About Archives - Sunnylands

In partnership with the Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE) since 2022, Sunnylands has provided the setting for teacher-centered workshops that promote emotional awareness, trauma healing, and building resilience.

Taking teachers out of their day-to-day classroom environment, this award-winning program promotes a shared recognition that teachers need creative mental health support; and places to be heard and to heal by using a combination of conversation models and hands-on experiences.

The conversation portion of the workshop includes Talking Circles or guided Emotions Education.

Talking circles are spiritual ceremony, guided by trained tribal healers. The ceremony creates space for teachers to process through feelings without judgment or interference.
Emotions education reframes our view of emotions from something happening to us, to seeing how they are tools or signals, and much more diverse than happy, sad, or mad. A trained facilitator guides teachers through identifying the thousands of intricate emotions they may experience. Through this process, participants work to listen to their emotions and utilize them as tools to heal.

Utilizing the concept of the Chatham House Rules meeting model, participant privacy is protected, and a safe and supportive atmosphere is created.

Workshop participants pose together with their horticultural creations in the Sunnylands gardens

Following conversations, the group is given space in the Sunnylands gardens to process and then gather for a shared meal.

The second half of the day brings the group to a hands-on practice of mindfulness art or horticultural therapy activity, such as creating temporary nature sculptures, mini succulent gardens, or lavender sachet bags.

The group then shares final thoughts on how to support one another moving forward so that connections made during the workshop are carried into their professional lives.

For upcoming workshop opportunities, please visit the RCOE website at https://www.rcoe.us/schools-districts/educators.

Please note, these workshops are closed events designed for Riverside County K-12 educators only.

For more information about Sunnylands’ partnership with this program, please contact education@sunnylands.org.

Ofrendas (altars) organizations:

Calaveras (giant skulls) artists:

Her Excellency by Noelani Vargas
Alebrijes by Monserrath Zamora

Nichos (shadow boxes) artists:

Mi Templo by Bennie Alvarez. Indio, CA. @tbennieart
Amor Eterno by Daisy Baez. Thousand Palms, CA. @creepylilthing
Roses are Dead by Jack Ryan Garcia. Cathedral City, CA. Simbulan1@gmail.com
Into the Void by Kylie Knight. Palm Springs, CA. @greasextrap
Mictlān by Frank Lemus. La Quinta, CA. @lemus_frank
Untitled (Xolotl) by Clara Nieblas. Coachella, CA. @elotepreparado
Resistencia by Amarah Orantes & Tania Orozco. La Quinta, CA. @brainw3rmz
Ode to Fight Clouds by Tone Rubio. Indio, CA. @artisttone

Recognized as world-class art collectors, Walter and Leonore Annenberg acquired paintings and sculptures by many renowned artists. Their private collection, some of which is now on display at Sunnylands Center & Gardens, included sculpture by Auguste Rodin, Yaacov Agam, Alberto Giacometti, and others. Their priceless collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Paul Gauguin, were donated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City upon Walter Annenberg’s death in 2002.

The Annenbergs first brought the artistry of the Chávez Morado brothers to Rancho Mirage in 1968, less than a year after the couple went on vacation to Mexico to see the country’s modern museums and architecture. They returned with the idea of installing a copy of El Paraguas in the entry court of Sunnylands and commissioned a 20-foot, half-scale version of the fountain from the National Museum of Anthropology’s architect, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez. He enlisted the Chávez Morado brothers to create a new column for the Annenbergs’ palatial, Mayan-themed home in the Southern California desert.

Walter y Leonore Annenberg eran filántropos extraordinarios—asignaron más de 3 billones US$ en la forma de becas o donaciones a universidades grandes de investigación, hospitales, centros de servicios medicos, escuelas públicas, y organizaciones culturales y cívicas.

Durante la administración del Presidente Nixon, Sr. Annenberg sirvió entre 1969 y 1974 como el Embajador a la Corte de St. James, Gran Bretaña. Leonore, quien se graduó de Standford University, sirvió al lado de su esposo, dirigiendo la renovación de la residencia del Embajador de los Estados Unidos, La Casa Winfield, un proyecto financiado por el Sr. y la Sra. Annenberg como regalo al pueblo estadounidense. Mientras vivían en Londres, la Sra. Annenberg también fundó el American Friends of Covent Garden.

En 1951, Walter Annneberg ganó el premio distinguido Alfred I. duPont por su trabajo y innovación en televisión educativa. En 1983, le fue otorgado con el Ralph Lowell Medal por su “contribución extraordinaria a la televisión pública.” Fue honorado por varios premios incluyendo el Presdential Medal of Freedom, el Lindus Pauling Medal for Humanitarianism, y el National Medal of Arts, lo cual compartió con Leonore.

Leonore Annenberg, tal como su esposo, participaba al servicio del público a un nivel muy alto. En 1981, el Presidente Ronald Reagan la nombró como Jefa de Protocolo. La Sra. Annenberg sirvió como Jefa Emerita de la Foundation of Art and Preservation in Embassies, una organización privada y independiente, sin fines de lucro, que se estableció para ayudar al Departamento del Estado de los Estados Unidos con la adquisición y el mantenimiento de arte y decoración para las embajadas, cancillerías, y residencias de los embajadores de los Estados Unidos. Fue miembro de la Committee for the Preservation of the White House entre otros comités y juntas directivas. Por su esfuerzo filantrópico, recibió el Philadelphia Award y el Wagner Medar for Public Service, entre otros honores.

Walter and Leonore Annenberg were extraordinary philanthropists, designating more than $3 billion in grants and gifts to major research universities, hospitals, medical centers, public schools, and cultural and civic organizations.

During the Nixon administration, Mr. Annenberg served from 1969 to 1974 as Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s, Great Britain. Leonore, a graduate of Stanford University, served at her husband’s side, overseeing the renovation of the U.S. ambassador’s residence, Winfield House, a project the Annenbergs funded. While in London, Mrs. Annenberg also founded the American Friends of Covent Garden.

In 1951, Walter Annenberg won the prestigious Alfred I. duPont Award for pioneering education via television. In 1983, he received the Ralph Lowell Medal for his “outstanding contribution to public television.” Other honors include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Linus Pauling Medal for Humanitarianism, and the National Medal of Arts, which he shared with Leonore.

Leonore Annenberg, like her husband, played a major role in public service. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed her Chief of Protocol. Mrs. Annenberg served as chairman emeritus of the Foundation of Art and Preservation in Embassies, a private nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation established to assist the United States Department of State in procuring and maintaining fine and decorative art for United States embassies, chanceries, and ambassadorial residences. She was a member of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House among many other boards and committees. Her philanthropic efforts earned her the Philadelphia Award and the Wagner Medal for Public Service, among other honors.