An Overview of Mil-Tree’s Offering to Non-profits
Reading time 3 minutes
Recreate some or all of the modals in the Tapestries of Transformation program (the retreat, workshops and the performance) in your community.
In this toolkit, with input from the Mil-Tree executive team, and artistic director, Christian Camargo, and writer, Gabriel Hart, we provide lessons from each step of our experience and offer tips to make your process as smooth as possible.
Borrow Our Script
In addition to the guidance in this toolkit, we are offering our script, Tapestry: A Play in One Act, to non-profits to adapt to their communities. This approach, as opposed to writing your own script, saves time, effort, and money while still fostering healing and deep relationship building for participants.
- Read on to see what makes The Tapestry script right for you.
- For a copy of the script, email us using the contact page.
- If you write your own play, visit chapter 8 of this toolkit to learn from our experience.
Expertly Crafted Performance
Drawing from decades of collective experience, our production of Tapestry offers participants and audiences a deeply moving transformative experience.
Under the creative leadership of Christian Camargo, an actor, director and producer trained at Julliard, and renowned for his work across television, film and theater, and alongside the many contributions of the creative team, including Gabriel Hart, the story writer, we were able to create an exemplary script and performance, which non-profits are free to borrow.
A Universal Story
The narrative for Tapestry sprang from the lived experiences of veterans in our local community, as shared in an expertly facilitated retreat (see chapter 7). Yet, the story reflects the wider veteran community beyond the Morongo Basin. Nonprofits serving veteran and active duty populations across the country can successfully utilize this story.
Isolation is a broad problem with which the civilian population is also contending. The Tapestry script will provide participants and audiences alike a relatable, imaginative, healing story born from this moment in our collective history.
For a copy of the script, email us using the contact page.
Adapting Tapestry to Your Community
While the overarching story of Tapestry is universal, it is told through a local lens. By working with artists deeply rooted in Joshua Tree, our performance bore the indelible mark of our specific community.
Consider adapting Tapestry to emulate your local community. This may be a change to dialogue, or even a character. Here in the Mojave Desert, the coyote is a meaningful symbol; maybe in your community a swan holds more meaning.
Remember to play. Play is at the heart of the Tapestry production and performance, and we encourage you to play with the story. Some areas with which to play might include:
-Original music
-Set Design
-Costumes
-Lighting and Sound
-Video design
Tap into the resources in your community for your very own edition of Tapestry.
A Word About Program Management
Mil-Tree’s executive director, Cheryl Montelle, and president of the board, Pat Wallis, served as executive producers and worked in close collaboration with a stage manager (Mike Lipsitz) and a program manager (Marie Bobin). These roles were integral from the beginning; they participated in early discussions and helped shape the project’s direction.
The producers and program manager were instrumental in writing and organizing the grant, ensuring all elements were in place. These roles involved having essential business conversations, coordinating participants, and managing the budget. As the project evolved, we adapted to changes, addressed new needs and keept everything aligned.
Proactive involvement from the outset was key to maintaining the program’s momentum and achieving our goals.
Getting Started
To get started, review the different sections of this toolkit to see how we created each element of the Tapestries of Transformation program. Let this inspire your own plans. Reach out to us on the contact tab for assistance.
