TRANSFORM, Julie Perez, age 12. Graphic Design

We want to thank everyone who committed to voting every day in May for our $25,000 grant proposal with Pepsi at www.refresheverything.com. We had 129 committed voters on Facebook, lots of fun comments the proposal site (thanks Mom!), and many personal emails, all of which revealed to us how far and wide interest in our artistic work here in Hunting Park had spread. Now that the voting is closed, we will be coming to the table to begin the real work that Ayuda continues to do. In the words of a friend, “We may not have enough money, but we have some money.” Some of that money has come from folks donating toward the murals regardless of what the outcome of Pepsi turned out to be. Here at the OKA House, the kids and me have been saving “SPARE CHANGE TO MAKE CHANGE” and have collected $41.03 over the past month.  Hosting our 2010 Youth Art Exhibition & Gala on May 21st generated not only income for the arts at Ayuda, but more importantly, it deepened our community relationships which will support our projects for much longer of a term than a financial donation. So, here at the beginning of June, while we are not $25K richer… we’re very excited about our summer at the OKA House.

And I ask you again, join us!  If you can visit, stop by and get your hands dirty!  We’ll be painting our bridge mural throughout June, repairing our garden mural in July, and working on the mosaic mural through July & August.  If your support comes from a distance, take one minute right now and donate $20 on our website and designate “murals”.  We are still quite a bit shy of our materials budget and if you liked what you saw in our video, it’s your turn to exhibit that support financially.  I’ve been telling our youth that no matter how small the amount of change that you bring… if you will just bring what you have, you will see CHANGE.  We believe this.  Everyday, we witness folks bringing what they have to the table and our community in Hunting Park is transformed; moment by moment.

This is your moment.  Spare change to make change.

Michaelanne Harriman, Community Arts Director

mharriman@ayudacc.org

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