The best photoshoot ever.

Hello wonderful people of the world!

I wanted to share a little bit about our photo shoot night with the women at Dawn's Place.  It was truly an amazing night, both for the women at the shelter and for the artists who came and used their skills for it.  

The reason I started Art to Save the World was because I saw tons of artists in the city, all wanting to share their art with the world, and a lot of them have no great outlet to do so.  I've always believed that the best artwork makes the world a better place and shares a new perspective. My goal was to find artists, and connect them to do-gooder opportunities - figure out a way for all of us to use our talents for awesome causes!

Last night was all of those things.  

The women who live at Dawn's Place are all rescued from commercial trafficking - that is, women who have been sexually exploited, and have no where else to go.  The staff at DP helps them to find jobs, connect with their families, and take classes - anything and everything that aids these ladies in putting their lives back together.  

I've been working with the shelter for about a year now, visiting when I can just to spend time with the women there.  When I started I thought "it'll be awesome, I can hang out with them,  hopefully bring a little sunshine into their lives".  Little did I know that they would do that for me, just as much as I did for them.  

The shoot was full of laughter, smiles, and self-images being restored - each of the women walked away with beautiful pics of themselves dolled up and lookin' pretty for the camera, and those of us who helped out all walked away with some perspective and our hearts full of love for these fantastic women.

Doing Good, Feelin' Good

On Valentines Day, packed up all of the handmade cards, gift certificates (donated generously by friends of ASW and The Connect Church), and candies into baskets and trucked them over to Dawn's Place. It's funny how apprehensive I still get sometimes about "doing good" for others, especially ones I don't know well. Will they appreciate the gifts? Will it be strange to receive things from people they don't know from Adam?

They did. It wasn't. It was a heartwarming experience, and I was darn lucky to be a part of it.

The women at the shelter, including a handful from the Philadelphia area and that were rescued from Indonesia, were downright floored by the generosity and caring that went into each little valentine. They raved about the detail and the hard work that clearly went into each one, and were so excited to know that there were people out there that took the time to make them.

Looking around the room, I saw instant smiles, "oohs" and "ahhs", and genuine happiness. Even the Indonesian women were talking excitedly, and though I didn't have a clue what they were saying, I could tell it was along the lines of "these valentines rule!". And to think, all it took was a few spools of ribbon, some construction paper, and a lot of glue!

I took a moment to do an inventory of my own feelings, and was struck by how much this little outreach was affecting ME. I was excited at their reaction, which made me even more jazzed for the plans to come - a photoshoot night with the ladies... art therapy sessions... my mind was spinning with ideas not only for Dawn's Place, but for events and projects all over the city. I wanted to share this bit of joy I got from the experience with other people, and create more opportunities for this kind of community interaction.

 I've found that through doing good, I felt good, and that in turn got my creative juices flowing. There's got to be a medical explanation for that, but for now I'll say - the best way to come up with new ideas, it to take the skills you have and put them to use however possible. The 5-year-old that helped make valentines doesn't exactly have a huge resume of marketable skills, but she had some colored pencils and the desire to help people, and that made a huge difference in the lives of those women.

As we continue to figure out exactly how Art to Save the World is going to evolve, what we can do to make an impact on our community, and the ways we can support local art, I am most looking forward to those kind of connections we are making along the way - real, human relationships, that give people happiness and hope.

Thanks to all the people who helped out creating valentines, especially:
Margo Mangione
LuRey Photography
Sharon Rice
Julie Wilgus
Sarah Wilgus and
Kate Naylor, for picking out the delish candy treats!