This is last minute and specific to a local area, but Photowalking Utah has been asked to photograph the Utah Chapter of the National MS Society’s Walk MS this Saturday, April 24, 2010.
Photowalking Utah is a group for anyone interested in photography, regardless of skill level or what kind of camera you have. For more details on this event and how to get involved, visit the post at Photowalking Utah’s web site.
I’ve finally come across an example of illustrators and sculptors using their talents for specific causes. If you hear of any, feel free to pass them along so we can share them!
Doctors and Derrieres is a unique fundraising event in its 5th year where medical students pose nude for talented local artists and sculptors. Art pieces in diverse mediums celebrating the human body are then donated by each artist to be auctioned off at the main event. This years silent art auction event will take place on April 30th, 2010 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Enterprise Square (10230 Jasper Ave), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Money raised from this event goes towards an Emergency Social Health Fund, a community-led grassroots initiative in rural El Salvador that provides health care in underserved areas. Doctors and Derrieres is hosted by Change For Children, Christian Based Communities of El Salvador ( CEB’S ), and UofA medical students. Along with donated support from the Harcourt House.
When a devastating earthquake hit Haiti earlier this year, there was no shortage of photographers that arrived to document the aftermath of this tragedy. Photographer Jeremy Cowart instinctively wanted to visit Haiti as well, and he knew they didn’t need any more photographers to document the death and destruction left in the wake of the earthquake.
“For days I watched as the television flashed images of gloom and doom… dead bodies, crumbled buildings… It just felt like a heartless display of numbers and statistics.”
After spending some time thinking over how he might be able to contribute and help affect the situation positively, he packed his bags and flew to Port-Au-Prince. He was able to both directly help in physical relief efforts in Haiti while he was there, as well as create a project that would affect positive change in multiple ways.
Today Jeremy unveiled his project, called Voices of Haiti. What Jeremy did was to interact with, and give voice to, individuals who survived the quake. The result is a moving series of photos with messages from the people of Haiti which inspire love and hope.
In addition to exerting a positive influence through the messages shared in these images, prints are being sold to raise money for relief efforts in Haiti. Specifically, 100% of the net proceeds (minus the cost of printing and mailing) will go directly to purchase tents for the Home in Haiti project.
Check out Jeremy’s beautiful photos and the powerful messages they convey, share and support this cause if you can, and if nothing else, take from this example your own capacity as an artist to affect change through your talents and the influence of your art.
Design21 Social Design Network has put out a call for entries into a competition called “Game Changers”. The idea is to design a game which can help individuals create meaningful change in their lives or inspire new behaviors.
There are cash prizes for the top two entries, and above all, this is a great way to focus creative energy on helping create positive change in the lives of others. For more information on the contest, rules, and to enter the competition, head over to Design21.
The Haiti Poster Project, curated by the organizers of the 2005 Hurricane Poster Project and 2007 So-Cal Fire Poster Project, seeks limited edition sets of posters from designers and artists around the world. The posters will be sold online to raise money for relief efforts via Doctors Without Borders.
The need in Haiti is great, and this is an opportunity for you, as an artist, to do what you love and make a difference doing so. The deadline is May 1, so visit the project web site for more details on what you can do to get involved!
The tragedy in Haiti continues to inspire calls to action from the art community. This time the Help-Portrait team is calling together not just photographers but all visual artists to join in an effort to raise funds for relief efforts in Haiti.
The Help-Portrait team is inviting all photographers, as well as fellow visual artists (Painters, Sculptors, Illustrators, etc.) to come together on Valentine’s Day in three weeks and hold a worldwide art show “opening” benefiting the people of Haiti.
“So far the social media community has been responding to this devastation as well as celebrities, churches and relief organizations. We believe it’s our time as the art community to respond,” shares Cowart. “We’ve heard about many individual artists doing what they can to give to Haiti, but we believe in the strength of numbers and that if we all join in this together, the impact will be far greater as we saw in December.”
Read the full press release here to find out more about how you can get involved and help make a difference.
A great example of artists using their work to support a cause directly:
In response to the earthquake and subsequent needs in Haiti, several photographers have joined in donating photos to create a collection of images as a fundraiser. It’s titled Onè Respe, and MagCloud has generously agreed to pay printing costs for this collection, so all funds collected go directly to the American Red Cross International Response Fund for Haiti relief.
Vincent Laforet recently blogged about how art can be used serve others in ways not originally intended by the artist. He explains that while he’s been skeptical of using it to promote one’s self, he’s totally sold on using one’s influence as an artist via social media to share with others, and more importantly, help others.
The best thing about the web and/or art – is that it can take on a much bigger meaning than you / your initial intent ever purported to do. Art can exceed our intent as mere artists – and it can (or perhaps other people’s interpretations can) lead to things that we (as artists) never even dared to imagine.
You know what’s better? When that same piece of “art” (a.k.a.: your photograph) can somehow benefit someone else.
Read Vincent’s post and check out the One Case Auction for Breast Cancer, put on by the Milk Gallery and Resource Magazine. Vincent is just one of many artists whose work is being auctioned to benefit individuals who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and lack the means for treatment.
Remember, you don’t need a gallery or a sponsor to use art to raise funds, but collaborating with other artists can dramatically increase the amount of good you can accomplish!
