Earth Train

Junglewood

Junglewood is a new artistic community and performance art center that's currently in its planning and early construction stages at the edge of the Mamoní Valley Preserve. It was established with the mission of providing settings and programs rich in biological and cultural diversity and conducive to artistic expression in creative harmony with nature. It is a creative community that combines the performing and visual arts with conservation research and community outreach, set in the rainforest of Panama in the Mamoní Valley Preserve. Co-founded by Earth Train and Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Danilo Pérez, the Center brings together musicians, visual artists and scientists for a collaborative exploration of nature and creative expression.

Junglewood was launched in February 2009 with dramatic collaborative performances by participants from Fundación Danilo Pérez, Earth Train, students from Brandeis University, and BioMuseo - the Frank Gehry-designed museum of biodiversity now under construction in Panama City. The project is a partnership between the Fundación Danilo Pérez, Earth Train, Berklee College of Music, and Rainforest Capital. The Junglewood Center will also contribute educational resources to BioMuseo to help serve their theme of "Panama is the museum".

Programs

The Junglewood Center will offer the following unique opportunities for education and entertainment:

• Year-round instructional and practice programs for deserving young artists in the performing and visuals arts.
• Naturally inspiring settings and peer support for established and emerging artists to reflect and compose new material.
• Documentation of the sounds and sites of nature, including the original music and art forms of indigenous and early settler cultures.
• Public performances, showings, and materials celebrating the best works of the Junglewood community of artists. This will include the Junglewood Amphitheater; the quarterly online Junglewood Review (the biocultural arts and culture magazine of the neotropics); and the Junglewood Gallery with locations in the Mamoní Valley and at historic Casa Arias in Panama City.

More

The name Junglewood was inspired by Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

Click here to view a slideshow of pictures detailing the 2009 visit of Danilo Perez and his band to The Mamoní Valley Preserve. Pictures are courtesy of the Brandeis students who were part of Glenn Adelson's Restoration Ecology Class in February 2009.