In the early 1990s, artist-sculptor Traci Consoli left her native California to see a bit of the world. "I made a life in Tokyo, married to a Japanese guitar player, but found I was still not happy. Something was missing."
She considered going back to school, but quickly remembered how glad she had been to get OUT of school. It took time -- and some serious self-examination -- to realize that what she was missing was a sense of community: working with other people, creating, helping where help was needed, and having fun in the process.
"I missed the culture and idealism of student life. My father, an agriculture-based businessman, was against my being an eternal student. He stipulated two majors only, so eventually I settled for art and religious studies -- mainly Buddhism, Shinto and Tao. He taught me a lot about business, but more importantly how business cannot be disassociated from humanity."