Over the next few days and weeks I and others will write more about this amazing weekend – a weekend filled with life and color and hope and community and blessing. Right now I am in need of some serious sleep, so a few iPhone shot will have to suffice. In one word – this weekend was amazing.
On this day before Arts in the Alley, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the shocking tsunami and earthquake in Japan today.
We’ll be giving everyone who volunteers tomorrow and Sunday an opportunity to donate to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army for their Japan relief efforts. To everyone reading this: please pray. Please give. Give what you can. Every little bit truly does help.
The paint has been purchased (among other things, thanks to more than 50 people who between them generously bought 100 dozens of Krispy Kreme doughnuts!), the primer has been donated (THANK YOU Bobby Davis Painting in Midlothian!), the murals have been designed (THANK YOU Armstrong High School Leadership Academy students and artists Brenda Hatcher, Savannah Hatcher, Priscilla Jogthong, Katie Anderson, DJ Glisson, and Don Glisson), and we’re busy devising volunteer assignments for all four slots for the weekend. Time to take a look at a few “before” pictures – of both Mount Olivet Church and of the alley we’ll be cleaning up!
I am writing this blog post from the International Arts Movement (IAM) Encounter in New York City – a wonderful, inspiring opportunity to break away from all the logistics I am focusing on these last few weeks before Arts in the Alley. Tomorrow it’s back to reality, and to the excitement of the final week before this fun event.
Speaking of details – a few to keep in mind:
1, we still need paint – about ten gallons at $38 each. Want to sponsor a gallon or paint? Donate via paypal to info@offereingband.com and mention PAINT.
2. Sunshine – ok we know you can’t really affect that (though if you can…. Patent it, become a millionaire, and donate sme paint….). But we DO need dry weather and sunshine would be lovely.
3. Volunteers: we need YOU. And your friends. And your kids. You get the idea. Here are the times we need volunteers (and no, you don’t have to be a painter):
Saturday March 12: 1:30-5:30 pm – 10 volunteers
Sunday March 13: 9am-1:30 pm – 15 volunteers
Sunday March 13: 1:30-5:30 pm – 10 volunteers
Register here: http://richmondartsinthealley.com/contact
Also, on Sunday afternoon invite any families with kids to come help paint the largest mural – every child can out his or her handprints in paint on the wall that afternoon!
Also:
Buy a box for $8 and support AITA
What do doughnuts and paint have in common? Selling yummy Krispy Kreme Doughnuts helps Offering raise money to beautify a part of Church Hill with murals at Arts in the Alley!
We’re taking orders between now and Monday February 28, and your doughnuts will be available for pick up Wednesday March 2! To order: send $8 per box via Paypal to info@offeringband.com (with a note: doughnuts)! Of course, you can also send a good old-fashioned check for the amount to Offering, P.O. Box 35423, Richmond VA 23235, but Paypal is preferred 
.
And of course, help us spread the word! We need to sell 100 boxes to get the best price, and if we sell those 100 boxes we make $500 for paint – about a third of what we need, so that will be a big help!
Changing our world, one alley at a time. Will you help us raise the money for the paint to do that?
It has taken a while, but we’re ready for the next Arts in the Alley in Richmond! Offering is teaming up with Embrace Richmond, Mount Olivet Church, and NAWIC to organize an Arts in the Alley event in Church Hill (Richmond’s East End) on March 12-13, 2011. Stay tuned….
This past summer, Offering went to Beijing and helped put on an Arts in the Alley there in a migrant workers’ community. Here are a few impressions:
At Common Groundz last week a group of young artists – Rebecca Holt, Hannah Mayhew, and Erika Wenrich – painted three booths in a “small creature” theme: octopi, jellyfish, and tree frogs.
Last week’s Arts in Action was a huge success – here are a few pictures to show the transformation of Common Groundz! Thank you to Greg and Wendy Collins of Arts in the Alley for coordinating all the paintings and painters (and painting…. a LOT!), and to Rebecca Holt, Hannah Mayhew, Erika Wenrich, Rebecca Oliver, Brandon Mayer, Andrew Cothern, Rebeckah Moran, Claire Collins, and Martha Catherine for making this amazing Richmond coffeeshop even more amazing!
