restoration of habitats in the Carmel River Watershed and other watersheds of Monterey County, to regenerative, whole-systems design, and organic agriculture.

The RisingLeaf Watershed Arts Community Center, in its full scope of ecological education, will be to the land what the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to the ocean.