|
ArtSeed Announces Appalachian Trail Fundraiser
Two Houston Supporters Hike Across America using PocketMail Technology to Link Together a San Francisco Urban African-American Community and an Appalachian Rural White Community
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – March 11, 2004 — Bay Area-based arts education organization ArtSeed announced today that two of its supporters, husband and wife team Arwen and Heather Vaughan will spend six months hiking the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail this spring and summer as a fundraiser for the organization. To prepare for the journey Arwen and Heather read hiking books for a year, purchased equipment months prior to departure, began a physical training regime and applied for and were granted six-month sabbaticals from their jobs in Houston. Yet Arwen said, "Are we prepared? No. Do we know what we are doing? Not really. Are we going to do it anyway? Yes!"
As Arwen and Heather explore Appalachia, they will be sending home Internet messages using PocketMail, a stand-alone handheld computer, the couple describes as "a cool gadget." While Arwen and Heather are connecting with one of America’s largest under-privileged rural White communities, ArtSeed artists and students at Burnett Child Development Center in San Francisco’s Bay View Hunters Point community, one of San Francisco’s largest under-privileged urban Black communities, are receiving art instruction as they contrast and compare the hikers’ challenges to those faced by underprivileged urban families. "Hollywood and independent films have depicted the violence and poverty of both areas while ArtSeed wants to celebrate the natural beauty and humanity of both places. We also want this project to show how the high-technology of email and the wonderful low technology of children's art can compliment one another. We need both technologies in our lives,” said Josefa Vaughan, the organization's director and Arwen's mother.
The Appalachian Trail is a continuous footpath that follows the ridgelines of the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to Maine. Hikers Arwen and Heather began their trek on March 1st along with their dog Sasha atop Mt. Springer, Georgia, the southern terminus of the trail. Six months and millions of steps later, they will reach the summit of Mt. Katadin in Maine. The effort required to walk up and down the various mountains’ inclines over the course of the journey has been described as equivalent to hiking Mt. Everest from sea level five times. The unpredictable weather conditions of certain mountain peaks can suddenly turn life threateningly cold and windy year round. Thousands set out each year to hike the trail; only a few hundred make it to the end. Josefa Vaughan describes this pilgrimage as “a metaphor for how the arts allow us to push past assumed limitations and fears. Connections like this with real undertakings can expand ArtSeed students’ horizons.”
The hikers’ daily trail journal will be posted on the Internet. From their web site (www.hobbithole.net) ArtSeed participants and others will be able to email messages to the two hikers. The hikers also plan to take pictures and gather doodles and anecdotes from people they meet on the trail for later use by ArtSeed in a larger collaborative artwork. These exchanged letters, emails, photos, and storyboards will serve as a source of mutual inspiration to ArtSeed, its participants, and the two hikers.
Recently Josefa walked into a classroom at Burnett Child Development Center in Bay View Hunters Point to find the youngsters huddled at their teacher’s feet discussing a newly imposed curfew due to several drive-by shootings. During the course of the art lesson, which involved the demonstration of a particular drawing technique, one little girl looked up, wide-eyed, and exclaimed, "I have always wanted to learn that!" After little more than an hour with these youngsters, Vaughan waded towards the door, neck deep in a sea of hugs. Classes such as this one are how ArtSeed finds recruits for its Apprenticeship Program. ArtSeed is fueled by a belief that private art lessons should be accessible to all interested students because one-on-one, long-term commitments between artists and youngsters have the potential to change lives. “One child, touched deeply, can profoundly influence many others their own age. Besides, these youngsters prod us to make more challenging and more relevant art,” Josefa said.
Hikers along the Appalachian Trail describe a phenomenon they call "Trail Magic." It’s when some unexpected, blissful event occurs on the trail, such as stumbling across a cache of candy bars and cocoa placed there deliberately by some anonymous benefactor. People who cause Trail Magic are referred to as "Trail Angels." Arwen and Heather are hopeful that this Appalachian Trail Fundraiser will bring some Trail Magic ArtSeed’s way in the form of donations that keep its programs alive. Collecting pledges for ArtSeed is also one way in which hikers Arwen and Heather hope to improve their chances of success in completing the trail. “In difficult times we can think about all the pledges at stake, all the people who've shown their support by making a donation, and keep pressing on, one mile at a time,” stated Heather. Every pledge tallied will help propel Arwen and Heather down the trail, and every mile behind them will bring much-needed dollars to ArtSeed, which invites the community at large to join in this partnership.
To Make a Donation: One hundred percent of the pennies, nickels, dimes, and dollars pledged and donated for each mile hiked will benefit ArtSeed. Donations made payable to ArtSeed may be mailed to ArtSeed Appalachian Trail Fundraiser, Box 401177, San Francisco, CA 94140-1177. PayPal donations may be made online at ArtSeed’s web site, www.artseed.org. ArtSeed is a non-profit tax-exempt organization.
To Follow the Hikers’ Progress: Visit their web site at www.hobbithole.net. View the hikers' online trail journal,
sign the guest book, or send them an email.
About ArtSeed: ArtSeed’s mission is to build long-term mentorships between artists and under-privileged youth through innovative arts projects. We believe these mentorships foster professionalism, nurture leadership, revitalize the arts and bring diverse communities together. Charitable contributions to this organization also support art exhibitions, art classes, workshops and collaborative projects with other organizations. ArtSeed invites the young, old and/or under-privileged to utilize the arts to broaden and
brighten all of our horizons. Visit ArtSeed on the web at www.artseed.org.
|
|
![](%22http:/statse.webtrendslive.com/dcsclwxf66twkfgmsg9zfh9ri_4f6u/njs.gif?dcsuri=/nojavascript&WT.js=No/"){kind=small}
