LIPSTiCK TrACeZ

With a wealth of innovative art events and exhibitions playing out in cities across the country, it's a  good week/weekend for culture vultures to to be inspired while feasting on so much creativity.

After weeks of anticipation, the MANIFESTEQUALITY gallery opened to the public this week-drawing hundreds of artists, collectors, activists and curious observers with hundreds of original works of art, live music performances, and special guest appearances-to raise awareness around the Equal Rights Movement...The multi-day event, produced by the team responsible for the MANIFESTHOPEexhibitions/campaigns at the Democratic National Convention '08 and the Presidential Inauguration '09), culminates this weekend with a closing night party but the spirit around the cause will undoubtedly live on.

Red Bull's ninth annual Art of Can exhibition opened this week in Miami-featuring 47 original pieces of art that have been created with and/or inspired by the company's trademark blue and silver can.  The gallery, populated with  jury-selected creations by artists from around the world, is open to the public through March 14th in South Beach.

In New York, where the  flurry of excitement around the 75th Whitney Biennial is still going strong, art lovers will find themselves in 7th heaven this weekend with a bombardment of art and design events including The Armory Show, SCOPE New York, and the VOLTA show.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user Orí

http://www.refresheverything.com/blog/2010/03/05/events-arts-culture-3/

Divine intervention swayed Jennifer Howell's path from aspiring filmmaker to admired philanthropist from the moment she set foot in Los Angeles. Not long after moving west, Howell returned to her hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi to celebrate the life of a childhood friend whose bout with Leukemia had exposed him to the isolated experience of a sterile hospital ward. Fresh from film school, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was a greater purpose for her creative talents, and she rounded up some of her artist friends to share their time and talents with adolescent in-patients at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.

Now, over 12 years later, Howell's non-profit organization, The Art of Elysium, facilitates artistic workshops for children battling serious medical conditions at more than a dozen hospitals between LA and New York. I spoke with Howell in the weeks leading up to AOE's annual Pieces of Heaven fundraiser, about her personal inspiration, enduring motivation and advice for aspiring philanthropists...

What inspired you to start AOE?

In 1997 a dear friend of mine had relapsed with Leukemia. [There was] a little boy he had met while being treated at Vanderbilt. This little boy was left in the hospital room all day by himself- not because his parents were bad parents but they had other siblings to take care of and had jobs. So this child was left unattended for the majority of his stay. I kept thinking, "what can I do?" So in August of '97, I got together a group of 23 artists- sculptors, painters, writers, guitar players- all of these artists willing to share their creative talents with the children.

We started with Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. I got to see the full circle of the impact. I got to see how happy it made the children and how it brightened their day and their lives and I also got to see how it transformed the artists. They would walk out saying, "when can I come back in; what else can I do?" It really helped their creative process as well. We would like to be in every city where there's a child in a hospital bed and an artist and community willing to work with those children. We bridge the gap between artist communities, and children in hospitals.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a non-profit?

Research what is already out there. There are so many wonderful non-profits out there that might umbrella an idea as opposed to starting a whole new charity. I did a lot of research on what was happening in the hospitals with artists and when I started developing this it was because there really wasn't anything else like this out there. Now that we've been around for twelve years, we've gotten a lot of calls that have really helped us grow. Michael Muller is a photographer who wanted to start a program called Kids Clicking Kids, which would only deal with photography and children. We've umbrellaed that idea - which is great because now our programming expands and but it's still its own program- it's Kids Clicking Kids within the Art of Elysium. He didn't have to go and start a separate non-profit. It's helpful to have experience working with non-profits to see how it works internally. Getting the support that you need to facilitate your mission is hard and marketing that idea to recruit people is a big challenge in the non-profit world.

You've been successful with enlisting the help of celebrities, which is something that must be the "holy grail" of having a non-profit.

The celebrities who are involved literally came from that organic artist word-of-mouth process. We never said, "OMG, we're going to find celebrities to get involved." We're based in LA so I think that's also been very helpful. I think the first celebrity who ever came in was Jeremy Sisto. That was because a photographer who'd been coming in was a childhood friend with Jeremy. Jeremy did a music workshop and told Ethan Embry. Then Ethan came in and told someone else.

Yeah, it seems like the celebrities involved are not just slapping their name on a PSA. They're actually going in there and doing this great thing.

It seems like the return on investment is so much more profound because the artists are not just giving money. They're giving their time.

What do you see this do for the kids and how have you seen it transform the volunteers?

It gives these children freedom of choice in an environment where they often don't have choices. They're told what medicine to take. They're told what time they're going to go through rehab treatment. They're told what time they have chemo. Their entire experience at the hospital is regimented. Whenever our artists come in, they're given an ability to express themselves and to choose- whether it's choosing a color to paint with or choosing a song or choosing a word to write. To have choice in that kind of environment is absolutely crucial to the wellbeing of the children and to their healing process.

The community of artists we have going in, without fail, all ask to come back. It changes them at such a spiritual level- to be able to connect to a child and see the power and impact of their own creativity and their voice and the healing power of art- their art.

FROM REFRESH EVERYTHING

Art can do amazing things. It can inspire, educate, evoke emotion, and transcend generations, genres, and cultures.  Of course, we couldn't possibly list all of the ways that art transforms the soul but a handful of this month's Pepsi Grant applicants seek funding for creative programs to release the healing power of the arts and cultural creativity.

The Kardon Institute for Arts in Philadelphia has applied for a $5K grant to support a Dance & Art Therapyprogram for children with autism and their families; In the $25K category...Cynthia Randolph-an elementary school teacher in Pasadena Texas-would like to launch a month-long summer program toexpose children with special needs to local arts and culture. Mrs. Denise Dinsmore wants to use her expertise in arts education (and a $50k Pepsi Refresh grant) to launch the ART FOR YOUR HEARTproject, which will provide art therapy for those living with serious medical conditions, disabilities and/or survivors of traumatic circumstances. The Colorado-based SMART Foundation, should they win in the $250 category, will use grant money to produce The CONCERT 4 AUTISM and stream it worldwide.

Discover other great Pepsi Refresh Project ideas and vote today for your favorite projects to refresh the world.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user timtom.ch

Despite  unprecedented deficits and pending budget cuts, (or, more likely, because of them) state legislatures,  local municipalities and government organizations are taking note of the social and financial benefits associated with a community's strong creative economy.  A new study released by the Colorado Council on the Arts points to the importance of Colorado's creative industries; which, as the state's 5th largest employment sector, provides more jobs than defense, security, agribusiness, food processing and technology...

The report, "Colorado: State-of-the-Art, Key Findings from The State of Colorado's Creative Economy," mirrors the attitudes of state lawmakers who recently announced the 2010 introduction of three bills intended to further spur growth in this area.

Similarly, this online article, which references the positive community benefits associated with strong cultural arts programming in Tennessee, highlights recently-proposed legislation that if passed will benefit artists and arts organizations in the Greater Knoxville area.

In Rhode Island where, "2,000 small businesses in the arts employ 12,000 people," the state's Lt. Governor has initiated a month-long campaign that implores citizens "buy local" to support and grow their creative economy.

Image (cc) by Flickr user fisserman

http://www.refresheverything.com/blog/2010/02/19/the-rise-of-the-creative-economy/

While not everyone can afford to forgo a significant portion of their salary in the name of art, it's inspiring to hear about the few people who can, and do just that.  Leonard Slatkin, music director of Detroit'sSymphony Orchestra recently announced that he will sacrifice a month's worth of salary for the 2010-2011 concert season...

to help alleviate a budget crunch.  What's more, Slatkin, who assumed his current role in 2008, has agreed to extend his contract through two more seasons.

Conspicuous consumption has long been ingrained in our culture. We're often too quick to throw things away-eschewing the careful frugalities of past generations-but a handful of Pepsi Refresh grant applicants in the Arts & Culture category are striving to turn their generation's trash into another's treasure.

A mechanical design engineer with a focus in robotics surfing wants to clean up the beaches of San Diegoand then use certain cast-away items (like broken surf boards) to create "elegant" wall art...If he wins a $5,000 grant, it will go towards new trash receptacles for area beaches, art materials, and project promotion.

Another submitter would like to launch a zero-waste public art program in their community, where scraps from one project are used to create another work of art.

And Kaitlin Gallagher, a contender in the $25K grant category, wants to start The Artist Re-Sourceprogram-which "will consist of a store, studio, and gallery dedicated to re-sourcing items, destined for landfills, into "recycled" art." projects.

Discover other great Pepsi Refresh Project ideas and vote today for your favorite projects to refresh the world.