Weekly Senior Exercise Class, Body-Mind Tune Up, Forbes. Bruno Lacombe is conducting exercise classes for seniors, super-seniors and people with physical difficulties for UUSM members. Classes are no-charge for UUSM members; non-members suggested donation $10 per class to UUSM. Contact: Bruno Lacombe, (310) 666-7387.

We gather twice a month to sit together quietly for 20 minutes, to walk with gentle awareness for seven minutes, and to explore the integration of meditation with ordinary life through reading and sharing. Anyone who senses they would benefit from 20 minutes of silent, non-guided sitting is welcome to join us. We have found that this time of quiet meditation and shared exploration can be deeply nourishing – a time of simply “being” amidst all the “doing” of our lives.

Weekly Senior Exercise Class, Body-Mind Tune Up, Forbes. Bruno Lacombe is conducting exercise classes for seniors, super-seniors and people with physical difficulties for UUSM members. Classes are no-charge for UUSM members; non-members suggested donation $10 per class to UUSM. Contact: Bruno Lacombe, (310) 666-7387.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I’m a cityscape oil painter in love with intense color and deep contrast. The fluid light, dramatic vistas, stark landscapes and energized urban neighborhoods of the Los Angeles provide endless inspiration for my work. I paint with a vibrant palette and expressive brushstrokes to share my vision of an essence of the urban experience.

I’m drawn to the tension between nature and the hand-of-man on the city. I ask the viewer to observe situations so common that we experience them unconsciously; to see places and objects in a new light, and to consider that they are rich in meaning and beautiful.

BIO

Earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Lambert was a professional actress for nearly two decades. Her theatrical background lends natural drama and mystery to her work as well as joy and celebration.

She studied art for two years at The Art Center School of Design in Pasadena, California, before she met her mentor, museum-collected artist Margaret Garcia in 2009. Since Lambert’s first exhibit in 2011, she has participated in more than 85 shows and exhibitions, including solo exhibits at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum (2017, Mesa, AZ), The City of Burbank Creative Arts Center Gallery (2016), ChimMaya Art Gallery (2016, Los Angeles), and the Jean Deleage Art Gallery (2014, Los Angeles). Group exhibitions include, among many others, The Lines Gallery (Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, 2017) and the TAG Gallery (2020, LA Open Exhibition).

ARTICLE WRITTEN ABOUT BONNIE LAMBERT BY STEVE WEINGARTEN FOR THE MAGAZINE “1VOICE.”

“I was an actress for many years and always felt electrified when I performed in front of a live audience,” Bonnie Lambert said. “Now I’m an oil painter, and my years on stage are one of my greatest influences.”

Lambert’s world revolves around gridlocked rush-hour traffic, edgy boulevards turning electric under neon, and power-lines and telephone poles slicing the sky into geometric shapes. She has captured Los Angeles vistas from the Arroyo Secco to Lincoln Park and beyond in a different light. 

“My actors are a vibrant palette and expressive, impasto brushstrokes,” She said. “I hope viewers will be moved to see how beautiful this wonderful world is.”

Lambert studied at the Art Center School of Design. She has attended Margaret Garia’s painting workshop since 2009, and teaches oil painting at Plaza de la Raza.

Her work has been shown at the Southwest and Forest Lawn museums Los Angeles, the Pasadena Museum of History, Latino Museum of Art in Pomona, and Contemporary Arts Museum in Mesa, Arizona.

Visitors and prospective members are encouraged to attend this informal get-together held on each Sunday of the month in the NE Cottage Room.  It is a time to learn more about Unitarian Universalism, our Church Community, and the opportunities of growth and connection through many of our Adult programs.  There will be time for any questions you may have, and information about the steps to membership.  Come, let us get to know you, and you to get to know us.  Everyone is welcomed.  Looking forward to meeting you.  Norm Richey & Sarah Robson, Co-Chairs, Membership Committee.

Brave Spaces: Mindful Social Practice and Authentic Allyship

Please join the Healthy Congregation Council in welcoming Jeremy Arnold, son of Board member Abby Arnold, to our church for a workshop on the topic of Microaggressions. Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D., defines these as “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership.” The persons making the comments may be otherwise well-intentioned and unaware of the potential impact of their words. Jeremy will share tools for navigating fraught conversations, around marginalization, and maintaining positive relationships with fellow community members.

Jeremy, who was raised in our church, is currently Program Director at Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), an interfaith worker-justice nonprofit. At Tulane University, he studied critical perspectives including Critical Race Theory, Feminist Studies, Queer Theory, Marxist Analysis, New Media Theory, and New Historicism, and was the Community Outreach Director for the Tulane chapter of Amnesty International. Throughout his time in college, he worked in the restaurant and bar industry as well as with the local hotel workers’ union, Unite Here Local 23. In his role at CLUE, he supervises a team of community organizers who educate, organize, and mobilize religious communities to support workers and immigrants in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

We will meet on Sunday, February 2 at 11:45 a.m. in the Warren Mathews Conference Center.

For further information, please contact rightrelations@uusm.org.

Bill Blake will present an enjoyable dive into the who and what we are. This on-going, twice a month classon the 1st and 3rd Monday is presented to help participants master specific meditation skills. We endeavor to answer the questions Who am I? (attitudes and beliefs) and What am I? (essence or true nature). This class will include meditations that explore participants' spiritual goals. The monthly group meetings will also focus on insights gained throughout the month. It is expected that participants will develop and enjoy a regular meditation practice.

The Men's Group offers a special opportunity to the men of the congregation and other like minded men to join our welcoming group in provocative and stimulating discussion and to get to know others with UU perspectives in a more meaningful way. We meet the first and third Thursdays of the month at 7:30 PM in the NE room of the Cottage. 

The topics for Thursday, Feb. 6 are: If your father were alive today, what would he think of our advancements in technology.  Is new tech improving our lives or is it distracting and isolating us?  How can we fix this?  

The topics for Thursday, Feb. 20 are:  If you could send a message back to yourself as a kid, what would you say?  And what's the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?                                                                                           

For more information contact Richard Mathias at 310-645-1070 or richmathias2@yahoo.com.