Ghettos to Galleries

A few months ago I was looking around for ways to volunteer. I wasn't finding a whole lot outside of driving disabled people to the hospital or savings cats. Now both of those are great things to help out with, but neither quite take advantage of the skills I have to offer. I finally came across a group called Project HOPE Art that was looking for a finance director. The group is based out of the bay area near San Francisco but most communication happens online or through email. The mission of the group is "To inspire, heal and improve the quality of life for children in need through the creative process of art." All efforts right now are focused on the Port-au-Prince region of Haiti.

I decided to take on the position and started to get involved, but it wasn't until recently that I felt like I had contributed anything really substantial. I was asked to help develop a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo to raise money for 3 Haitian artists to visit San Francisco and participate in the Artist in Residency Program at Recology where they will turn trash into art. The program is phenomenal and will allow the artists an opportunity to learn, network, and display their works.

Today the campaign went live and can be visited at:
http://igg.me/at/Ghettos-to-Galleries/x/1059737

We've titled the campaign Ghettos to Galleries because through their art, the artists now have a chance to leave the ghetto in Haiti to visit North America to display their art and share their story with others.