Call For Artists

[Jason Weiner]

I am putting together a fund raiser for the Cleveland Colectivo (I wrote an article published by the LO about the Colectivo back in September). The Colectivo is a giving circle that makes annual grants to individuals and organizations working to improve their communities. The event will serve two purposes: to raise money to give away this March; to increase membership and participation with the Colectivo so we'll have even more money to give away in 2008.

The focus of the event is an auction. Artists from around the region are creating and donating what we are calling "Social Change Banks," an idea that builds upon the simple "Change Bank" that many people grew up with, where they would save their change for a year and at the end of the year, donate that money to an organization in their community. So, this is a variation on a theme; a "Social Change Bank" builds on the saving money idea and emphasizes the mission of the Colectivo: Clevelanders coming together to strengthen our community through collective investments that identify and nurture innovative projects.

The "Social Change Banks" can be ANYTHING that actually or figuratively can be used to save money in. For example, I know that some people will knit a bank, some will sculpt a bank, while others will paper mache a bank. The only limits are one's creativity and vision. The more diverse the interpretations of "Social Change Bank," the better. The overarching themes are Northeast Ohio, social change, community.

Ultimately, each "Social Change Bank" will be auctioned off at the event on Saturday February 10th at the Local Girl Gallery in Lakewood, and all of the monies raised will go directly to funding next year's grantees.

If you think you would be willing or know someone who may be willing to create and donate an item for the auction, take a look at the website: www.clevelandcolectivo.com , to learn more about what we do. For example, last year, we funded the following projects:

• The Building Bridges Mural Program: awarded $3,000 for artist Katherine Chilcote’s effort to create a youth internship program in partnership with Doug Horner at St. Paul’s Community Church that will result in a mural installation at the intersection of West 25th and Detroit Avenue;

• The Westside Refugee Family Center: awarded $2,500 to implement a six-month pilot “Mommy and Meâ€Â￾ program, enhancing offerings already available to a growing number of refugee families on Cleveland’s near west side;

• City Wheels: awarded $1,000 for grant-writing assistance to support this innovative Northeast Ohio car sharing service designed to provide a creative cooperative transportation alternative to car ownership;

• The Tremont Urban Learning Garden: awarded $750 for materials to this project in which Lucky's Coffee Shop/Sweet Mosaic Bakery will work with neighborhood youth to build a garden in a vacant lot adjacent to the coffee shop and use the locally-grown produce in food and baked goods sold at the bakery.

Please contact me by responding to this post, calling 216.221.5146, or sending me an email at jasonhweiner@yahoo.com with any questions or if you can help.