Building dignity with art
This is Gwen’s dad speaking, thinking. I need your thoughts.
Success!
The original goal of gwenart.com was to give Gwen a sense of purpose, a notion that she has the ability to make a difference in the world. All your kind comments and generous bidding on her first auction bolstered her and showed me the original goal isn’t that hard to reach with a little effort.
Thank you, so much.
Spreading the word
Most of you are people we know. In order for gwenart.com charities to move forward and grow, the market for these auctions needs to broaden. Spreading the word about gwenart.com is just as valuable as bidding on an auction!
- Use the “Share and Enjoy” tools at the bottom of posts.
- Consider putting gwenart.com in your email signature for a week.
- Post a link to gwenart.com on your website. Better yet — write a blog post about it, including a link.
Art from everywhere
We could expand Gwenart.com to other child artists. This spreads the sense of purpose and ability to all who participate, and begins to create a community amongst the young artists. I think we will do this. But…
That doesn’t seem like it goes far enough, though.
Making a difference that lasts a lifetime
It’s great to try giving our kids this sense of purpose and dignity. But what about the people who are going to benefit from this charity? Regardless of age, if they grow up or live long enough in poverty, they may have no feeling that anything they do can be of value to the world.
You can’t give someone dignity. How do we help people grow their own dignity?
Dignity: The quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect.
A notion
Perhaps we could make gwenart.com a vehicle for any of these impoverished and homeless folks to sell or auction their work, directly benefiting themselves. Maybe we could have workshops showing folks some basic art skills, providing them with some resources like paper, pen, paint, and such. Perhaps some of our kids could teach some of the basics at these workshops — what a great way for the kids to build their sense of dignity!
Please sound off!
I hope you read this far.
- What are your thoughts? We need critical thoughts — good and bad.
- Is something like this already being done?
- Can you think of additional aspects that provide value, but don’t over-complicate the idea?
Comment here on the post, so everyone can see and participate.
Thanks,
Paul
I'm Gwen, and I love to draw, paint, and play with my brothers and sisters. I want to be a dolphin trainer when I grow up.
buddy
16 Dec, 2009
So here I am, commenting on my own post…
I wanted to point out that I’m not a fan of tying self-worth to money. However, this whole charity topic is centered around people in poverty. I’m not sure how much folks would benefit to show up “just to make some art and be proud” in this scenario.
Awaiting opinions…
Ashley
16 Dec, 2009
Overall I think this is a good idea, but the idea that homeless folks need classes to learn basic art skills is rather condescending. The vast majority of homeless people are products of our school system, therefore would have covered that stuff in elementary school. Those who are artists continue to make art in some way or another, those who aren’t won’t. And as cutesy kitsch as making any art and attempting to sell it is, people aren’t going to accept cutesy kitsch from adults. If they did, I could be a working artist, and I’m really not.
buddy
16 Dec, 2009
Good points. Having the kids involved that way wasn’t well thought-out. It also probably implied that I was talking about adults creating kitschy pieces to sell. I’m thinking of people who don’t know they are artists, who haven’t thought beyond crayon and coloring book because they’ve never felt anyone could care less about something they created.
Or perhaps for adults it is too much of a condescending thing. What is this group that’s saying “pick up a paintbrush?” I need food, and I am cold.
Maybe this is something for the children who find themselves in poverty’s grip, instead? I don’t know.
Cat
17 Dec, 2009
If you give them wings, they will learn to fly.
you can try advertising for free on http://www.riverbender.com its a very popular website for the community here..
buddy
17 Dec, 2009
Thanks! What I’m wrestling with now, then, is how we can help with the wing-giving, without being condescending, and without trampling where we’re not really wanted. (“Who asked you to come give me wings?”)
I’ll have a look at riverbender.