A new year, a new circle around the sun, another ring on the tree, another marker of time. 

This winter, I went to a remote island with my family, took off my watch, turned off my phone, mostly, and did a lot of laughing, sleeping in, and hanging out in the water. Pressure valve released.

I continue to spend a lot of time thinking about how trees help us visualize time. During this new year, each tree on Earth will grow a new ring. A new ring of possibilities. So much can and will happen. So much we can make happen in our lives and our communities. And there are also many things we do not have control over. 

Thinking about trees can help put things in perspective. Big events loom large in our lives, but for the old-growth redwoods, our lives constitute just around 80 tree rings out of thousands. I had the opportunity to give a talk on my artwork and hear about all the new research at the famous Tree-Ring Research Laboratory at the University of Arizona in November, where dendrochronology, the science of tree ring dating, was discovered by A.E. Douglass in the early 1900s. To be at the center where all these exciting ideas came to life, and seeing the tree ring below, took my breath away. I was both thrilled and in awe all at once, as the photo seems to capture.

The tree’s center formed thousands of years ago. This idea has inspired me to imagine an ever-expanding tree that has been alive in the deep past and will live deep into the future, far beyond our own lifetimes. 

Thousand-year-old trees also inspired me to create artworks that provide perspective on where we are within the larger story of America and, really, humanity. We have no idea what is going to happen.

In this moment when around 50% of voting Americans want one direction for the country for the next four rings, and 50% want another, it's good to remember that we are half the country and we're not going anywhere. I appreciate those who may be reading this may not have voted as I did; I'm glad you're still here. We are one country and we are all in this together.  But as the brilliant Yale historian Tim Snyder reminds us in the first lesson in his powerful, short book On Tyranny, “Do Not Obey In Advance.” 

Here’s what I plan to do instead—and how you can join us.

My Let it Ripple 501c3 studio team and Dr. Nancy O’Reilly of Women Connect4Good invite you to host what we are calling a We Are Here Gathering in your home or online with your friends as alternative programming for Jan 20, Inauguration Day. It is also MLK Day. These gatherings are happening in homes all over the country—including in Arizona, California, D.C., Florida, Illinois, New York, North and South Carolina— and we would love for you to join us.

Here’s how it works: We'll provide four of my short films which we updated for this moment to give perspective on the events of today as well as reminders of what connects us all. The films include We Are Here, 50/50, 30,000 Days, and A Declaration of Interdependence. We'll also provide discussion questions, and a digital invitation. You invite around 10 people over to your home or organize a zoom, any time on Jan 20. If at your home, make it a potluck. Simple. Gather. I am a believer in good things happen when we gather. 

Sign up to host one in your home here.  And you can help us in these efforts by donating here.

Some Upcoming Events

If you’ve been meaning to check out Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative or you're in LA, some good dates where Ken and I will be there for our exhibition Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time & Technology at the Skirball are: The Festival of the Trees at our exhibition at the Skirball on Feb 2 and for Frieze Art Fair in LA, Feb 21. More details coming soon.

Then for those of you who live near me in the Bay Area, I'll have an open studio overlooking the houseboats in Sausalito on Saturday, March 8th, 2 to 5pm. RSVP here.

Ken was just on Dax Shepard's podcast Armchair Expert to discuss AI and much more. The episode was released today and so fun to listen to.

If you're looking for a new ritual to try in 2025 to give you more time, creativity and connection, I recommend trying to turn off the screens one day a week as I've done now for 15 years. You turn off the world and turn on yourself: my favorite day of the week. It is the day I feel most connected to myself, my family, and my creative thoughts. In this world that is trying to dictate what you feel, think, and want most of the time, it’s powerful to reclaim 24 hours for your own mind and space in the real world here on Earth. I'll be giving a talk on my book on this subject 24/6 and doing a free workshop this Sunday at Google. I know the irony in that;)

And speaking of time and space and Earth…

Here is one more thought I will leave you with: over a million Earths could fit into the volume of the sun. This fact blew my mind, so much so that I needed to make an artwork about it.

 Over a Million Earths Can Fit Into the Sun
 mixed media lightbox and miniature sculpture

So on this Earth, so much smaller than the sun but 4x bigger than the moon, I wish for many things for the tree ring of 2025:

Hostages returned, and a road to peace in the Middle East, where Israelis and Palestinians both feel like they have a safe home. In America, strong communities around your center circle, your family and friends, locally with our neighbors, continue to push for a more fair and just world, staying strong in our values, staying connected to those we disagree with by continuing to try to focus on the things we all agree on. 

To love, friends, family, community, and remembering all of us are Earthlings, living on this planet, one-millionth the size of the sun.

Those of you in LA as those wildfires burn, thinking of you and hope you are safe.  

Love,

Tiffany

PS: Our eldest daughter Odessa is about to graduate from college in cognitive science…and is taking a gap year before she applies to graduate school, which she is calling a Year of Possibilities. So if any of you know of interesting job opportunities in Paris, please let me know, to pass along. Odessa's newsletter is a peek into her glorious mind. Throwing it out there here because I know those of you who receive this newsletter live in all parts of the Earth. Anything is possible.

In this month's newsletter, shining a light on the following: SF Art Week with Fog Design + Art, Karl, Clare Rojas at Jessica Silverman at Fog, Michail Michailov, Madeleine Fitzpatrick + Evan Shively at Minnesota Street Projects, Leonora Carrington at Wendi Norris, and Donna Dodson; films including Sugar Babies, April and Amanda, Pee-wee as Himself, and Co-existence My Ass at the Sundance Film Festival, The Teen Brain, Sabbath Queen, Counted Out, and Eno; books and readings from Timothy Snyder, Selma Holo, and Douglas Rushkoff; comedy from my brother-in-law Albert Brooks; Flora Grubb; Shmoné; support Allies for Allies, the Mallory Gaston Foundation, and Headlands Center for the Arts; and the new Broadway musical Redwood in NYC.

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Ken joined Dax Shepard to talk about AI, art and other issues in a really fun discussion for Armchair Expert, just released today. Listen here.

FOG Design + Art Fair at Fort Mason is always such a fantastic gathering of art, design and great people.  A great art-filled launch of the new year.

The inaugural iteration of Karl opens January 17, 6-9 pm in Levi's Plaza. (That name keeps cracking me up. If Sundance has Slamdance, Fog now has Karl.) Karl is a collaborative project uniting galleries and local arts organizations for a pop-up exhibition, highlighting contemporary artists working in California today.

I love the whimsy and energy of local artist Clare Rojas's work. She will be showing at Jessica Silverman Gallery's booth at FOG Design + Art. 

Ken and I have our tix to the US debut of Michail Michailov's performance piece Self-Brainwashing at Minnesota Street Project. Can't wait. Get tickets here.

Don't miss Madeleine Fitzpatrick + Evan Shively's powerful and playful exhibition at the Jones Institute at Minnesota Street. Madeleine's moving paintings and Evan's literal moving sculptures make a great show.

This upcoming show of Leonora Carrington at Wendi Norris Gallery exploring myth making looks stunning.  

Love this artwork by Donna Dodson, a new friend in Boston, which features life-size chess pieces depicting all-female representations of cephalopods battling cetaceans.

The Sundance Film Festival means so much to me, my premieres there, life highlights. While I will be here in SF during SF Art Week, I will be watching films online. You can do that now. They have a digital pass.  Go in person or online. Shout-out to my friends whose films will be shown: Rachel Fleit's Sugar Babies, Zackary Drucker's April and Amanda, Matt Wolf's Pee-wee as Himself, and Co-existence My Ass executive produced by Libby Lenkinski.

It was great to screen the The Teen Brain online for Let's Talk Marin, followed by a discussion with adolescent brain experts Dr. Ken Ginsburg, Ellen Galinsky PhD, and Dr. Michael Rich. Ken's and my daughter Blooma was the teen representation on the panel. If you missed the event, you can watch the recording here.

Sandi Dubowski's film Sabbath Queen about Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is brilliant. If you're in the Bay Area, see it at the Roxie in SF this Friday night and on Sat, Jan 11 at 3:45 pm, when I'll be interviewing the director, Sandi, about the film for the Q & A. More info and tickets here.

This compelling documentary uses math to investigate issues including political polarization, racial and economic inequity, a global pandemic, and climate change.

Looking forward to seeing this documentary about visionary artist Brian Eno. Each version of the film is different. This is also at the Roxie. Going on Saturday night! Love Eno. 

This book could not be more important or timely. A big thank you to Selma Holo who recommended I reread this book in light of everything. 

Selma Holo is a brilliant curator who helped make the Getty PST Skirball show happen. I am loving her new book on Visual Arts & Human Flourishing.mn

Highly recommend reading this essay on the state of things by my good friend of 30 years, Douglas Rushkoff. Rushkoff, it's been that long!

Can't wait for this tribute to my hilarious brother-in-law Albert Brooks in SF on Jan 21st.

Flora Grubb feels more like an art gallery of plants then anything else. It is literally the place I always request to go on my birthday. If you have never been, it's heavenly. There are stores in SF and LA. If you have been, time to go back:)

Shmoné is a fantastic Michelin-starred restaurant serving fresh, inventive Israeli food in NYC.  It's our favorite splurge in NYC.

Allies for Allies is an organization that provides resources for parents⁄guardians and caregivers who support neurodivergent individuals or those with intellectual disabilities. Learn more and support their work here.

The Mallory Gaston Foundation is a nonprofit in Sausalito that provides underserved youth, ages 17-30, with the tools, resources, and opportunities to pursue careers in the health and fitness industry.  Ken and I take a class with Mallory and his apprentices on Saturdays and I highly recommend! Learn more and support their work here.

Headlands Center for the Arts is a vital local institution doing great work. Ken and I loved our artist-in-residencies there! Learn more and support here.

Broadway. Redwoods. All in one! We were connected last year because of our similar passions in trees and I cannot wait to see this new Broadway musical, Redwoods!

Join me for a book talk and free workshop at Google in person this Sunday in the Peninsula, Jan 12 1-3 pm. RSVP here.

To possibilities in 2025,

xo

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