#ArtForGood – Community Building through Art
I believe art has the power to inspire, the ability to move us into new and sometimes unexpected directions. And I also believe it can do more. As artists, we can transform inspiration into the resources to support the common good. Because I believe when people possess art dedicated to a cause, we – the community, the artist and the art’s new-found owner – imbue that art with the power of social change.I’d tried donating artwork (e.g. for fund raisers) in the past, and sad to say, unsuccessfully. So here’s my idea how to convert art into community resources. As I complete the next series of my art pieces (inspired by images from places and causes in which I believe), I’ll place these for sale on the One Hundred Paintings site. All proceeds are donated to the cause paired with that piece. Buyers may elect to dedicate the donation in honor of a family member or friend they wish to recognize.
Here’s an example of how I see this working. I volunteer at local park as a forest steward, where I coordinate volunteers on reforestation projects. Over the last several years, the park’s magnificent Sword Fern population is under threat from an unknown pathogen. Here’s a recent photo of mine on the right – a Sword Fern coated in frost. I plan to create an oil pastel piece based on this photo. When I’ve completed it, I’ll post the completed piece onto this site with the hashtag #ArtForGood. All proceeds from the sale would flow to Friends of Seward Park, a non-profit organization which is working with the city to find solutions to Sword Fern die off. I will be moving more of my future art work into the #ArtForGood program. The table below shows the pieces sold thus far.
Piece | Donation | Organization |
---|---|---|
Turtles of Edwards Bay | $75 | Friends of Seward Park |
Bench Lake Sunset | $50 | Sierra Club Foundation |
rue Saint-Jean | $75 | Seattle Youth Ultimate |
Seward Park Trail | $100 | Seattle Youth Ultimate |
Tyne Pilot | $250 | Friends of Seward Park |
Hug Point Sunset | $175 | DiscNW Youth Development Fund |
Utah Juniper | $150 | DiscNW Youth Development Fund |
Float Plane | $150 | DiscNW Youth Development Fund |
Autumn Cottonwoods | $150 | DiscNW Youth Development Fund |
Sagebrush | $150 | DiscNW Youth Development Fund |
Autumn in the Tetons | $150 | DiscNW Youth Development Fund |
Utah Juniper II | $150 | DiscNW Youth Development Fund |
Calle Quetzalcóatl 118 | $150 | DiscNW Youth Development Fund |
Total | $1,775 |