Holly Near... Art & Activism

This April's New Living Expo will present over 100 speakers, including singer and activist Holly Near.

Holly Near is a unique combination of entertainer, teacher and activist. An immense vocal talent, Near's career as a singer has been profoundly defined by an unwillingness to separate her passion for music from her passion for human dignity. She is a skilled performer and an outspoken ambassador for peace who brings to the stage an integration of world consciousness, spiritual discovery, and theatricality. The unifying and healing nature of her work explains the diverse nature of the groups who call on her to speak and sing.

In 2004, Holly joined Eve Ensler, Jane Fonda, Sally Fields, Christine Latti, and noted Mexican performers, in the V-Day march in Juarez, Mexico to protest the uninvestigated killing of hundreds of young women. In Toledo, Ohio, she sat witness to the testimony of women reporting rape and other violence against women. Holly helped raise funds for 10,000 Kites, a collaborative anti-war project between young people from Israel and Palestine who flew kites over the wall that separates them.

Fiercely independent, Near was one of the first women in the U.S. to go it alone when she founded Redwood Records in 1972. Near's vision for Redwood was to promote and produce music by politically conscious artists from around the world, a mission it fulfilled for nearly 20 years. Finding herself at the forefront of a movement, Near worked for world peace, multi-cultural consciousness, and feminism. The world was her university and social change movements informed her songs.

Near has released over 20 recordings, including the seminal Imagine My Surprise, and continues to write and sing political songs with the grace, humor, and maturity that come from doing social change work for over 30 years.