Generosity

Working with the hearts is teaching me that people really want to give. People want opportunities to "do good" and effect positive change in the world. Recently, I have received a number of emails from kind-hearted people asking to purchase the hearts directly from me. Although I don't yet have an official way to do this en masse, I have been addressing each request on a one-on-one basis. Without fail so far, each person has been comfortable trusting the honor system: I request that they make a donation of their choice directly to the secure donation link on the Art Foundation Creation for Children site (there is a link on this blog to the right), and then I send them the hearts. So far, each person has wanted to and been willing to donate above and beyond the $1.00 each price of the hearts. For example, one person donated 20 dollars but wanted only 12 hearts. This has seemed to be the norm for people who contact me directly. I am so cheered and encouraged by everyone's generosity!

If you haven't visited the link to the art foundation on this page, please do yourself a favor and click on it now. When you read what the impact of what we would consider to be a small amount of money is to the lives and futures of these children, you can't help but be moved. Jacmel, Haiti is the cultural arts center of the country. It is very fitting that this foundation is located there. The children there are learning the traditional art skills of their hometown. There is the very real opportunity for them to put these art skills to real use in their adult life. Jacmel is the host to the very important Carnival festival. Every Carnival participant wears a mask made from the traditional papier mache of the region. The fact that the students are learning these marketable skills from local masters means they may have a much better quality of life as adults.

Education is highly respected in Haiti, and school is compulsory. The problem is that many of the parents who want desperately to send their children to school can not because of annual fees. Art Creation Foundation for Children is providing arts and academic training to 60 of the most needy children in Jacmel. It is heartbreakingly true that they have to turn people away every day. 60 pupils is currently their capacity. But as children graduate, spaces open up for others. I feel grateful to be able to help support this worthy foundation, and honored that I can facilitate that same experience for my students. The only way things are going to get better for the world's most vulnerable children is if we are all willing to help each other, one day at a time.
(photo: Jim Dine, "Hearts and Hammers", 1982, etching with hand coloring 48" x 65.5", credit: The Joseloff Gallery)