This summer, Peace Boat US is collaborating with three nonprofit organizations to invite youth from New York City on a week-long international voyage to acquire a hands-on arts education with professional and local artists as part of the Music and Art Peace Academy (MAPA) project. Aspiring young creators will participate in educational programs onboard Peace Boat’s 84th Global Voyage from July 31st – August 8th to engage in workshops, lectures and creative learning opportunities under the instruction of artists and guest educators. In the ports of call, students will travel to visit indigenous communities in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama in preparation for the World Conference on Indigenous Issues at the United Nations.

The students enrolled in MAPA will participate in an intensive program that will create a cross-cultural documentary project and music focusing on indigenous issues in Latin America. Instruction will consist of structured workshops, conferences and interactive programs that will allow them to develop skills ranging from musical production and recording to video editing and photography. Students will combine their existing knowledge of audio software to record sounds with both participants on the boat as well as indigenous populations they encounter during their visits to local communities in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama.

The youth will work collectively to create a documentary film that will be shown at the United Nations during the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) on September 22-23, 2014.

Emilie McGlone – Peace Boat US Director and MAPA Program Coordinator

emilie-MAPAWith more than ten years experience working for Peace Boat, Emilie will be coordinating the Music & Art Peace Academy Program during the 84th Global voyage. Emilie has extensive experience in organizing educational programs through music and art onboard the Peace Boat and welcomes the opportunity to work with students from Global Kids, DCTV and the Brooklyn Community Art and Media school.

Tony Santa Ana – Artist and Activist through Spoken Word, Dance, and Hip Hop

tony-MAPATony is no stranger to Peace Boat. He has been onboard the 52nd/54th voyages & a GET teacher in Tokyo. He has performed his poetry in different parts of the world, self-published a world travel photo/poetry book, produced musical CD’s, created non-profit promotional videos, traveled with an urban dance company, co-wrote & co-produced a multimedia Hip Hop theater production and is presently on the production team of Universal Self (potential Off/On Broadway one man show). His love for supporting youth leadership development instilling the message of “Art for Social Justice” has been at the center of his activism. As an artist, academic, activist and lover of life, he continues to transform himself to become a better human being.

Galo Akun – Music Producer and Educator

galo_akun_mapa_profileBorn and raised in Chile, Galo has loved music since taking piano lessons with his grandmother. Starting out as a punk guitarist, he soon discovered other genres, including experimental electronic music. His DJ career began with spinning progressive house, but once exposed to the booming Minimal scene in Chile, he soon found a deep love for those experimental sounds. From there, he started getting involved with different electronic musicians to develop his musical style. Moving to New York City in 2003, he brought that style even further, expanding his track base on programs like Logic, Cubase, and Korg. Collecting glitch sounds, he combines synths with his tracks during live performances. Today he is mostly playing live sets using Lemur, constantly updating his setup to include the freshest technologies, and making use of surround sound so that people can feel his music in space. Inspired by the ambiance of the big city as compared to the nature of his home country, Galo continues to produce out of appreciation for underground vibes. He says, “Our lives are dominated by frequencies, so it’s wonderful when you can make art out of it.

As a professional music producer and special MAPA guest, Galo will be participating in the program as a project leader. He will work together with a student from WORLD UP! to create a soundtrack for a documentary on indigenous culture.

Zion Rivera – Youth Filmmaker from Downtown Community Television

zion rivera mapa profileZion is a 19 years old junior filmmaker and a Pro-TV Fellow from Brownsville, Brooklyn. He started making films in tenth grade after being introduced to DCTV by his girlfriend. Before becoming a Pro-TV fellow himself, he would watch what other fellows were doing while learning at the same time.

Zion is a creative filmmaker who is driven to create by his need to do something different. He keeps an open mind taking advice from others, allowing him to film differently and take inspiration from anywhere. He uses his filmmaking to illuminate concerning issues within his community. Zion is excited to learn about others’ world-views, and experience different cultures during his voyage on the Peace Boat.

Zion is also looking forward to the challenge of overcoming the language barrier using the Spanish he learned in school and to understanding how certain things such as friendship can transcend language and cultural barriers, since the majority of participants onboard may not speak English. During the voyage, Zion will be filming a documentary on indigenous culture.

Unique Waters – Brooklyn Community Arts and World High School Student

unique waters mapa profileUnique Waters is a 16-year-old Brooklyn native. He currently attends the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School (BCAM) in Bedstuy, where he will begin his senior year this fall.

During the fall semester of 2013, Unique participated in an after-school program led by the Brooklyn-based non-profit organized called World Up. World Up, founded in 2004, uses hip-hop and music to educate young people on social issues. Since 2012, World Up has partnered with BCAM to offer students the opportunity to explore issues important to them through the medium of music and music making. Students created an independent album from scratch. They chose which topics to discuss and write song lyrics about, created beats using Ableton Live, and recorded their tracks in a professional recording studio. By February 2014, Unique, along with 10 of his BCAM peers, created “Truth Is…” an 8-track EP. Listen to their album for free here:https://soundcloud.com/worldup/sets/truth-is.

Unique is excited to collaborate with musicians and producers on board the Peace Boat to work on a soundtrack that will accompany a student film documenting the Music and Art Peace Academy this summer. His upbeat personality will be a great addition to the Peace Boat, and he is excited to serve as a role model for other young aspiring musicians such as himself. Check out his YouTube page to see his talent:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXRA87iTau0VRjDgX532o1Q.

Antoinette Stone – Global Kids

antoinette stone mapa profileAntoinette Stone is currently attending Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was originally born in Jamaica and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. Starting in September she will be entering her sophomore year in college. She is studying the Prison Industrial Complex and how art (dance, music, and literature) is a form of agency, specifically looking at how one tells a story through art when one’s voice has been silenced. She is excited to be a part of Peace Boat this summer and says that it is an honor and a pleasure to be able to travel to indigenous communities in Central America and document the experience through the arts—specifically photography, as it connects to what she is studying. While on the boat she will try to capture people in action, as the boat is very active. In the communities the participants will enter, she will capture portraits of those in the indigenous communities. In her free time she likes to read, watch movies, and hang out with her friends.

Trixie Cordova – Peace Boat US Volunteer Staff and World Up Education Director

trixie cordova mapa profileTrixie began volunteering with Peace Boat US in October 2013. At the same time, she served as Education Director for World Up, a non-profit organization based in Brooklyn that uses music (specifically hip hop) and technology education to explore local and global issues affecting youth today. Trixie graduated in 2011 from Teachers College at Columbia University with a Master’s in International Educational Development, concentrating on Peace Education. Prior to living and working in NYC, Trixie taught English in rural Japan for two years, where she first learned about Peace Boat while in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program.

As a Peace Boat US volunteer, Trixie has been working towards creating opportunities for NYC youth to participate in the Music and Art Peace Academy (MAPA) Program on board the ship. This summer, she will work closely with Unique Waters of World Up’s after-school music program “WU School” at the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media HS. Together they will lead music and leadership-based activities to promote cross-cultural understanding and to collaborate on a musical soundtrack to MAPA this summer.

Sara Halford – Peace Boat US Intern and Theater Activist

sara halford mapa profileSarah has been a Senior Development Intern with Peace Boat US since September 2013.In that time she has helped to incorporate theatre into the MAPA program, has attended briefings at UN Headquarters and its Permanent Missions, and has worked to acquire visibility for the US division of Peace Boat. She is also an active member of the United Nations Youth Representatives, and in December of 2013 she spoke on a panel regarding communications and storytelling.

As an actor, Sarah has performed professionally with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London), Big Noise and Ouroboros Theatre Companies (Chicago, IL), and with the Springfield Municipal Opera (Springfield, IL). She moved to New York City in 2009 to attend a conservatory program and received her Bachelor of Arts from the New School University in May of 2014. She is now a Master of Arts candidate at New York University’s esteemed Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she will be self-designing a concentration in Political Theatre. As a writer, actor, and activist, she has combined her love of art and politics in order to create socially relevant work. Her focus is on expression through political spectacle and believes that it is important to use this type of visibility for social change. Sarah will be holding workshops with students on board the Peace Boat to introduce theatre activities as a form of political expression. She will also host a discussion on using theatre for human rights activism.

Stephanie Smith – Peace Boat US Intern and Photojournalist

stephanie smith mapa profileStephanie is a Peace Boat US Intern for the summer of 2014 and a rising fourth year International Studies major at the University of Chicago. She is the Community Manager for the UChicago French Club, promoting cultural and linguistic exchange between students and Chicago residents. Last school year, she studied abroad at Sciences Po in Paris, France, taking classes on Peace, Politics, and International Security. While in Paris, she became involved with the French women’s rights movement, Ni Putes Ni Soumises in order to promote gender equality in Paris and around the world and is now working on creating a branch in Chicago. After graduation, she plans on joining the Peace Corps as either a community development or English teacher volunteer. She would like to work for a more peaceful world through cultural understanding and by securing human rights for all.

Stephanie was drawn to interning at the Peace Boat US and joining the summer voyage due to Peace Boat’s involvement in the local community and abroad, promoting cultural understanding and working for sustainable development. At the Peace Boat US, Stephanie attends and reports on conferences at the UN, fundraises for students to participate on the summer voyage, and collects instruments for children in El Salvador, among other responsibilities. While aboard the Peace Boat, Stephanie will be our photojournalist, documenting the voyage via photography and blog reports.

Remi Takahashi – Peace Boat US Intern and Translator / Interpreter for the MAPA Program

remi takahashi mapa profileRemi is currently assisting in translation between Japanese and English while interning at Peace Boat US for the summer, and attending conferences at the UN to learn more about issues related to global peace. As a senior at Sophia University in Tokyo, she is majoring in English and International Relations with a personal focus in cross-cultural communication. In 2011, she joined a volunteer program in rural Turkey and helped organize an international festival promoting cultural understanding. In 2012, she visited six different local high schools in Poland as part of an internship to present Japanese culture and develop a good recognition of Japan. For the duration of her junior year of college, she studied abroad at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. From her experiences abroad, she has come to value personal interactions with local people of different cultures in creating a more culturally understanding world. Remi also has a love for dancing, especially modern ballet. She has been practicing since she was three years old and came in first place in Japan’s national competition as a high school student.

As a volunteer staff, Remi will take the role of a bilingual translator and reporter onboard.