At the Charter for Compassion, we celebrate the arts as expressions of our humanity, and we are interested in how the arts can become a language that can reach across cultures to connect us. The work of artists encourages us to see different realities, to understand, and to empathize with one another. Art—in clay, in paint, in textiles, in film, in words, in photography, in music—invites us to respond from our inner core and sometimes to act on that response.

The creators of art and those who experience the arts in seeing, hearing, thinking, and doing, participate in a collaboration that can connect us to other human beings at a profound level. We learn of the pain, the dreams, the regrets, and the perceptions of people who have lived before us, people who live in distant parts of the globe, and people who have their own unique languages, customs, religious beliefs, and social values. That knowledge ignites understanding, empathy, and a realization of the common humanity we share. It is that image of our interconnection with all beings who share our beautiful planet that can also move us to compassionate action.