Reception and Updates

For those of you who made it last week to the Bravery Reception at Fresh Start, thank you! It was a very long day of hanging artwork, preparing food, setup, and nerves. Overall, a great success in my book with one exception: Due to running the event, I didn't get to spend much time with the visitors, especially the Bravery survivors. Now that I have experience behind the scenes at these events, the next time will certainly be easier and better.

The people who volunteered to help me were absolutely wonderful. The speakers, Faustine Chan and Lisa Kim, did great and Maria Elena Ochoa is a warm and very nice individual with an amazing track record for helping the underpriviledged groups of the community. I was so honored to have her there. She even presented Bravery with a proclamation signed by Governor Janet Napolitano, testifying that our elected officials do pay attention to our efforts to help others. It may not seem like it sometimes, but everything we do makes a difference and especially when we try to make work easier by taking action in the community.

If you didn't make it to the reception and want to see the artwork, 20 pieces will be on display until the 24th of October and 9 pieces are in the MCC Library lobby until the 31st of Oct.

Updates

We are slowly getting in some donations, but not much. We are less than 20% of our donation goal unfortunately, but the state of the economy is working against all fundraising efforts everywhere. A little something is better than nothing.

You may have noticed that the online auction items have dwindled off in part due to companies backing out of donations at this time and due to Ebay policies on gift certificates. Currently, one item is a portrait of yourself for a fraction of what it would normally cost. Next week will conclude the final listing, so take a look.

There are some very exciting projects coming down the pike that you are sure to enjoy, so please stay with me as I resume this blog and continue to think and work creatively.

DV Awareness Activities

There are lots of events happening now that Domestic Violence Awareness has begun.

One event that I must mention was the Herberger showing of Domestic Violence...the Musical? Since working with John and Linda King, I was very excited to see the performance on Sept. 22nd and it was awesome. Please take a look at the website and the photos from that show. I strongly encourage you to bring this one hour enlightenment to your community. It's one of the most powerful ways to teach people "why she doesn't just leave".



A very fun event that Bravery had the opportunity to participate in was the Girls Night Out at Dolce Salon and Spa, Arrowhead location in Peoria. What a fun night that was. Little did I know that we would be hosted at a three story building with a live band on top with wine and food, musician at the first floor with spa services, and a Bravery gallery on the second floor. It was a wonderful evening with a program featuring Ali Vincent, the first female winner, of the hit TV show The Biggest Loser.

Although the evening sports lots of girly activity, GNO is important because it raises money for programs that provide shelter and services to victims. So far there are 12 of them happening this month around the country. Way to Go!

Coming up next Monday is the Mesa Community College Domestic Violence Awareness Conference that you all should definitely visit. Visit the webpage that features the program with all the workshops and keynote. This is going to be a knockout experience. It's a community event open to the everyone and I guarantee you will learn something new and interesting about domestic violence. Additionally, 9 of the original portraits from Bravery are on display in the lobby of the Paul Elsner Library throughout October.


I have decided to add a little more to my plate and participate in the Purple Ribbon Study Circles that was created by the Purple Ribbon Councel. This is a pilot program in which community and industry people come together for one meeting a week for one month and discuss the issues about domestic violence and how to help solve them. YES! It takes only a couple of hours a week and refreshments are provided. I will write about this more in upcoming posts as it's an important tool for problem solving. If you are interested in more information about it and want to participate, please email Sowmya Ayyer.

Speaking of which, stay tuned because after the events are over, I will be sharing a lot of new useful information gleaned from all of these activities. In the meantime, I hope to see you.

Faith and Fire

Sometimes the stars seem to align for us. We become determined to take action, go through the motions and before we know it, success. That faith and fire inside can propel us to do amazing things and that is just how I would describe the Art Salon for a Cause.

People left the salon enlightened, disturbed, encouraged, and supportive of domestic violence issues. A few survivors came out of the DV closet and shared their stories with me and one woman in crisis came to me for help, which she is getting. Bravery is working.

Our three day event managed to pull over 160 people who enjoyed wonderful live music, delicious gourmet (even homemade) food, and beautiful art in every room of the 5,500 sq foot luxury home. We had wonderful sponsors, volunteers, and we received media attention from the East Valley Tribune, AZ Republic, The Wrangler News, KJZZ radio, East Valley Radio Station, and all the other websites that helped promote our event. Most amazing to me is the $1,500 in scholarship money from the silent auction.

Earlier this week, Bravery cohosted the Arts and Advocates reception at Cup O' Karma (formally Into the Bean) and awarded the very first Bravery Scholarship to Melissa Nudi. She is a mom, DV survivor, and an MCC student who plans to enter the medical field. Bravery raised $500 and MCC matched the funds to give her $1,000. I am a huge advocate of education and am so honored to help another person in this capacity and Melissa is a perfect example of what Bravery is all about.

The other scholarship will be given through Tempe Dollars for Scholars and will go to a Tempe High School student to attend college. Currently, we are working on candidates and will announce him/her in the coming months. I would very much like the Bravery Scholarship to become a staple of the program because an education is one of the keys to a better life and has become more expensive (college credit prices have doubled in the past decade).

I've been getting emails about the online auction through Ebay Giving Works and I will admit that many of the wonderful donations were sold in the silent auction, but the online auction will resume next week. If you have something you would like to contribute on behalf of Bravery to help us reach our goal, please feel free to participate. If you haven't already, you can subscribe to the auction blog to stay updated on coming items.

Most importantly, please share Bravery with others by sending them links to the website, subscribe to the blog, donate, and bid online. Together we can make a difference...all it takes is a little faith and fire!

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.

Heart, Mind, and Soul

As a person who likes to look at the positive side of life, I believe that people are amazing and can do the most wonderful feats with very little other than the power of their own trilogy: heart, mind, and soul. I have trust in the community and our ability to come together and make miracles happen, but it takes a lot of hard work and perseverance to organize and execute a plan to get the desired results.

For instance: I just finished reading 1776, written by Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough, about the first and most important year of the American Revolution. This book is loaded with quotes from American and British people, revealing a very interesting story. Artwork is included for visuals that captured the day. You may think...how dull, but anything beginning with enlightenment on the madness of King George is anything but boring.

Now that we are faced with upcoming elections, it's easy to become disheartened and cynical about people in the government and feel like your voice has no power. This is simply not true. If you read 1776 and see that in the final hours of a major victory, the only saving grace was the "trilogy" of the volunteer army to persevere in the worst conditions and continue forward in the quest for freedom, you will know just how important your voice still is today. The army was a mere handful of people against a massive and well funded British army in addition to a group of animals they hired as mercenaries. Think 300 style and you will understand what I mean.

Why am I saying this? Because your trilogy still applies in issues that matter to you and your community. Yes it's true that the government is a giant machine compared to what it was in the days of George Washington, and it's true that the media can influence our choices, BUT it's also true that people coming together with one voice can be the final influence to the government and media output.

Many laws that are passed in legislation were started by a concerned citizen, i.e. Megan's Law or Amber Alert. Pro-life vs Pro-choice issues are a good example of government concern because the public cares so much about it. We just need more of the same for domestic violence issues, but it will only happen if you arm yourself with knowledge about the politicians you pay to serve you, come together for a cause you believe in, and use your voice and vote. The system put in place by our forefathers and mothers is only broken if we get frustrated, give up and take no action, while those politicians who live off your tax money,i.e. the "political welfare system," do either nothing or make decisions that harm our communities and continue forth unfettered. The power really is with the people to make the world a better and safer place, we just need to remember that, believe it, and get involved and do something.

1776
Origins of Megan's Law
Origins of Amber Alert
Woman Fights for Domestic Violence Law