the Painting Activist

I could hardly believe my eyes as I turned 360 degrees on Saturday to witness the behemoth project I had spent so many months coordinating unfold onto the pavement in vivid color.  This street painting festival was part of the first annual Champions 4 Her walk/run festival benefiting 10 Kentucky charities serving women and girls.

The goal was to raise $100,000.  1,680 runners, 75+ community street art participants, 9 local artists, and 1 international renowned street painter later we raised more than $150,000.  Not too shabby for a first go, eh?  To see more event photos, go to my flickr account.

Not even a week has past and I’m already hearing a buzz about being tasked with breaking a street painting Guinness World Record next year (hopefully donations raised are proportional).

Click here for a direct link to the Champions 4 Her video.

I have spent at least the past six months coordinating the street art festival for an upcoming umbrella fundraiser for 10 Louisville nonprofits. One week from today (Saturday, June 21), ‘Champions 4 Her‘ walk/run will launch its first year at Waterfront Park.

Initially, I was asked to scout and hire an internationally renowned madonnaro (street painter) to set the festival apart from the plethora of other walk/runs in the city. I loved the idea, but immediately thought of the truly unique opportunity the concept of a street painting festival afforded clients of the 10 organizations we were raising money for. I agreed to find a feature artist for the event to draw in the media, but pitched the additional idea of having each of the beneficiary partner organizations create their own amateur street paintings depicting how their respective nonprofit assisted women and girls in our community.

The idea was not hard to sell, and soon I was also hiring a team of local artists to guide the novice nonprofit participants through the process of a creating a roughly 8′ x 12′ chalk pastel painting in one day.

I saw a lot of wide eyes as I sat in on the introductory meetings between the art teams and the artist they were paired with. This is the first time many of the participants have been to exposed to the visual arts on this level. Working with a full-time professional artist has really expanded their perception of the abilities of the arts to impact a community.

Within a few weeks I was getting concept sketches of each group’s final design. It has been such a treat to get photos in my email inbox and snail-mailbox of the art they’re designing.

You can support these wonderful organizations by registering yourself or a team to do the walk/run, or just come by and see the art in action.

I did of course hire a feature professional artist for the main street painting. Her name is Tracy Lee Stum and she will start on her piece the Wednesday before the event. Feel free to stop by Waterfront Park during the day to see her at work. She (and the other street paintings) will be in the parking lot in front of Joe’s Crab Shack.  See you June 21!

Confession: I have a knack for an embarrassingly horrific use of the English language. I think I was in my twenties when someone politely pointed out that I was pronouncing “fruition” as “fruitation.” I’ve downloaded an extension on my web browser that highlights all misspelled words in every application on my laptop. I’ve come to feel handicapped when I’m on someone else’s computer.

In my own defense, I’m very proactive about addressing this weakness. I subscribe to multiple word-of-the-day-emails and have downloaded another plug-in that lets me right click to get the definition of unknown words. But these approaches pale in comparison to the latest tool I’ve found that does far more than flex the brain’s language muscles. FreeRice is a website where your reward for each correct multiple choice vocab questions equates to 20 grains of rice donated to feed the hungry. The donations are made possible through website advertisers. The rice is then distributed by the UN World Food Program.

Studying for the L/SAT or just readying yourself to impress a date? Fill empty bellies while you’re filling your head with new words.

12″ x 12″ oil on canvas, $400
SOLD
See all artwork available for sale.

I although I missed it this year, I got an update from my friends at the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana on the outcome of last week’s Dessert First. Over $35,000 was raised at the box-o-cookies-meets-gourmet-ambrosia-sampling. 600 folks with a serious sweet tooth browsed and indulged in treats from 27 local restaurants.

The “Golden Whisk Award”-winning Tagalong cheesecake (a creation of The Jefferson Club) is a clear reminder of why I decided not to utilize my free press pass. Of all the Girl Scout cookies my family bought when I was a kid, Tagalongs were the only ones that ended up getting stashed in my sock drawer to keep my brother from downing them before I got my share. My willpower would have been out the window. This is my contribution to the cause

This Thursday evening the 24th at the Marriott Louisville Downtown, Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana will be exploiting your weakness for sweets to raise money to continue to serve over 22,00 girls in Kentucky.  As if the actual Girl Scout cookies weren’t tempting enough, Louisville finest chefs will be whipping up new gourmet creations using the tasty treats as a base ingredient.

For $50/person you can meander a ballroom filled with the most incredible culinary delights.  New Year’s resolution-ers beware.  I covered last year’s Desserts First and definitely left in a sugar coma, yet blissfully content.

Further information for tickets and online registration are available here.

Click here for a direct link to watch the video.

2″ x 3″ watercolor in a 12″ x 12″ frame, $90 ($10 donated to the BlackAcre Nature Preserve)
Click here to see picture of framed painting.

See all artwork available for sale.

My college offered a single wine appreciation class per semester which was all the rave. Spots were quickly snatched by seniors with last names beginning with a favorable letter for that semester’s registration schedule. As an adult, I’ve found the allure of such sophisticated alcohol education is still present among my peers. Last year I sat in on one such post-college opportunity doubling as a fundraiser for BlackAcre Nature Preserve. Hosted at the swank yet southern Bourbons Bistro, guests were seated at tables blanketed with bourbon tumblers, each filled with a single mouthful of limited edition and “antique” bourbons. My definition of a bourbon expert was upped several notches as a bona fide bourbon historian walked us through each glass. The latter portion of the evening included a bourbon-inspired dinner prepared by the restaurant’s kitchen staff singularly devoted to pleasing our palettes.

This year’s event will be Sunday, November 4th at 5:30. The featured bourbon historian will be Mike Veach, a recent inductee into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. The restaurant is relatively small, so space is limited. Tickets are $100 per guest and the person to contact to reserve a seat is BlackAcre’s executive director, Katie Greene (katie.greene(at)blackacrefoundation.org, 502-266-9802). If Sunday is to be anything like last year’s tasting, you’re in for a treat.

5″ x 7″ watercolor in a 12″ x 15″ frame, $220 ($10 donated to Just Creations)
Click here to see picture of framed painting.

See all artwork available for sale.

Following a recent knitting demonstration given by a visiting finger puppet artisan from Peru, I found myself engaged in a healthy mental jostling with my boyfriend over a macro view of fair trade. The word “subsidy” was tossed around a few times by my business-minded debate partner. The comment section below is his space for rebuttal, but my impression of his position is that the market determines the price of a product; if there is no demand, it’s elbowed out of the market. If it’s highly valuable, the price mirrors that worth. The sustainability of fair trade was the theme of the conversation and brainstorming what model truly best serves the marginalized producers of the endless products we consume.

Within reason, you could call me a proponent of self-governing business, unencumbered by government regulation that can systematize businesses and stifle innovation and creativity. Few people would believe I actually believe that statement since most often I’m arguing for regulations that prevent large companies and other power-players from using their disproportionately heavy monetary influence to manipulate the system to work in their favor. If we can’t trust people to act morally, the government has to babysit and wag a finger at gluttonously self-serving business. We wouldn’t have offer subsidies on such a large scale if more people were given the opportunity to take care of themselves instead of being held in oppressive, compromising positions by businesses profiting massively from their labor.

I argued that if people were 1. adequately informed consumers and 2. financially able to choose more healthy and ethically produced products, the market would indeed “correct itself” and make room for products with a more equatable division of profits between producers and distributors. Only then we wouldn’t have to call it “fair trade” because that would be redundant.

There are an abundance of fair trade options for consumers to utilize as their voice in telling the market, “I want and will pay for products that ensure the producers get a fair wage.” Most cities have a fair trade retail store and multiple fair trade coffee shops (in Louisville it’s Just Creations and Heine Brothers Coffee). For online shoppers, ’tis the season (nearly) to start gift giving. Consider these fair trade suppliers as you vote with your credit card for just and fair wages to the people making your sweaters and throw pillows:

• Ten Thousand Villages
• Cafe Campesino
• World of Good
• Global Exchange.org
• Fair World Gallery

5″ x 7″ watercolor in a 12″ x 15″ frame
Click here to see picture of framed painting.
Painting sold to be auctioned here on eBay to raise money for WFP.

Watching Hotel Rwanda last night and anticipating this Saturday’s visit by exiled Rwandan, King Kigeli Ndahindurwa V, has reminded me, in a roundabout way, to mention that this is World Hunger Relief Week. Yum! Brands, one of the world’s largest commercial food manufactures, has joined efforts with the United Nations World Food Programme to address this global issue. Yum! Brand’s efforts are threefold: utilize their powerful marketing capabilities to raise awareness, fundraising (in stores and online, with an additional 7% of the donated amount matched by the Yum! Foundation), and recruiting Yum! employees to volunteer at food banks, to collect donations, and more.

By pulling from Yum! customers at 35,000 restaurants in 110+ countries, the company and WFP hope to raise enough money to feed half a million people. A modest contribution can go a very long way in areas in the most dire need of food. The World Hunger Relief Week website states:

• Giving just US$1 can help five people avoid starvation.
• $10 can feed a hungry person for a month
• $34 can feed a child in school for the entire academic year
• $100 can feed a class of 25 students for a month
• $500 can build a school garden, supplying children with fresh, nutritious produce
• $1000 can provide emergency rations to nearly 2,000 people

I can hardly eat on $10/day, much less $10/month.

With 1 in 7 people in the world going hungry everyday, I hope you’re compelled to give while you’re out to lunch this week. If, like me, you’re not a regular customer at Yum! Brand restaurants (Taco Bell, KFC and several others), you can make an online donation by visiting www.fromhungertohope.com.

Yes, I realize October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but still I’m dropping my jaw at the myriad of places the pink paraphernalia is popping up (the 20′ tall pink ribbon sculpture recently erected in downtown Louisville is just one example). This is quite the popular fundraising phenomenon!

The pink ribbon campaign bug has found its way to one of Louisville’s premier, award-winning eateries, Vincenzo’s Italian Restaurant.  Indulge in their lasagna bolognese anytime during the month of October, and Vincenzo’s will donate a portion of the proceeds to Mom’s Lasagna.  The nonprofit funds cancer research in the name of the 2 co-founders’ mother, Patricia Keeling Schmidt, who was diagnosed with breast cancer during her second pregnancy and later died of the disease.  Her story is truly moving.

So dig in and wallow in your good deed while the ricotta and parmesan melts in your mouth.

4″ x 6″ watercolor in an 8″ x 10″ frame, $150
SOLD
See all artwork available for sale.

Once again I have missed another enchanting evening of educating my wine-taste buds with a glamorous crowd of hundreds at the most recent Louisville Uncorked event. Small teams of guests bring 3 bottles of the same wine, 2 to be opened for tasting (masked in a bag) and 1 to be added to the collection given to the team with the best liked wine.

The quarterly tastings benefit a different charity each time. Last week’s party of fermented fruit benefited the Louisville Zoo. The event is usually held at a non related venue, but this time the party brought guests to the selected nonprofit by setting up camp at the Zoo. You can see pictures here.

You can visit www.louisvilleuncorked.com to sign up for their email alert if you don’t want to miss out on the next tasting, which is TBA.
Oh, and by the way, the wining wine of last week was a Pine Ridge 2005 Chardonnay.

24″ x 66″ oil on canvas, $2,000
SOLD
See all artwork available for sale.

Last year I read The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson, a motivating book that pushes the limits of conventional innovation by pairing unlikely elements together to create a unique intersection of entirely fresh products, ideas, businesses, and of course recipes. I love that so many great gadgets, theories, companies and so on have come from people previously thought of as outsiders of a particular field, but who moved forward with an original concept to take a quantum leap into something totally new.

I heard Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, speak extensively about this last week. He is a picturesque example of an innovator deaf to naysayers.  He tirelessly worked engineering products that would lead to success of Apple and transform the world of technology. He didn’t devote obscene hours out of obligation or outside expectation, but because he was passionate about is work and had a goal he believed in. Thank goodness people like Steve who don’t understand doubt about something maybe only they know is possible.

For those engaged in service, activism, the nonprofit sector, or philanthropy, there are endless possibilities for such unique combinations of talent and need. Doctors working in medically under served countries (doctorswithoutborders.org) and high school art students creating portraits for orphans without a family story (thememoryproject.org) are a few such examples.

Sail for Charity is another hybrid of passion and service. The nonprofit puts people crazy about sailing to work finding sponsors for their team’s races to then give to an annually selected charity. Their selection for ‘07 is The Ellen MacArthur Trust, yet another organization utilizing a love for sailing to serve others; in this case children suffering from a serious illness. Personally, the thought of being on a sailboat makes me nauseous, but that’s exactly why I’m better off coming up with my own innovative forms of service, like “painting activism!”

5″ x 7″ watercolor in a 22″ x 26″ frame, $250 ($20 donated to Just Creations)
Click here to view a picture of the framed painting.

See all artwork available for sale.

Every volunteer coordinator has heard this dreaded response to recruitment and donation solicitation: “I just don’t have the time or money.” Oh, but you do! We (myself included) argue there aren’t enough hours in the day, or zeros in our bank account balances, to attend to our needs and have something left over for others. Yet we manage to find the time and funds to shop for shoes, throw pillows and electronics. I have the perfect remedy for your busy, charitably-challenged schedule: iGive.com.

Creating an account at iGive.com allows you to select a charity of your choice and shop at over 680 participating stores that will donate a percentage of your sales purchases to your favorite cause. Not finding something among the 38,000+ causes that speaks to your interests? You can register your own fundraising campaign for something such as costumes for your child’s school theater performance. Then put the PTA work by having them create accounts and buying those new jeans and ink cartridges through iGive.

I’m a sucker for happy endings, and that is precisely what all party-goers got Saturday night at this year’s Kentucky Humane Society Tux & Tails fundraiser.  This horrifically abused boxer puppy, Dexter (previously adorning my blog in this painting), courageously shared the spotlight with his new owner for hundreds of guests to ogle at.

I’m also a sucker for costume parties, which made KHS staff dressed as KISS rock stars for the “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” theme especially entertaining.  Volunteers, with the best job ever, strolled around Millionaire’s Row of Churchill Downs with lap-size puppies dressed in poodle skirts for everyone to babble baby talk to (alcohol only making it more incoherent).

The silent auction spread was very impressive with bids during the live auction to match.  Someone took home a boxing glove autographed by Muhammad Ali.  Another high bidder will hang 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense’s halter on their wall.

While at a the Poulsbo Farmers Market last weekend, I ran into a boy running a booth, with no adults in site, selling artistic note cards to raise money, in part, for the Poulsbo Marine Science Center. I was disappointed that I hadn’t brought my camera to get a picture of the juvenile version of me, but in this day and age, who needs a camera when there’s a good chance some kind of video footage of your subject is on YouTube? I was pleasantly surprised to find this video clip of the young entrepreneur and his brother explaining their work while searching for the science center online.

Of course I purchased a note card, which I sent to my “family” in Australia (did you know I was a nanny in Brisbane?). They are aspiring artists themselves and of similar ages to the boys in Poulsbo, so I hope this inspires them.

8″ x 10″ oil on canvas
SOLD for $650 at silent auction.
See all artwork available for sale.

The 2007 Kentucky Derby has long since come and gone, but I’m revisiting Louisville’s prized sporting event one more time. The race itself starts with a prelude of festivities beginning weeks prior to race day. One such event, which I had the good fortune of squeezing my way into, was the star-studded Mint Jubilee Gala.

This is a swank party of glittering gowns, flashing cameras, more dinning utensils than most know what to do with, and dancing that reveals a clear appreciation for the liquor sponsors. But who would admit that attending such a shindig is purely about feeding one’s ego? No, there must be a cause, and in this case the cause was raising awareness and funds for the James Brown Cancer Center, Gilda’s Club Louisville, and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys’ Fund. I don’t know the final numbers, but I do remember a single live auction item, the saddle of 2006 derby winner, Barbaro, selling for $220,000!

This painting will soon be on its way to New York to the winner bidder. You might actually see a new piece that this painting’s new owner is interested in commissioning. I love a positive snowball effect.