​My local Avalon Park is a beautiful man-made lake with a walking trail. I often take my kids there. But this beautiful ecosystem disappeared overnight. A sudden downpour caused the dam to collapse, the road to collapse, and the lake to disappear completely.

​This place was so beautiful. Beautiful nature shining in the sunlight, ducks, swans, fish, many beautiful birds whose names I don't know, flowers, and trees. All that beautiful nature was swept away at once, leaving only a desolate mud. I can't believe this. It's an opportunity to think seriously about what we should do to protect nature and the ecosystem. I hope the beautiful Avalon Park will recover quickly.

This year, my students achieved many accomplishments by participating in the Save the Frogs Art Contest. Below is an example of student work. The organizers sent us a wonderful certification below.

Please spread the word about the SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest !​

  ​Among the many galleries in Karlsruhe, Germany, there is a gallery named Poly. 

  Sophie Maria Viktoria, Princess of Baden and Queen of Sweden, born in Karlsruhe in 1862, gave her name to the street on which the POLY production gallery is located: Viktoriastraße 9. This address is now 20 in Karlsruhe. known for years. 

​ Connections with artistic workplaces. POLY is a producer gallery run directly by the exhibiting artists.

  I made my first debut in September 2011 at this gallery. The poly provides exhibition opportunities not only to established artists but also to emerging artists just entering the art world.

 This is a gallery like the concept of a cooperative of artists. Created by artists and run by artists themselves. Therefore, it is possible to publicize art with a sincere heart and focus on art activities.  So I think the opposite of vanity gallery is the poly gallery.

  ​You can see the sincerity of the Poly family by watching the video below. I always miss and want to pursue this kind of art.

  While working as a painter, I, like other artists, have struggled with numerous commercialism, scams, and temptations. The touch of commercial gimmick that puts the name of fine art to shame extends to painters without exception. They each bring frustration to the hard-working and pure-hearted painters in galleries with gorgeous interiors, publications called 'Painter's Master Pieces', or fantastic-sounding professions. Artists want an environment where they can paint whatever they want without worrying about their livelihood. In fact, other big dreams besides that would be additive. However, there are many more painters in the world who work hard and keep their artistry strong even in this disappointing reality. Poly gallery is also one of the true galleries that do such true art.

  Therefore, Poly is like a hometown that always gives me the hope of doing real art with a sincere heart, at least somewhere on the world. However, recently, while sharing New Year's greetings with the Poly family, I heard that Poly was also affected by the pandemic.

  It's been almost ten years since I left Germany and lived in America. During that time, poly held more exhibitions, produced more emerging artists, and had more community activities. Poly has been living like that for 20 years.  

 To compare it to a person, Poly must now become a young man to spread the wings of his dreams and fly. But the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are trying to break the wings of this young man.

  ​Going through a pandemic has made us realize just how profoundly a global catastrophe can affect real life. However, After all these problems are solved, we go back to life as if nothing had happened. But, there are still more people in the world who are directly in the shadow of a pandemic or war.

  In particular, I think the pandemic has given artists a lot of hardships that cannot be expressed in words. For artists, an exhibition is not just a place for performance or socializing. It is a window that opens the world to the results that they have drawn their souls for a long time. And it is known by the reaction of the public and also makes a living. Through this, artists get great opportunities and meet art lovers and collectors. Artistic inspiration is always there and there are sincere conversations with people looking at the same picture. This is a different kind of conversation than seeing Hollywood stars in their sparkly dresses.
And I believe that this kind of artistic activity and appreciation surely enriches our lives. And the more people interested in the arts, the more we'll find time to share our minds together, do more constructive things, and look around. 

 I hope Poly moves safely to their new place so that the Poly family can start dreaming again. And I hope Poly's life doesn't end in 20 years. It is like a miracle that they have continued for 20 years with a pure heart. I believe that sometimes more miracles like this happen in the world. I hope that as many people as possible will love and pay attention to Poly's future.

  The average global temperature has risen to 1.09°C since the Industrial Revolution. The rapid temperature rise is making the earth's ecosystems suffer.​

  Scientists diagnose that if the current climate change continues, humanity will soon face a survival crisis.

The most authoritative report containing these diagnoses by scientists is the report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) under the United Nations.  ​

   ​According to the report, climate change has had a negative impact on the physical and mental health of people in all study areas. Climate-related diseases are on the rise, and animal and human diseases are emerging in new areas. Some mental illness has been linked to trauma related to rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and loss of livelihoods and cultures.

  ​After 2040, and depending on the degree of warming, climate change will pose numerous risks to nature and human systems. For the 127 key risks identified, estimates of medium- and long-term impacts are many times higher than those currently observed.

  ​This climate crisis is currently ongoing. So, how are artists responding to this climate crisis?

  ​John Acompra is a black Ghanaian artist who grew up in a coal power plant in South London. He said he took a personal turning point on climate change and the environment in 1989 when he traveled to film a documentary about the Exxon oil spill and its catastrophic impact on Alaska's ecosystems.

  It is said that the experience of the oil leak was a blatant experience that showed the destruction of the livelihoods of the Inuit community and the worst colonial exploitation.

​ Since then, Acompra continues to work on the relationship and impact between environmental destruction and climate change and human communities with responsibility and obligation as an artist.

​ His famous work ‘Purple (2017)’ is a work that provides an overwhelming experience to the audience through six images of evidence of climate change and human communities filmed across 10 countries. What 'purple' means is something subtle and unnatural, somewhere between red and blue. In an interview with Purple, Acompra answered that climate change is not a problem that only white people or experts in the northern hemisphere can discuss and respond to, but that anyone can participate in, talk and express.

  Purple is a 62-minute immersive six-channel video installation

  Art is also active in incorporating the climate crisis message into its works. In particular, installation artists are actively carrying out this activity by utilizing the characteristics of the genre. 

​ 

   ​Yesterday, my whole family went to church to pray for peace in Ukraine. Perhaps peace in Ukraine is the same wish of people around the world right now.

  ​War, no matter what the cause, brings countless disasters, deep wounds, pain, and trauma. ​When war breaks out, ordinary and precious daily life is destroyed and everything is messed up. Above all, the precious place of life disappears in an instant, and we lose our loved ones without a moment to say goodbye and without reason. The messages of the future, hope, and love that we constantly talked to each other disappear like ashes in the face of war.

  ​There are many beautiful scenes that I can remember. One of the scenes that warmed my heart was the father and daughter on the lawn. A father and a daughter who appeared to be about seven years old were having a picnic. The father picked clover flowers from a nearby lawn and weaved them to make a beautiful crown for his daughter. It was a scene I wanted to leave as a photograph.

​ But war destroys this beautiful fairy tale scene at once. A recent Twitter video posted by a Ukrainian citizen captured the cry of a father who had to part with his daughter to fight Russia. Why do they have to break up so innocently and for no reason? They were the people who not long ago had a happy time making pretty flower crowns on the lawn. So what did they do wrong? War is something that should never happen.

  ​I am writing this week on the theme of war and peace. Above all, with all my heart, I pray for Ukraine, which is suffering from war. I pray that the war will end soon and peace will come.