Category: Join the Team

Host a Haitian Artist – Summer 2013

June 5, 2013June 10, 2013 Melissa Schilling Art Projects, Fundraiser, Haitian Culture/Language, Join the Team, Partners

“Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art…” – Maya Angelou

Our three friends: Racine, Claudel and Romel are coming for a visit to San Francisco this August and September. They have worked with Project HOPE Art for the last two years. Read all about their interests, art and life in Haiti, here.
It is our hope to slowly pass along our Art Center in Haiti over to these three artists, so they may continue our mission of art + science training for children in disadvantaged communities.

Through this visit to United States, our visiting artists will learn the systems and infrastructure necessary to run an art center full time. They will be exposed to all manner of creativity and multi-media artists in the Bay Area through connections with our partner: Burners Without Borders.

Project HOPE Art is sponsoring three Haitian artists for a 5-week art internship at Recology. This internship will put our artists directly in contact with an American trash and recycling transfer station to forage and create a sculpture based on transformation. This is the style of art they make using discarded items from the streets of Port au Prince.

What is hosting?
Hosting means sharing your culture and hospitality with an artist. There are a wide variety of hosting opportunities from inviting an international visitor to your home for a family meal, to providing a place to stay during our month-long art internship program. You may also opt to invite our artists on an outing to Yosemite, roller skating, surfing, to visit an art museum or film screening.

How do I sign up to host?
We have the following needs:
-1 week Home Stay
-2 week Home Stay
-4 week Home Stay
-Activity Invitations
Simply fill in this form and our Visiting Artist Coordinator, Jenni Ward will be in touch to confirm details and answer questions.

You may also leave feedback, [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Help Wanted: Special Event Coordinator, 6-month volunteer position

May 8, 2013May 8, 2013 Melissa Schilling Join the Team

Project HOPE Art is sponsoring three Haitian Artists to visit San Francisco, build sculpture and present our collective work in Haiti at our Third Annual Voodoo Donor Dinner in San Francisco. We need a strong, creative, tenacious individual to join the team for 6 months.

Job Responsibilities:
BROAD RESPONSIBILITIES

• Oversee the donor dinner and arts sculpture program at Recology, in September
• Develop and promote the mission, vision and values of Project HOPE Art
• Work with peers and other departments to synchronize themes and schedules.
• Create a positive learning environment by providing clear, specific, timely and respectful coaching and feedback for artists, staff and donors
• Maintain a calm demeanor during periods of high volume or unusual events to keep the donor dinner operating to standards and set a positive example for artists, staff and donors
• Develop positive relationships with outside vendors by understanding and addressing individual motivations, needs and concerns.
• Follow all operational policies and procedures to ensure the safety of all guests and staff.
• Maintain regular and consistent communication with punctuality.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop themes, procure supplies and execute ideas related to the Third Annual Voodoo Donor Dinner
• Establish learning objectives and measurable outcomes for the Third Annual Voodoo Donor Dinner
• Assess and document progress toward learning objectives and satisfaction of donor and artist experiences
• Serve as the point of contact for the PHA team
• Answer phone, email, and in-person requests regarding the Third Annual Voodoo Donor Dinner
• Schedule staff to meet demand. Adjust as needed to handle last minute changes.
• Keep adequate supplies, brochures and other materials.
• Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Job Qualifications:
General Qualifications
Please possess a good sense of humor, a strong back bone and a definitive sense of right & wrong. Understand the power of web-based infrastructure, applications and time management. Don’t be afraid to pick up the good old-fashioned telephone. There are no stupid questions, only silly people afraid to ask beneficial, answer-driven questions.

Additional Information:
SUPERVISION

Requires moderate supervision from both co-founders of Project HOPE Art; exercises substantial independent judgment and initiative. The Special Event Coordinator will work from home.

HOURS

June-December: 25 – 30 hours per month

Interested in applying?
Please send your resume and a short cover letter to Melissa@projecthopeart.org

PHA Looks to Expand…

March 24, 2013May 4, 2013 Join the Team

About 3 short years ago, I received an email from northern California, showing me one of my murals that was colored and hanging on a school wall in Haiti. Long story short — that exchange changed my life. I soon met the amazing women of Project Hope Art, joined their cause, and have had so many incredible adventures with them ever since. I’ve drawn, painted, colored, crafted, danced, laughed (and cried!) with them and some of the most adorable little Haitian souls you could ever meet.

So why am I sharing this with you now? Because our merry band of volunteers is starting to make some really big things happen and we need some help. We have a new art center in Port Au Prince, sponsorship plans for three young Haitian artists, and a new photography program, just to get started. We particularly need a new volunteer with financial experience, art education experience, and another that can help us keep organized. If you have any of these skills, and are even a little bit curious about what it might be like to be part of a positive change in the world, please send us a message. This is a virtual job, you can live anywhere, we just need your energy and passion for helping children who deserve so much more than what they have right now.

Click below for more detailed job descriptions:

Finance Director

Operations Director

Art Education Director

— Kathy Barbro, Art Teacher in Studio City, CA

PhotoPhilanthropy Visual Essay Submission, 2012

October 21, 2012October 21, 2012 Melissa Schilling Art Projects, Join the Team, Visual Storytelling

Bleak Landscapes and Grim Living Conditions meet your arch nemesi:
Vibrant Color, Laughter and Creativity.
This photo essay follows a group of American artists through the slums of Port au Prince and into schools, hospitals and orphanages. In their war against despair the best weapon of choice is intentional whimsy and purposeful joy.

[slideshow]

Project HOPE Art is comprised of a colorful cast of characters that appeal to my inner child. They work fervently to heal and inspire the children around them. I choose to photograph this organization’s journey into the Third World because I love their efforts, compassion and artful endeavors. They sing. They dance. They laugh. They create beauty from trash. They insert hope into eyes. Inspiring people to not give up or give in. But to laugh and appreciate what is and to make it through another day.

All of my photographs are used to populate the Project HOPE Art web media to tell stories of art upcycling, vermicomposting and dance workshops. This year I am working on my first illustrated Moringa Tree gardening and cookbook. This book will contain upcycled art and agroecology lesson plans, Creole recipes and actual Moringa seeds so each child who receives the book will have a grasp on nutrition, soil cycles and healthy eating. Science and Art really go hand in hand.

Several things are required to stay alive: water, food and shelter. Project HOPE Art provides the things necessary to be ALIVE: laughter, joy, ideas, color and vibrancy.

During my first trip to Haiti, in January 2010, I captured more than 5,000 images for Project HOPE Art. Together we turned those images into a book about PHA’s programming.

Now we have decided to collaborate together on a gardening cookbook, entitled “There Grows The Neighborhood.” The book’s first edition will travel down to Haiti in January 2013 filled with children’s recipes, food paintings and gardening photographs.

I will work on a second edition of the book, with a professional illustrator, to be released in January 2014. This edition of the book will encompass The Growing Gardens Guide, Vegetable Planting Guide and Container Garden Activity List — but also include a handwritten story accompanied by characters like Mardochee Le Magique Moringa and her best friend Herbie the Worm.

Through Project HOPE Art’s Visiting Artist Program and local collaboration with Haiti NPO – Haiti Communitere, I will also be traveling to Port au Prince to photograph a collection of artistic projects each quarter of 2013. My plan is to photograph alongside Project HOPE Art for as long as they will tolerate my intrusive camera lens.

Volunteer Opportunity

May 31, 2012October 14, 2013 Melissa Schilling Art Projects, Join the Team 1 Comment

Project HOPE Art will be creating a Video Pen Pal program for 20 children ages 4-16 years old in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

English Language Video Pen Pal Program

Project HOPE Art is creating a Video Pen Pal Program: an English
language tutoring program in conjunction with a pen pal program for 20
children ages 4-16 years old at a school in
Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. We ask that all volunteers spend a minimum of
one hour per week checking in on their matched schoolchild and
encouraging them to reach for the educational stars. The purpose of
this program is to help each child become proficient enough to make and send videos and share drawings and artwork across international lines.

We need a volunteer to come on board and help execute everything from setting up & fundraising to pay for satellite wireless internet, acquiring hardware & loading apps on iPads, coordinating school art exchanges from the U.S., measuring and meeting English language goals, ensuring flow between the girls in Haiti and their individual Big Sisters in the U.S, posting results on our website and sharing wins with the PHA team and their special donors.

We have team meetings once a month and are loaded with talent on our team to ensure success with this new English language program.

The right candidate should plan on spending roughly 25 hours a month to maintain this program, with a few extra hours on the front end to set up infrastructure and systems to eliminate as many speed bumps as possible.

If you are interested in the Volunteer Opportunity, email Melissa Schilling our lead art teacher: melissa@projecthopeart.org

If you are interested in volunteering with the Big Sister Program, fill out the volunteer form and click here