At the Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts, we meet many people who have very interesting ideas to promote the arts or to utilize the arts to further a cause or raise funds for a project they hold dear.
It is the mission of the arts council to encourage the success of cultural activities. Our task, from day to day, is to determine which ventures are ready for execution and then provide the necessary support.
Many of the projects we review are great opportunities for artists and communities alike and we enthusiastically endorse their plans. Other ideas are dreams alone, or worse, self-serving and overblown.
I have become rather skeptical over the years, learning to ask the important questions like, "How are you going to pay for this?"
Recently, we were approached by a local resident and artist named Dennis Gaboury, who introduced himself on the phone as someone working on behalf of orphans in Zimbabwe. He has formed an organization called Zim Kids that facilitates the sale of sculptural toys made by children in Africa.
"Mmmm, hmmmm," I thought. "Sure you are."
OK, so maybe I am not so much skeptical, as I am jaded.
Dennis, essentially in the middle of a cold call to me, launched into an explanation of his program. The sincerity in his voice was palpable and he had called at the suggestion of a colleague in the field who I greatly respect. Despite my trepidation that this was another program built on dreams alone, I agreed to meet with him.
"I need you to come in and show me your materials," I said. "I’d like to review your financials and see more documentation on the children and the funding."
"Sure," he enthusiastically responded. "I can come in right now, if you want me too."
We scheduled a meeting for later in the week. I hung up the phone, and immediately called Susan Kenny, executive director at the Roxbury Arts Group, who had given Dennis my name. She assured me that Dennis was not only legitimate, he was a stellar individual doing amazing work on behalf of AIDS orphans in Africa.
Later that week, Dennis came into my office with an array of toys made by the children he works with. They were sculptural pieces, really, rivaling some of the most interesting folk art I’ve seen by accomplished artists.
According to the Zim Kids website, more than 80 percent of the adult population in Zimbabweis unemployed, life expectancy is just 34 years, and more than 20 percent of the children are orphans.
Living in dire circumstances, the Zimbabwean children sort through garbage and debris for Vaseline jar caps and shoe polish lids, for pieces of wire, discarded buttons, scraps of cloth and bits of yarn to sculpt cars and bicycles with moving parts, animals and dolls.
Perhaps because Dennis is an artist himself, or perhaps because he is a kind man with a generous spirit, he saw an opportunity to help. In 2005, he sponsored a competition among the orphans of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city, to, as he says, "encourage and reward their creativity."
More than 250 boys and girls built dolls and trucks, motorcycles, airplanes and helicopters. At a special awards show held in the spring, all the children received prizes, including movie tickets, backpacks and pencils, courtesy of local and international donors. Their toys were displayed in an exhibition mounted at the National Gallery and the top four toymakers were awarded an airplane ride over their own home town.
After the exhibition, Dennis brought the toys to the United States and sold them through a series of fundraisers, . The proceeds from the sale allowed every child who participated to bring home a basket of food sufficient to feed a family for a month, notebooks and pencils for school, and enough money to pay school fees.
As Dennis describes in his website: "For the first time in their lives, they glimpsed the possibility of earning money by working with their own hands. In a world where charity and handouts are the coin of the realm, they caught an inkling of dignity."
During our meeting, Dennis showed me pictures of children and families in Bulawayo, and told me their stories. He told me about children surviving with AIDS, surviving without family, and with virtually nothing that we, as Americans, think of as essentials. He told me about their spirit and their joy and their creativity and their deep commitment to education and family.
One hundred percent of the proceeds of each sale goes directly to the child who made the toy. Each toy is accompanied by a photo and letter from the young artist. Dennis also photographs each purchaser with the new toy, and asks him or her to write a note to the child.
It was clear to me after meeting with Dennis, that he had created an opportunity beyond financially supporting people who are seriously in need. He is working to fundamentally change lives by empowering children _ orphans _ through the creative process.
The Arts Council will display and sell select pieces from the newest collection of toys that Dennis has brought from Zimbabwe in our Fine Craft Gallery, beginning Thursday. He will speak at a reception that day from 6 to 8 p.m. at Wilber Mansion. The exhibition will run through the end of October. All of the proceeds from the sale will benefit Zim Kids.
Dennis will also be at the Roxbury Arts Group from 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 13. According to Susan Kenny, the toys were "so unique and charming, we literally sold out last year."
After meeting with Dennis and hearing his story, I hope the young artists of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, are fortunate enough to receive such generous support again this year.
Kathleen Frascatore is executive director of the Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts.
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