Lines and Colors art blog

Art Blocks for Ghana

Art Blocks for Ghana: Armand Baltazar, Kevin Turcotte, Kevin Hawkes, Tom Wichitsripornkul, David Leonard, Tohru Patrick Awa, Katy Hargrove, Ron DeFelice, Steve Purcell, Steve Purcell
There are numerous tragic situations around the globe today, some sudden and unexpected, some ongoing; you might think of them as acute and chronic.

Art Blocks for Ghana addresses one of the latter, and though it may seem small in scope, it is with small direct actions that we most effectively make changes in the world.

The press release describes the event more succinctly that I could:

The Picture Book Project Foundation (PBP) presents Art Blocks for Ghana — an exhibit and charity art auction to benefit orphaned children in Ghana, West Africa. Sponsored by Digital Domain Media Group and AOL Artists, Art Blocks for Ghana features original works created by top artists within the animation and illustration community. The collection will be auctioned online beginning March 12, 2011. Additionally, PBP will host fundraising events in New York and Los Angeles where guests can preview the collection before it goes up for auction and meet some of the artists involved.

PBP created the Art Blocks for Ghana project to raise money to pay for the boarding school costs of 13 orphaned children who were formerly cared for by the now defunct Save the Widows and Orphans Development Center in Ho, Ghana. Contributing artists are employed by studios such as DreamWorks Animation, Pixar Animation Studios, Blue Sky Studios, Marathon Media, ILM, Disney, Sony, Digital Domain, AOL Artists, as well as award-winning illustrators. A variety of artists have contributed from Canada, France, Sweden, Australia, Germany and The United Kingdom.

PBP provided the artists with wood panels to serve as the canvas for their creations. Each panel represents the “building blocks” every child needs to build a bright future – food, shelter, education and opportunity. All artwork was created around the common theme, “Home.” With children who do not have a single place to call home in mind, the artists explored the concept of the word and its many different meanings, such as comfort, life, nature, shelter, friends, love.

A wide variety of mediums – from oils, acrylic and gouache to mixed media, collage, screen print and sculpture – were used to create the pieces. Contributing artists and PBP are documenting the development process on a dedicated Art Block Process blog.

Preview events will take place:

New York:
Special Event: February 26th 2011 at The New Art Center 580 8th Ave. 5th floor, New York NY 10018; purchase tickets: http://artblocksnyc.eventbrite.com

Los Angeles:
Display: March 9th – March 14th 2011 at Gallery Nucleus 210 East Main Street, Alhambra CA 91801
Special Event: March 12th 2011 at Gallery Nucleus; purchase tickets: http://artblocksla.eventbrite.com

In addition to the Art Block Process blog (image above, bottom), there is a blog devoted to Artist Bios. The individual listings for the pieces in the main blog also include brief descriptions and links to the artist’s websites or blogs. There is an impressively long list of participating artists in the right hand column.

The Art Blocks for Ghana online auction will be held March 12th, 2011.

(Images above: Armand Baltazar, Kevin Turcotte, Kevin Hawkes, Tom Wichitsripornkul, David Leonard, Tohru Patrick Awa, Katy Hargrove, Ron DeFelice, Steve Purcell, Steve Purcell process photo)


Comments

4 responses to “Art Blocks for Ghana”

  1. Thanks for posting this. It’s a great cause and I’m honored to be a part of it with so many incredible artists.

  2. Is it OK if I link this on my blog? It’s a great cause and a way to do good in a world that seriously needs it.

    1. Please do link to the article and the original project page.

  3. hey, interesting article, reminds me of a blog I came across about Portrait Art in Beirut. Very powerful portraits depicted, almost real…

    http://pinkprinter.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/news-music-politics-life-photography-food-art-words-poetry-and-portraits/