In addition, we are continuing to process donations and dialogue with impact partners as we continue to raise the $125,000 needed to serve underserved youth in New York City and Lima in 2013. In La Sagrada Familia, this will enable us to impact 400 children through workshop intensives and the entire community of 900 children sustainable resources. In New York City, this will enable us to pilot ALEGRIA programming with youth in need here. Please consider continuing to partner with us financially to make this all possible, and please spread the word in your community about what we are creating together: www.wearealegria.org/give

Below is a photo of the boys from one of our accessory design workshops I spoke about that evening. These boys rarely have a chance to be children, to express themselves, and to focus entirely on their imagination. So thank you for investing in Josue and for joining us in fighting poverty with feathers, paintbrushes, and violins. 

We could not be more excited about this season of growth and the incredible impact it will have on the kids we serve. It was such an Exhibit of Hope.

Created by Stephen Buchanan and More Media
Music :: Midnight City by M83

Thank you to the many who made our 2nd annual Exhibit of Hope possible:

I Tre Merli, Restaurant

Nancy Mammana and Mary Jo Pane, Co-Chairs

Adam Sjoberg, Exhibit Photography and Cinematography

Silk Kaya - ETERNIA, Chesney Snow, Wayne Hitchcock - Range, and Bob Sauler, Musicians

ALEGRIA Volunteers, Leadership Team, Advisory Board, and Board of Directors

Joanna Williams and Michelle Fox, Event Photographers

Cid Mendez, Sculptor, Canvas Build

More Media, Timelapse Video

Ernest Alexander

Miracle Icons

DESIRON

Heineken

Pearl Vodka

El Señor Tequila

Amstel Light

Blue Smoke

YOU, the ALEGRIA Community

Just a quick THANK YOU to all who came out to support ALEGRIA's 2nd Annual Exhibit of Hope on Monday night. You made it an incredible success.

Next week: updates and photos and tallies, oh my!

Thanks again, everyone. You guys really are the best. We count ourselves so lucky to have such an incredible community of hearts and minds supporting this important work of empowering the most underserved youth through the arts.

With joy,
The ALEGRIA Team

Tickets on sale through Monday morning. If you haven't already, get yours!
www.alegria2012.eventbrite.com

We're proud to kick off the series featuring Dan Dickson, Art Director and Graphic Designer extraordinaire. Daniel Dickson is a New York based Art Director/Designer by way of Atlanta. Dan is devoted to applying fresh thinking & thoughtful craftsmanship to design projects. He holds a BFA in visual communication and actively furthers his design education through lecture series, design and trade publications, as well as personal observations. Dan currently leads a team of designers and animators as an Art Director at Nickelodeon. Outside of Nick and when not searching for the best waffle in NYC, he makes time for personal work and commission projects.

Describe how you got there. Taking advantage of opportunities that came my way, taking the initiative when I wanted to something different and hard work. Also, it doesn't hurt when people like you. Things just go smoother when people want to work with you or help you.

What non-art/design things inspire you?  

Mostly People and Words inspire me.     

How would your friends and family describe what you do? I think they would say, "I doodle all day and occasionally attend a meetings about those very same doodles."

 

If you could go back in time and encourage yourself at the moment you were deciding to take a chance and pursue your craft, what piece of advice would you give yourself, now that you're beyond it? I would tell myself to constantly learn new ways to create things and don't get too caught up in nostalgia. In design, what we do is so much about distilling ideas and recombining elements to create new things. It's important not to get stuck in one mode. This way your designs remain fluid and fresh.

What has been the most surprising thing about your journey? The most surprising thing about all of this has been… getting what I want out of my career and life when I ask for it. It's so simple to do and yet it can be elusive at times. But usually, when I ask for something it magically happens.

Check out more of Dan's work:
www.behance.net/danisgood
www.Danisgood.com
www.danisgood.blogspot.com

We have an exciting announcement to share: We're creating capacity to support our second community of underserved youth. Where, might you ask? NEW YORK CITY!

ALEGRIA partners and invests in communities long-term. We're creating a strong foundation so that we can continue to impact kids' lives long-term. We'll continue to invest in La Sagrada Familia in Lima, our founding partner community, and pilot art programming within a community in need here in NYC. To accomplish this, we need to raise $125,000 by 2013. Scroll down the blog and click on 'Our Impact' to learn more about the many ways we invest in La Sagrada Familia. 

Art is universal. Hopelessness is universal. New York City is home to many of the world's most renowned artistic experiences, yet we also have so many youth who face tremendous odds. We are so excited to give underserved youth in NYC artistic opportunities and resources they would have never otherwise experienced.

At our event on Monday, we're SO amped for rapper Eternia and her beatboxer Chesney Snow to perform. They'll speak about the power of hip hop as a medium to transform kids' lives. Wayne Hitchcock aka Range will perform an accoustic set during our VIP reception. These talented artists are volunteering their time and voice on behalf of empowering underserved kids through the arts. Incredible! 

We're in the early stages of our New York partnership. We have a strong local community in Lima and a strong local community in NYC, and we see a world of possibilities to create this together. You'll be hearing more about this at our event and in the days to come.

We are so grateful for your support! - for coming to our Exhibit of Hope, for joining us, for all of the ways big and small you've advocated for these kids in the past 2 years. We're creating much-needed change in kids' lives TOGETHER. Here we go!

- Shay and the ALEGRIA Team

One hundred percent of funds raised support ALEGRIA's work and go towards sustaining art programs in La Sagrada Familia and piloting new ones. One hundred percent of funds raised from the silent auction of the kids' artwork will meet a need in La Sagrada Familia. 

Our event Monday, April 23rd is going to be a very special night in support of underserved youth. If you don't have your ticket yet, get it now: www.alegria2012.eventbrite.com

La Sagrada Familia children performing classical music

Were you a part of our Month of Music this past fall? THANK YOU. With the funds raised from our music campaign, we were able to provide 20 training violins, a set of bongo drums, 2 tubas, various instrument cases, and 1 trombone. We had previously provided 4 violins a few months prior. Investing in La Sagrada Familia's music program is really close to our heart. In the coming months, they'll need professional violins, cellos, contrabasses, and flutes. The Lima Symphony Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica de Lima) will send La Sagrada Familia 3 teachers - wind, strings and a director - to teach alongside the Community's music and choir teachers. Research shows that music education is tied to children's intellectual development and academic achievement. This work is neccessary and so valuable for children in underserved communities.

using the new bongo drums from the Month of Music!

Here's where we're at in this season... We're all about being a high-impact organization, creating much-needed change in the lives of these kids. We are working to create a strong foundation so that ALEGRIA's work is long-term and sustainable in the communities we support. We need your support to make this dream a reality. We have a very exciting announcement coming, so stay tuned. Join us in this exciting season of growth.

Photo from NYTimes, El Sistema

Our Month of Music this past September was inspired by the incredible work El Sistema is doing in Venezuela. Miguel, the founder of La Sagrada Familia, is a huge fan of classical music, and the La Sagrada Familia music program is thriving, despite lacking many resources. Through YOUR support, we raised over $3,000 to support La Sagrada Familia's music program. The band in the orphanage community is absolutely incredible, and through this campaign, we provided a trombone, violins, and outfitted the band in new performance costumes. So incredible!

“El Sistema’s aim is to address a depressingly universal problem: how to remove children from poverty’s snares, like drugs, crime, gangs and desperation,” Daniel J. Wakin writes. “The method, imagined by El Sistema’s founder, the economist and trained musician José Antonio Abreu, was classical music.”

"The [El Sistema] program has become the envy of the music world, inspiring similar programs in many countries and attracting influential proponents like the conductors Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle."

We are dreaming big this season and can't wait to continue to impact the lives of these children and many more. ALEGRIA is a small organization, and your giving makes a big impact. Thank you for joining us in this incredible adventure to inspire and empower youth in the most underserved communities to transform their lives through the arts.

In a documentary created featuring El Sistema, José Antonio Abreu says,

"In my view, the root cause of all our social problems is exclusion. We must fight to ensure that a larger number of people, everyone if it is possible, have access to this wonderful world, the world of music, the world of the orchestra, the world of song... the world of art."

We couldn't agree more.

 Read the article about El Sistema in the New York Times here.

"Music is an outburst of the soul" - Frederick Delius

Help ALEGRIA provide the opportunity for the kids in the orphanage of La Sagrada familia and give the gift of music this month. Here's how:

Donate here and spread the word:
monthofmusic.causevox.com

Join us this month! Unese con nosotros.
Learn more about ALEGRIA & our work here.

Art Direction by Shay Grabowski
Animation by Amelia Charles
Character Development by Thomas Bryant