Art Salon for a Cause

Next week Bravery is coordinating and running the first Art Salon for a Cause. This event came as a wonderful opportunity for bringing domestic violence awareness and showcasing ALL 29 portraits from the Bravery series.

I am so pleased to be sharing this event with two amazing professional and successful artists, Jim Covarrubias and Ralph Brekan. We are all benefiting charities with the art sales and donations collected onsite.

Furthermore there will be live music each day, refreshments, and tons of beautiful artwork to look at in an amazing multimillion dollar home in the Trovita private, gated community. This event is FREE admission and to top it off a Bravery Silent Auction will be available on Friday evening. What's even cooler is this beautiful home is on the market for sale too!


Some of you are aware that Bravery has started the ongoing online auction with Ebay Giving Works and so far, after muddling through the learning process, I have managed to raise a good amount from the first week. Unfortunately, I have some gift donations from generous companies that I can't put on Ebay because they are gift certificates and they are too valuable. Isn't that nuts?! SO, the best solution was to have a silent auction, so that YOU can come and see these great items for yourself and take them home with you immediately! The monies collected from the silent auction will go into the very first Bravery Scholarship fund, which will go to a domestic violence survivor from the Bravery Project program and Tempe Dollars for Scholars. So help us help survivors break the cycle by sending two people to college for a shot at a better life. It's all tax deductible.

I will also be collecting donations at the event as well and any amount, whether it's 1 dollar or 5 dollars, or anything that you can afford will go to help the beneficiaries provide services to survivors and help them overcome domestic violence for good!

If you like what you see in the Bravery portraits and want one for yourself, remember that a $500.00 donation to Bravery will get you a custom portrait of yourself, your pet, your kids, whatever you wish. Excellent for Christmas.

Now that I sound like an infomercial, just remember that you are most welcome to attend the salon just for the sake of enjoying the food, entertainment and great art. You don't have to spend a dime, just have fun and come (with friends) and say hello to me! If you didn't receive an evite from me, pop an RSVP in email so I can get a count.

Share Bravery and Volunteer

I've been in touch with a few of you the past couple of weeks, trying to hash out details and snafu's for Bravery. I want to say thank you for your patience with me as I run around in a frenzy trying to coordinate communication between all the many elements that will make Bravery successful. Those of you who are making calls for inkind donations for me and have volunteered your experienced skills have helped me feel like I am not alone in the efforts to bring Bravery together.

I have confirmed 8 items so far for the Ebay auction. Since the goal is to have 50 items or more for people to bid on, I will need more volunteers to contact companies for inkind donations. Keep in mind that there are people from all across the country who will be viewing Bravery and bidding on the auction, so request items from companies that can be redeemed anywhere in the US as well as items here in Arizona and in other states. In return for the donations, Bravery will market the company as a sponsor on the website, Ebay, and on some collateral materials where appropriate. Please contact me for more information.

The financial goal of Bravery is to collect $10,000.00 per beneficiary and there are 10, which means a total of $100,000.00 by the end of October. None of this is for Bravery Project, Inc.; it is all for the nonprofits who are doing such great work and service for others in need. This may be a high goal, but obtainable with your help. For example, if 10 businesses are willing to donate $1,000.00 each, then 10% of the goal has been made. Breaking it down into bite size chunks and working together produces amazing results. I believe we can do it! A donation request letter has been created that can be used to send to businesses. If you would like to go this route, please let me know.

One of the best ways to market something is through good old fashioned word-of-mouth. On the Bravery Project website, is a link to a page where you can share Bravery with others. My business card, a simple flyer about the online show and auction, Powerpoint presentation, and posters are available to be emailed, downloaded and printed along with a list of ideas on how you can help spread the word about Bravery. If you have any trouble with downloading any of the items, let me know as well. We have only two months before showtime!!

~ Together We Can Make A Difference ~