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“Poetry is knowledge, salvation, power, abandonment. An operation capable of changing the world, poetic activity is revolutionary by nature; a spiritual exercise; it is a means of interior liberation. Poetry reveals this world; it creates another.” – Octavio Paz

Illuminating the Intersection of Art and Mindfulness

ENGAGING THE SENSES FOUNDATION was created to honor the senses; to support and sustain the ability to see, smell, taste, touch, and hear our way to a consciously lived life. Our main emphasis is on waking up through the art of poetry, that “universal language that the heart holds with nature and itself” which can fulfill our primal human need for beauty and serve as a portal to mindfulness, inspiration, connection, and transformation.

What We Do

Now, as perhaps never before, we must turn to the great arts like poetry to remind us of our best selves and help guide us through the often bewildering social and political landscape. By offering dramatic films based on the lives of great poets, poetry documentaries, and mindfulness teachings that prepare us for the truths contained in poetry, along with direct support of literary organizations and presentations that bring poems and poets to underserved communities, schools, town halls, and libraries, Engaging the Senses Foundation is committed to the luminosity of the human spirit as it engages with the world through “art [as] a form of active prayer.”

“I think in times of cataclysmic change, poetry is the only language that will do. It’s the only language that speaks to the horror and the wonder, the reality and the mystery. It can hold both questions and answers at the same time without giving a pat solution or a self-help formula. Your favorite poem might be an outcry of rage that frees your voice to fill every inch of your body, mind, and being. Or it might be a poem of the inner life that returns you to a sense of wholeness. The great mystic Hildegard of Bingen said, ‘When the inner and the outer are wedded, revelation occurs.’” – Kim Rosen

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What's New

For Artists, Poets, Writers, Musicians: You Have Our Profound Support and Appreciation

As a non-profit foundation dedicated to championing the arts and to elevating artists who dedicate their lives to interpreting the world through a creative lens, Engaging the Senses Foundation wants to express our empathy for all of the losses and heartache that continue to climb during these difficult times.

Any Real Change Implies the Breakup of the World as One Has Always Known It

As we reflect on the overwhelmingly necessary, demonstration-led world-wide support of the Black Lives Matter movement and the horrifying incidents that have forced so many to acknowledge profound, systemic racism in the U.S., we've been remembering May of 2018 when we attended the premiere of Mississippi Requiem, a film by executive producer Engaging the Senses Foundation.

Please Join Us in Enjoying the Offerings of Skirball at Home

We are always inspired by Skirball Cultural Center, our wonderful partner in the arts, poetry, and mindfulness. Since 1996, Los Angeles' Skirball has been a place of meeting "guided by the Jewish tradition of welcoming the stranger," and by democratic ideals of freedom and equality.

Native Arts & Cultures Foundation (NACF) is amongst our deeply valued partners in robustly supporting the arts as a means toward healing and preserving indigenous cultures.