Submitted by Bryan Schaaf on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 21:19.
The Miami Herald
BY FABIOLA SANTIAGO fsantiago@MiamiHerald.com
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From Homestead to Pompano Beach, art communities in South Florida are responding to the tragedy in Haiti by fundraising for relief organizations through art sales and exhibitions and offering programs to help survivors. The Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance, headed by Haitian-born Miami artist Edouard Duval-Carrié, has launched a multifaceted effort to help Haiti's artists by fundraising to commission works and find venues for exhibits. The organization is also searching for artists in the United States who can temporarily house and mentor Haitian artists.
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``It's not just to give them money but to do something of quality so that they can put their best foot forward,'' Duval-Carrié says. ``Haiti is very isolated. We want to get them out of the traumatic situation they are in and give them an aperture.''
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The alliance is fundraising through an Internet art sale at haitianartrelief.com. In North Miami, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) has announced a program designed to help local Haitians coping with the tragedy. Children and their parents or guardians who have been affected by the earthquake are invited to participate in an afternoon of therapeutic art-making at MOCA.
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Museum instructors, including Creole speakers, will guide children and adults through exercises designed to encourage expression, exploration and healing from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 13. Admission is free.
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``Art can serve as a great tool in helping people who are affected by catastrophic events,'' says Bonnie Clearwater, executive director and curator of MOCA. ``We want to extend the resources of MOCA's HeART to HeART program to children and families in our community who have been so deeply impacted.''
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MOCA's year-round HeART to HeART works with people with physical, mental and emotional challenges through partnerships with Jewish Family Services of North Miami and Miami-Dade County Public Schools' Exceptional Student (ESE) program.
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The Museum of Contemporary Art is located at 770 NE 125th St.in North Miami. For reservations and information, call 305-893-6211 or visit mocanomi.org.
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Other events:
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* A panel discussion ``How to Inject Funds into Artistic Community of Haiti'' takes place at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables. It features Duval-Carrié and Arthur Dunkelman, director and curator of the Jay Kislak Foundation and will be moderated by ArtTable member Elisa Turner.
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Duval-Carrié will discuss plans to stage exhibitions by Haitian artists at Miami International Airport galleries and at a fundraising booth at the upcoming fair arteaméricas, which has donated the space for the effort.
.
``I'm issuing a call to all Miami-based artists to give a piece of work not worth more than $500 to the start-up fund,'' Duval-Carrié says.
.
* The artists' collective Fine Arts R Us is presenting the exhibition Rhythm and Color with donated artworks from artists to be raffled with the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders working in Haiti. Opening receptions start at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 and 2 p.m. Feb. 20 at Fine Arts R Us, Art Gallery/Studios, 3685 N. Federal Hwy., Pompano Beach; more information at 954-224-5090.
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* Little Havana's Leal Gallery exhibits ArtxFood / FoodxHaiti featuring the works of a group of artists who will exchange their work for food and money to be sent to Haiti.
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``In this equation, the real value of food can replace the symbolic value of money, erasing the differences between art and life,'' says artist Rafael López-Ramos. ``An artwork can make the difference between life and death for a citizen of Haiti.''
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Each piece on display will have a retail value. Artworks can be purchased with checks payable to the American Red Cross. Organizers also encourage donations of non-perishable food. The sale is Feb. 12 at Leal's Gallery, 1555 SW Eighth St., Miami; more information at 305-642-3133, 786-337-1628 or lealartframe.com.
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* In Homestead, artwork in the exhibit Island Colors Haitianda is being sold between Feb. 13 and March 6 to raise relief funds. An opening reception is at 3 p.m. Feb. 13 at ArtSouth Cultural Arts Center, 240 N. Krome Ave. Works include Joey Kernisky's photography and watercolors depicting the Virgin Islands along the Sir Francis Drake Passage and a Valentine's fashion-design event with Haitian designer Marie Joeberthe. More at artsouthomestead.org.
For Haiti, galleries and museums practice the art of giving
The Miami Herald
BY FABIOLA SANTIAGO
fsantiago@MiamiHerald.com
.
From Homestead to Pompano Beach, art communities in South Florida are responding to the tragedy in Haiti by fundraising for relief organizations through art sales and exhibitions and offering programs to help survivors. The Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance, headed by Haitian-born Miami artist Edouard Duval-Carrié, has launched a multifaceted effort to help Haiti's artists by fundraising to commission works and find venues for exhibits. The organization is also searching for artists in the United States who can temporarily house and mentor Haitian artists.
.
``It's not just to give them money but to do something of quality so that they can put their best foot forward,'' Duval-Carrié says. ``Haiti is very isolated. We want to get them out of the traumatic situation they are in and give them an aperture.''
.
The alliance is fundraising through an Internet art sale at haitianartrelief.com. In North Miami, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) has announced a program designed to help local Haitians coping with the tragedy. Children and their parents or guardians who have been affected by the earthquake are invited to participate in an afternoon of therapeutic art-making at MOCA.
.
Museum instructors, including Creole speakers, will guide children and adults through exercises designed to encourage expression, exploration and healing from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 13. Admission is free.
.
``Art can serve as a great tool in helping people who are affected by catastrophic events,'' says Bonnie Clearwater, executive director and curator of MOCA. ``We want to extend the resources of MOCA's HeART to HeART program to children and families in our community who have been so deeply impacted.''
.
MOCA's year-round HeART to HeART works with people with physical, mental and emotional challenges through partnerships with Jewish Family Services of North Miami and Miami-Dade County Public Schools' Exceptional Student (ESE) program.
.
The Museum of Contemporary Art is located at 770 NE 125th St.in North Miami. For reservations and information, call 305-893-6211 or visit mocanomi.org.
.
Other events:
.
* A panel discussion ``How to Inject Funds into Artistic Community of Haiti'' takes place at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables. It features Duval-Carrié and Arthur Dunkelman, director and curator of the Jay Kislak Foundation and will be moderated by ArtTable member Elisa Turner.
.
Duval-Carrié will discuss plans to stage exhibitions by Haitian artists at Miami International Airport galleries and at a fundraising booth at the upcoming fair arteaméricas, which has donated the space for the effort.
.
``I'm issuing a call to all Miami-based artists to give a piece of work not worth more than $500 to the start-up fund,'' Duval-Carrié says.
.
* The artists' collective Fine Arts R Us is presenting the exhibition Rhythm and Color with donated artworks from artists to be raffled with the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders working in Haiti. Opening receptions start at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 and 2 p.m. Feb. 20 at Fine Arts R Us, Art Gallery/Studios, 3685 N. Federal Hwy., Pompano Beach; more information at 954-224-5090.
.
* Little Havana's Leal Gallery exhibits ArtxFood / FoodxHaiti featuring the works of a group of artists who will exchange their work for food and money to be sent to Haiti.
.
``In this equation, the real value of food can replace the symbolic value of money, erasing the differences between art and life,'' says artist Rafael López-Ramos. ``An artwork can make the difference between life and death for a citizen of Haiti.''
.
Each piece on display will have a retail value. Artworks can be purchased with checks payable to the American Red Cross. Organizers also encourage donations of non-perishable food. The sale is Feb. 12 at Leal's Gallery, 1555 SW Eighth St., Miami; more information at 305-642-3133, 786-337-1628 or lealartframe.com.
.
* In Homestead, artwork in the exhibit Island Colors Haitianda is being sold between Feb. 13 and March 6 to raise relief funds. An opening reception is at 3 p.m. Feb. 13 at ArtSouth Cultural Arts Center, 240 N. Krome Ave. Works include Joey Kernisky's photography and watercolors depicting the Virgin Islands along the Sir Francis Drake Passage and a Valentine's fashion-design event with Haitian designer Marie Joeberthe. More at artsouthomestead.org.