The Honorable James Kaddo

2011 Ellis Island Medal of Honor Recipient  

Each year the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Foundation, Inc. [NECO] presents the Ellis Island Medals of Honor.  This year, the Honorable James Kaddo, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge and our own Chairman of the Board of Directors is being honored, marking the event's 25th anniversary on Saturday, May 7th. 

Designed to pay homage to the immigrant experience, as well as for individual achievement, medals are awarded to U.S. citizens from various ethnic backgrounds.  The honorees are remarkable Americans who exemplify outstanding qualities in both their personal and professional lives, while continuing to preserve the richness of their particular heritage.  NECO honors them because they create a better world for all of us in the future by the work they do today.

Congratulations Judge Kaddo on this outstanding award from all your friends at the House of Lebanon.  We are indeed proud of you! 

 Ellis Island Medals of Honor 

The National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations   

"Established in 1986 by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO), the Ellis Island Medals of Honor pay tribute to the ancestry groups that comprise America's unique cultural mosaic.  Each year the Ellis Island Medals of Honor ceremony celebrates the immigrant experience on Ellis Island, through which millions of immigrants passed on their way to a new life in America.

Both the United States Senate and House of Representatives have officially passed resolutions recognizing the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, which ranks among this country's most prestigious awards.  Each year, Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients are listed in the Congressional Record, honoring those who have made enduring contributions to our nation and to the world.

NECO's mission is to create the world of the future today, by honoring our diverse past, advocating for positive change in the present, and building strong leaders for the future.  The foundation partners with a wide variety of organizations, both national and international.  It sponsors life-saving surgery for children world-wide, assists global emergency relief efforts, promotes diverse ethnic cultural events, supports our elderly, produces educational materials and programs that mentor youth to become the leaders of tomorrow.

NECO made possible the constructions of two impressive entrance stones welcoming millions of visitors to the historic Great Hall on Ellis Island.  NECO is a co-underwriter of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum's Peopling of America Gallery and is proud to be a part of the successful campaign by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation for the American Immigrant Wall of Honor.  NECO continues its commitment to the on-going restoration and expansion of the Peopling of America Project.

The level of NECO's commitment and the degree of determination to make a positive impact of peoples, especially children's lives, continues to rise with each partnership we form and each life we save.   

The organizations and people affiliated with NECO consistently raise the expectations and standards of excellence, generosity and humanity.  We continue to move forward together and reach out to the world, changing and healing it along the way.  The journey continues.   The possibilities are endless."

~~Statement from the 2011 NECO Ellis Island Medals of Honor Invitation  

 HOL Artists' Spotlight   

Doris Bittar      

Artist Doris Bittar's ethnicity is primarily Lebanese, but she was born in Baghdad to parents of Lebanese and Palestinian descent. Her father was born and raised in Egypt.  She graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the State University of New York and received her Masters of Fine Arts at the University of California San Diego.  Bittar lives in San Diego with her husband and two sons.

She often travels to the broader Middle East to do her work, and includes a visit to Lebanon each time. Bittar calls herself a pattern archivist and often writes about Middle Eastern art and calligraphy for Al Jadid, Canvas and other cultural magazines.  Examples of Bittar's art and projects will be shown in Berlin this summer at the Institute for Foreign and Cultural Affairs for the exhibit "Political Patterns."  Bittar just received a Puffin grant for a new project called "Axis Orientalis" that addresses geo-historical factors between Germany and Turkey and hopes to launch it in Berlin in 2012. She has won a California Arts Council Grant among other recognitions and is featured in New Vision: Arab Contemporary Art in the 21^st Century, a Thames and Hudson publication. Bittar has participated in international biennials including winning an award at the Alexandria Biennial in 2009-10. 

She teaches at California State University San Marcos, taught at the American University of Beirut in 2005, and the University of California San Diego.  She loves to explore cities by walking until she is exhausted and she loves to hike in the mountains with her family.

The artists in the House of Lebanon welcomed Bittar with warmth and support at several openings she had in the Los Angeles area.  "What really impresses me about HOL is everyone's attitude and approach to life. I am a bit mixed up and I often feel like I am ethnically inauthentic, somehow, but not with this group of lovely people. I feel like HOL is part of my extended family. I have found that all are open, generous and supportive in the spirit of collegiality and collectivism."

New Installations:
"Tec Tang Tarab," Introduction to the dulcimoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUqV1hPSqX8
"Tec Tang Tarab," Opening Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCq-jnanHx4&feature=related 
Web site:  www.DorisBittar.com

The "dulcimoon," a new 87-string mucical instrument was designed by Doris Bittar and tuned by microtonal musician Jonathan Glasier.  The dulcimoon is part of the interactive piece "Tarab Soundings" that was shown at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, California from August 14 - December 30, 2010.  It is tuned to three different cultural scales:  the Aztecs, the Chinese and the Arab.  "Tarab Soundings" will be reconfigured and shown in Berlin this summer at the Institute for Foreign and Cultural Affairs.

Camo Flag will be shown in Berlin this summer at the Institute of Foreign and Cultural Affairs.