Monday Spotlight:Art and Community

Art fascinates me.  I’ve never been one to be able to draw, paint, sew, work a pottery wheel or anything that entails arts and crafts, but I still get extremely fascinated by it.  This week in the late summer, I the Monday Spotlight to look at what some communities are doing to use art as a vehicle to bring them together.    With in these examples, I hope that you can bring something to one of the communities that you belong in.  Art is one of the best ways to bring a community together and have something to look at and know that you all worked together.

  • Art in the Public Interest: (API) is a nonprofit organization that supports the belief that the arts are an integral part of a healthy culture, and that community-based arts provide significant value both to communities and artists. Based out of North Carolina, they have really put focus supporting art that reflects not only a commitment to quality but a concern for the culture in which that work appears. One of the most influential projects they represent is the Community Arts Network. CAN is able to help you with direction and obtaining the tools you may need to create a community art based organization in your area. 

 

  • Made By Survivors: Created in 2005, married couple Sarah Symons and John Berger pooled all of their savings and with the help of their community of friends, organized Made By Survivors that is dedicated to fighting human trafficking and slavery with empowerment and social enterprise.  Their mission really speaks to me and I feel that what they are doing to assist with personal empowerment is an inspiration to us all.  You can read their mission right on their Facebook page. While you’re on their website, you can donate directly to their cause, or you can peruse their products and purchase a beautifully made handbag or set of earings.  Take some time there thought because the website has an infinite amount of information.

 

  • ArtInfo Sometimes you just need to keep up with what is happening, find a little inspiration, get some new ideas or just read a little gossip; Art Info can help you with that. This online magazine brings art, ideas, meeting show times all together to share with anyone who wants to view or be apart of the art community.  ” Our mission is to provide unparalleled access to the world of art and culture.”