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Art With A Mission - Charlottesville and Rwanda

Art With A Mission-Charlottesville is dedicated a mutual exchange of education and the arts to strengthen and connect diverse international communities.

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Art With A Mission - Charlottesville and Rwanda

Art With A Mission - Charlottesville and Rwanda

Art With A Mission - Charlottesville and Rwanda

Art With A Mission - Charlottesville and Rwanda

Art With A Mission - Charlottesville and Rwanda

Art With A Mission-Charlottesville is dedicated a mutual exchange of education and the arts to strengthen and connect diverse international communities.

Art With A Mission-Charlottesville is dedicated a mutual exchange of education and the arts to strengthen and connect diverse international communities.

Art With A Mission-Charlottesville is dedicated a mutual exchange of education and the arts to strengthen and connect diverse international communities.

Art With A Mission-Charlottesville is dedicated a mutual exchange of education and the arts to strengthen and connect diverse international communities.

Jim Respess
Jim Respess
Jim Respess
Jim Respess
1 Campaign |
Charlottesville, United States
$1,935 USD 29 backers
18% of $10,500 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Introduction

 

      In the fall of 2012, working with University of Virginia surgeons Dr.Forrest Calland and Dr. Robin Petroze, Art With a Mission / Charlottesville was founded by artists Renee Balfour and Jim Respess.

The goal of our organization is to facilitate a mutual exchange of education and the arts while connecting diverse international communities.

Art With A Mission provides opportunities in the arts to children who have financial need. Artists, while in residence, will connect with children in their communities to promote communication through artistic expression. Children will work with professional artists in the fields of music, dance and the visual arts. 

 We are currently working with Art With a Mission/ Kigali to establish an ongoing exchange between Kigali, Rwanda and Charlottesville Virginia.


       In October 2012 Rwandan artists Emmanuel Nkuranga and Innocent Nkurunziza , directors of the Inema Art Center in Kigali, traveled to Charlottesville to exhibit work by 8 Rwandan  artists. A one month exhibition was mounted at the McGuffey Art Center, organized by Renee Balfour, Jim Respess, Dr Calland and medical students from the University of Virginia. All proceeds from the exhibition were donated by the McGuffey Art Center to further programming for children at the Inema Art Center in Kigli.

(http://mcguffeyartcenter.com/)

(https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inema-Arts-Center/402598333168213)

.

 The Project


       In May and June of 2013, Renee Balfour and Jim Respess will travel to Kigali and work with the directors of Inema, developing opportunities for aid in the support of an ongoing exchange. While in Kigali, Renee and Jim will  assist in the development of children's art programming at the Inema Art Center. 

      With support from the Global Health Center at the University of Virginia we will work to develop and expand opportunities for arts internships, establishing ongoing international cultural exchange. Through the hands on experiences of these internships, students will have the opportunity to directly assist in ongoing program development.

     In August and September of 2013, Emmanuel and Innocent will travel to Charlottesville to work with children, creating an artistic exchange between the two communities. Their programming in Charlottesvile will reflect the work done by Renee and Jim in Kigali.

     While in Rwanda, Renee and Jim will spend three weeks teaching children in three orphanages in Kigali.  While in Charlottesville, Emmanuel and Innocent will teach classes to children at the McGuffey Art Center. All classes will be funded by Art With A Mission /Charlottesville and be open and free to all students. The completed work, along with photo and video documentation, will be exhibited in October of 2013 at the McGuffey Art Center. A similar exhibition of the children's work will take place at the Inema Art Center in the Spring of 2014. 100% of all proceeds during the exhibitions will support ongoing children’s art programming in both communities.

As part of the exchange, during the exhibition artists will reach out to the community through scheduled talks and presentations at schools and other public venues. 

      Renee will paint with the children in Charlottesville and Kigali to further education through art. The theme of the project will focus on the local and global issues of clean water as seen through the eyes of children. Children will creatively express their views through paintings. Paintings from both communities will be displayed together with additional support material from the project.

       Jim will work with children in Charlottesville and Kigali to address issues surrounding shelter and water through creative problem solving in sculpture. Fabrication will differ from place to place using different available materials. Photographic and video documentation of this process in both communities will be exhibited with the paintings during the course of the exhibition.

       An artistic exchange between communities will develop an ongoing program in education  and the arts while enriching the artistic experience of children while broadening the awareness of cultural diversity as seen through artistic expression.

 

 Funding/What we need 

       We are currently raising funds to support the initial phase of this project. This phase includes travel expenses for the exchange of two US artists to Rwanda as well as two Rwandan artists to the US. Funding will also assist in the purchase of project materials, which will include the cost of paint, canvas and brushes. In addition, the funding will support the initial costs of the exhibition in the United States and Rwanda.

       The broadening of cultural diversity as seen through artistic expression will expand the understanding of cultural differences and similarities in both communities.

 Please be sure to look at the gallery tab at the top of this page.

About the founders of Art With A Mission/Charlottesville

 

            Renee Balfour has a degree in Painting and Printmaking as well as a minor in Art History from the Virginia Commonwealth University. She has been a working artist for over thirty years, exhibiting internationally and receiving numerous awards. She has also taught art to children for 22 years. Ms Balfour founded Art With Heart, which raised money through the arts in the support of the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital. She is co-author of the Virginia Visual Arts Resource Directory and is a past president of the McGuffey Art Center, where she maintains a studio and continues to teach and develop children’s programming in the arts.

 

            Jim Respess has an MFA from the Virginia Commonwealth University Sculpture Department. A Charlottesville native, he has exhibited both regionally and nationally, and has taught sculpture and Art History at several area colleges, additionally working in the public school system as a tutor and activities coordinator. Currently he is a resident artist at the McGuffey Art Center, where he teaches children’s art and is the chair of the Gallery Committee, responsiblefor curating and mounting up to 55 exhibitions a year.

  

 

 

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Choose your Perk

5x7 photograph

$25 USD
A color photograph of an original painting by Rwandan artist Emmanuel Nkuranga or Innocent Nkurunziza.
Estimated Shipping
June 2013
4 claimed

A signed photograph

$100 USD
A 8x10 photograph of an original painting signed by renowned Rwandan artist Emmanuel Nkuranga or Innocent Nkurunziza.
Estimated Shipping
June 2013
3 out of 100 of claimed

print and hand painted gourd

$1,000 USD
a 16x20 original signed and dated limited edition print by Emmanuel Nkuranga and a one of a kind hand painted signed gourd by Renee Balfour.
Estimated Shipping
June 2013
0 out of 25 of claimed

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