the Painting Activist

The content of this website has consisted of very work-in-progress orientated postings for the past several months. There is a very straight-forward explanation for this: I’ve been exclusively working on a series of portraits titled, “Women of Mass Construction.”

Starting in January of this year, I began interviewing 15 women and girls who are current or former clients of a Kentucky nonprofit that has helped them make a positive transformation in their lives. After collecting their stories and photos, I started on creating the 12 portraits (3 paintings include 2 people). The organizations tied to these phenomenal women include:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana
• Center for Women and Families
• Court Appointed Special Advocates of Jefferson Co.
• Family & Children First
• Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana
• Kentucky Refugee Ministries
• Kids Acting Against Cancer
• Louisville Visual Art Association
• Project Women
• Women 4 Women
• Women in Transition
• Youth Alive! Louisville

I left every interview believing anything was possible. My own personal woes immediately became proverbial drops in the bucket; not worth another thought. How can car maintenance and family drama compare to trying to find employment when you hardly speak English, and have spent the last 2 years of your life in a refugee camp, displaced from you home country? Or getting back on your feet after leaving a relationship, spanning the length of your adult life, with a man who nearly killed you multiple times during regular bouts of domestic violence? Talk about putting things into perspective.

What I’m really excited about is introducing the portrait subjects to each other at the exhibit opening at Gallery NuLu on Friday, August 1st, 5-9pm. Since the portraits won’t fill the gallery space, I invited local photographer Sarah Lyon to exhibit with me. In combination with Sarah’s supporters, this opening is going to be amazing!

In the spirit of honoring women in this community who are turning corners, donations from gallery guests, and a portion of my gallery sales, will be given to the Women’s Second Chance College Scholarship Fund.

I hope to see you at the opening to celebrate these 15 women’s success stories. It’s been an honor meeting each of them, and I hope you can do the same on August 1st. If you’re not in this area (or otherwise cannot make it to the gallery) and you would like to contribute to the donation made at the end of the exhibit, shoot me an email at ashley.cecil(at)gmail.com.

Last week’s press conference of the Open Doors mural unveiling at the Center for Women and Families was a phenomenal success. The Courier-Journal published a wonderful article in addition to several other newspapers, magazines and blogs.  There were more cameras at the event than Louisville has TV stations (?). The CWF’s PR director later emailed me a “Television Media Monitoring Summary for 7-1-08: 10 stories reaching 388,747 with a value of $3,519.00″ (wow!  I need to know how to get that kind of information myself).  Clearly, we did something right!  It was truly an honor to give the women who participated in the art project the attention they deserve.

I am incredibly excited to invite you to a public event to celebrate the completion of my first community based art project since joining the Louisville Visual Art Association as the program coordinator of “Open Doors.”

July 1, 2008 at 10:30 AM
The Center for Women and Families (CWF)
Joan E. Thomas, M.D. Campus
927 South Second Street
Louisville, Kentucky
(across from the downtown Kroger)

After over 2 months of weekly sessions with clients of the CWF, we have a beautiful mural to unveil. The artwork will be dedicated to the Center by the women involved in the project. Several local media outlets will cover the event and help us inform the community about Open Doors and CWF.

This will be a wonderful opportunity to support the project participants by showing your interest. The painting will serve as a visual message of encouragement for future CWF clients for years to come. Please join us on the 1st to celebrate their accomplishment!

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!

7″ x 9″ watercolor, NFS
See all artwork available for sale.

Ok, so I admit that when a painting comes before the idea for a new post, I have to dig a little deeper to find a contextual match. This painting above of a scene in New York had me a bit stumped. I think my dad may have told me a time or two, “ask and you shall receive.” So, I asked fellow blogger, Anna Hackman of ‘Green Talk’, if she had any ideas. Oh, did she. How perfect is this:

New York City based nonprofit “Rocking the Boat uses traditional wooden boatbuilding and on-water education to allow high school age youth to develop into empowered and responsible adults. Through these mediums, Rocking the Boat empowers South Bronx students to deal with everyday realities that are often not addressed at home or in school…programs directly serve over 2,000 students and community members drawn from a range of New York City public high schools and neighborhoods…Rocking the Boat teaches, challenges, nurtures, and motivates, providing the tools to transition into the next phase of life. Kids don’t just build boats at Rocking the Boat, boats build kids.”

Way to hit the nail on the head Anna!

All too often I hear the ignorant gripe, “Programming like this is waste. We need to focus on pushing math and science.” Programs “like this” teach youth responsibility, leadership, confidence, and how to collaborate on goal-orientated outcomes. Becoming a successful adult who contributes to society entails far more than acing your SAT. I have personally witnessed many teenagers participate in such projects and become be far more articulate, social, engaged and invested in their own futures (not to mention less interested in peer-pressure induced activities like doing drugs and competing for bragging rights for the most sexual partners). It’s kind of hard to study chemistry when you’re high or 13 and pregnant. Organizations like Rocking the Boat are preparing our youth be learners who have the capacity to absorb their education.

Alright, I’ll get off my soapbox. I think I’m still a little heated about all of the recent across-the-board cutbacks (from state and federal to dried up foundation funds).

Ps-I should mention that this painting was created from a photo taken specifically of another organization certainly worth mentioning: the New York City Downtown Boathouse. Next time you’re in NYC, you should definitely going kayaking on the Hudson with their all-volunteer staff of instructors (one of whom is pretty cute. I think I may have a crush).

Since last summer’s Kentucky Remembers! Project, I’ve fallen in love with facilitating the creation of collaborative, community art. After returning from that youth camp, I began actively pursuing a way to continually run such projects. To make an incredibly long story short, the end result of my efforts took the form of accepting a position at the Louisville Visual Art Association as a program coordinator. The arts outreach program is called “Open Doors.” The mission of the program sounds like it was scripted specifically for me:

Open Doors is an umbrella program of classes and art enrichment experiences designed to give a voice to under-served populations including the at-risk youth, refugees and immigrants, senior citizens, victims of domestic abuse and more. Our projects are designed to pair local professional artists with groups who have limited access to the visual arts to collaborate in creating works of self-expression. Projects are tailored to meet specific needs of each population and serve to enrich not only the individual participant, but the community as a whole.

Artists who lead our programs are passionate about facilitating the realization of creative talent and offering tangible tools for communication, engagement, leadership and positive change.

So, while I’m continuing with all of my other various endeavors mentioned on my blog, I’m also overseeing an incredible group of talented visual artists bringing their expertise to people rarely exposed to the arts (much less engaged in the art-making process).

Of course I could never be tied to a desk chair as a full-time administrator. I split my time between coordinating all of the Open Doors projects and facilitating my own. Currently, I’m at the Center for Women and Families working with a small group of victims of domestic violence on an 8′ long mural that will hang in the lobby of the Center’s main office.

Introducing the women to the visual arts included meeting them at the Louisville Visual Art Association to see the Liz Quisgard exhibit. I was expecting quick drop-ins from the women, but ended up spending 2 hours with them altogether answering their questions and chatting about their reactions.

After several weeks of preparatory exercises to get them comfortable sketching and thinking visually, we starting on the canvas. I took each woman’s photograph and projected the image onto the canvas for them to trace. Next, they began filling their silhouettes with images from their sketches books.

A group decision was made to jointly create a background that symbolized unity and interconnectedness. We talked about puzzle pieces, which lead to the idea of a using a tessellation of figures. The women also decided to paint the tessellation the colors tied to domestic violence awareness (purple and teal) and the pink to symbolize femininity.

Once again, I’ve been blown over by the progress and investment in the project. I think they’ve surprised themselves just a little as well We’ll be wrapping up the painting this week and focusing on the community celebration/dedication of the artwork at the Center. I will certainly keep you posted about this event since I know these women would be overwhelmed by a strong turn out to honor their accomplishment and gift to the Center.

Do I still have any Courier-Journal writers subscribing to my blog (hint, hint)?

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.

8″ x 10″ oil on canvas

Here’s a bit of exciting news about 2008: I was recently awarded a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women to complete a unique series of portraits in the first half of the year. I’m making arrangements to travel throughout the state of Kentucky to interview and photograph my female painting subjects, each of whom has a powerful story of positive life transformation.  The women/girls are being introduced to me through the nonprofit organization that played an integral in part their turnaround.

The completed series of paintings will be on exhibit and for sale at Gallery NuLu in Louisville in the summer of 2008 in honor of the successes of these women and the organizations that served them. Information about each charitable organization will be available for gallery visitors below each corresponding painting.  And I hope several of the portrait subjects will be able to attend the opening to enrich the experience. 

Pending successful sales during the exhibit, a small scholarship will be awarded to a woman/girl pursuing her post secondary education at a Kentucky school.  My regular blog followers will of course hear more about the exhibit and the paintings as the project gets underway.

Please feel free to nominate an individual or organization for the project by using “Suggest a Lead” or “Contact” in the sidebar.  Any portrait subjects must be:

• a female Kentucky resident
• able to disclose their identity and story to the public
• comfortable with the painting being sold

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.  Have a Happy New Year!

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.

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

See all artwork available for sale.

As told by a close friend who recently lost her father and a co-work in one week, keeping yourself busy through work you enjoy is solace to a burdened mind. I think most of us have experienced refuge in enjoyable work derailing our attention from unpleasant trains of thought. Just such a scenario has been created for employees of Urban Meadows, a nonprofit floral shop disguised as for-profit businesses staffed by people recovering from severe mental illness.

The florist is a division of Illinois’ largest psychiatric rehab agency, Thresholds. A position at Urban Meadows provides an employee, whose professional success is compromised, with support and job training. Many businesses where Urban Meadows employees have previously worked have not been able to accommodate the needs of someone working towards recovery from mental illness.

The nature of the creative work itself, outside of the Valentine’s and Mother’s day madness, does seem incredibly conducive to reduced anxiety, anger and depression. But beyond flower therapy, hats off to an employer able and willing to structure a workplace around the needs of a particular disadvantaged population.

The flower shop is in Chicago, but anyone can place an order through their website, www.urbanmeadows.org, and the arrangement will be delivered in or outside of Chicago.