By stumbling upon a sale on acrylic plates, Touching Miami with Love Director Angel Pittman was inspired with the fundraising project idea of Art That Feeds.
The idea was to ask artists to create works of art on plates that could be sold to fund their Today’s Leaders Youth Development Program’s evening dinners. Students from the University of Miami’s School of Communication and a team of local artists helped shape the idea, and from there, Angel said, the idea grew exponentially. Artists from around Miami have jumped on board with the Art That Feeds project because they are aware of the situation in Overtown, an inner-city community in Miami, and are eager to help.
When Angel, who along with her husband, Jason, serve as CBF field personnel, read about how important and developmental the act of sitting down to a family dinner is in the life of children and teens, they decided that they needed to provide that sit-down dinner for the teenagers in their program.
This meal, offered before their three-nights-a-week youth program, began this fall. It is a very important aspect of their program, but their main grant does not fund this portion of the program. So when the plates and the artists all came together at once and formed this fundraising project, everything seemed to fit.
The family meal is just one of the aspects of this youth program that the Art That Feeds project will support. The project has the potential to provide enough support to further grow the youth program.
Miami artists showcase their style and talent on these plates, but Angel has already sent a plate up to an artist in New York and would love to see the project gain the attention of artists across the nation. With artist interest elsewhere, the idea of promoting a plate of the month and the ideas of a food truck rally, Art That Feeds is full of potential and energy. This fundraising project will be another way for TML to actively and creatively cut through the challenges and pain in Overtown.
The Art That Feeds Facebook page will become a place where the plates are exhibited year-round. They will also be available for purchase on the TML website after the kick-off A Touch of Art show on May 20.
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