Uncategorized | A Peace of My Mind

Lee Bennett, Jr.

January 9, 2021 by johnnoltner

Lee Bennet, Jr. grew up a few blocks away from Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and is a long-time member of the congregation. A retired Army officer, Lee spent several years as Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House Drug Control Policy Office and currently serves as a volunteer historian for his church. Mother Emanuel has weathered a long legacy of challenges around issues of race, including a 2015 attack by white supremacist Dylann Roof that […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: a peace of my mind, Charleston, Mother Emanuel, tragedy, whit supremacy

Taking our time

November 22, 2020 by johnnoltner

We are easing into this new lifestyle of being mobile and gathering new stories. Our month-long residency in Parkersburg, West Virginia was a model for what I hope we can do more of going forward. Of course, COVID is going to have to play out and it will impact the way we are able to engage with programming, but in this case, we were able to operate safely and remain distanced as we did our work. We spent four weeks […]

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A hitch but no trailer

September 29, 2020 by johnnoltner

We found out last week that our travel trailer will not be delivered from the factory in time for our October 3 departure. We thought this might happen. COVID-related supply chain disruption, they said. When we signed the papers, the sales person was confident the timing would work. In a follow up phone call, the business manager sounded cautiously optimistic. But starting a couple weeks ago, that optimism started fading daily for all of us. Now we are certain it’s […]

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All in

August 17, 2020 by johnnoltner

We’ve been toying with this idea for more than a year now. A Peace of My Mind’s work is out there. On the road. Everywhere. In 2019 we led programming in 20 states and on four continents. It’s good work. Mission-driven work. And more necessary every day. But every good thing has a cost. Last year Karen and I were apart for 170 nights. That’s too much. We got married because we like each other and after almost 29 years […]

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Cry Out

July 30, 2020 by johnnoltner

By now, you may have heard that A Peace of My Mind has launched a crowdfunding campaign. Cry Out: Voices calling for radical love and justice in a broken world. It’s time to gather new stories. But I’ll need your help. Our goal is to amplify the voices of people working at the leading edge of our most difficult challenges. Race, immigration, poverty and more. It’s time to interview people on the ground, working for change. We want to celebrate […]

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I can hear the streets talking

June 29, 2020 by johnnoltner

Public projection from John Noltner Photography on Vimeo. For 10 nights, we projected the stories we gathered from the George Floyd memorial. We amplified the voices of the people we encountered. We projected their portraits 20’ x 30’ on the side of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. And we climbed down off the rooftop to have conversations with the people who stopped to look. For me, it was a way to share the stories publicly in an immediate and […]

Categories: Blog, Uncategorized • Tags: George Floyd, Minneapolis, photography, portrait photography, projection, public art, stories

Maybe this time

June 3, 2020 by johnnoltner

On Monday May 25, George Floyd was killed by police at the intersection of 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis. Because the COVID-9 pandemic had caused all my programming to be cancelled, I happened to be at home, 11.6 miles to the south. On Wednesday I went to see the site where a small memorial was taking shape and on Thursday returned with an improvised portable studio, a broken heart, and one simple question: “What do you want to say?” Over […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: a peace of my mind, Black Lives Matter, blm, change, George Floyd, justice, Minneapolis, photography, protest, race

We are hungry

June 1, 2020 by johnnoltner

We are all hungry for some good news right now. Seek it out. Celebrate it. Use it as our true north and let it lead the way. But don’t turn away from the pain. Don’t dismiss the grief in some rush to return to feeling better. Lament. Sit with it. Wrestle with it. And use it to fuel a commitment to create real and lasting change. Authentic healing. A more just world. From the bottom up. I’m out of words […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: a peace of my mind, Black Lives Matter, George Floyd, Minneapolis, storytelling

I see you

May 30, 2020 by johnnoltner

I’m tired today. But I’ll go back out there. Because my tired is nothing in the face of the soul-crushing weariness I see in my brothers and sisters on the street. My tired pales when it’s held side by side with the frustration I hear in the voices of the people. My tired is no excuse when you begin to recognize the heavy burden that has been carried for days and years and decades of calling out and not being […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: a peace of my mind, George Floyd, justice, listening, Minneapolis, photography, protest, race, storytelling

Listen

May 29, 2020 by johnnoltner

On Wednesday, I went to 38th and Chicago, where George Floyd was killed by police Monday night. Yesterday, I returned with a bare studio kit, set up on the sidewalk and asked a simple question: “What do you want to say?” The memorial on the sidewalk had grown since the day before. The street was now covered in messages of grief, determination and hope. A mural of George was being painted on a wall. Cars blocked the streets. Families brought […]

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A Peace of My Mind

Building community and bridging divides through portraits and personal stories.

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Lee Bennett, Jr.

Taking our time

A hitch but no trailer

All in

Cry Out

I can hear the streets talking

Maybe this time

We are hungry

I see you

Listen