Global Drawing Power

Show me a refrigerator, and I'll show you a child's drawing attached to it. Written for young people 9 to 12 years old, Meredith Hamilton's A Child's Introduction to Art and Stone Giant: Michelangelo's David and How He Came to Be by Jane Sutcliffe help inspire young artists by introducing them to the masterpieces, painters, sculptures, and styles of the past. The interesting thing is: all forms of art have begun to move beyond refrigerators to have an impact on communities and the world today.

     In an earlier blog, "The World of Fashion," I told how fashion designer, Iris Shiloh, founded Kids for Kids, an organization that sells T-shirts printed with artwork created by orphans and children in lesser developed countries and then contributes a portion of sales back to the organizations that support and educate these young artists. You can read about Ms. Shiloh's work in India and Swaziland and purchase these T-shirts at kidsforkidsfashion.com. Her idea could inspire schools, scout troops, and other youth organizations to raise funds for international causes by creating art with a global message that could be printed on shirts, cards, calendars, towels, etc. How about bibs and aprons with world hunger-fighting messages?

     "Shop for Social" (shopforsocial.com), which supports non-profit and social business organizations, provides international shipping of items, such as the ceramic mugs, totes, and notebooks designed by the artists with special needs, especially autism, from The Everyday Solution.

     Internationally renowned opera sopranos, Monica Yunus and Camille Zomora, saw an opportunity "to uplift, unite, and transform individuals and communities" by mobilizing singers, painters, dancers and choreographers, puppeteers, directors, makeup artists, costume designers, poets, and photographers. With a roster of these volunteers, "Sing for Hope" (singforhope.org) brings professional artists to under-served schools, community centers, and healthcare facilities in the New York City area. Outreach into these venues also is an option for young performers lining up to try out for "American Idol," audition for "Dance Moms," or strut their stuff on "Toddlers and Tiaras." The fact is: young artists in cultural centers from London to Beijing and from Mumbai to Moscow could do the same to "uplift, unite, and transform."

     There is a building being renovated in Kassel, Germany, with materials from the Black Cinema House in Chicago, USA, because of the vision of artist and urban planner, Theaster Gates.  The July, 2013 issue of W reported that Gates studied urban planning at Iowa State University and religion and fine arts at South Africa's University of Cape Town. His background prepared him not only to train workers to reclaim buildings and abandoned objects but also to form the Black Monks of Mississippi gospel band that plays a mix of spirituals and Buddhist chants. Although Gates has art on display in Hong Kong and Sao Paulo, he is considered part of a global movement that takes art out of galleries and museums and uses it as a social platform to transform impoverished areas. Viewed from this perspective, globalization gives greater meaning to the art youngsters around the world are creating, when they make villages out of cereal boxes, drums out of tin cans and sticks, or clay pinch pots to hold flowers.