Intersection for the Arts

https://www.aiccsf.org Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Intersection for the Arts, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

More information about Intersection for the Arts: We provide Bay Area based artists and arts organizations with resources, community, and cultural space in order to develop sustainable practices.

DrawTogether  is an interactive art-making show and creative learning universe for kids and families, hosted by New York Times’ first weekly visual columnist and #1 bestselling illustrator Wendy MacNaughton.

The show first launched in 2020 over Instagram Live as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools were closed and kids were stuck at home. As tens of thousands of kids around the world started logging in to watch Wendy’s classes on Instagram Live, Wendy realized she was tapping into something bigger. The show was resonating because it was helping kids learn how to process emotions, explore new topics and think creatively. 

In fall 2021, DrawTogether Classrooms launched -- a program to provide comprehensive Social Emotional Learning-based art programming at low or no cost to schools, districts, and community-based organizations.  

To grow DrawTogether Classrooms, we need to be able to provide access to the tools and materials for making art. This is where you come in! With your support, we aim to deliver thousands of DrawTogether Art Kits to students all across the country.


WHY THIS MATTERS: 

Art education has been stripped from schools. Yet studies show (and parents know) that art is crucial for developing creative thinking, academic success, and emotional well-being — all of which are central to the 21st-century skills experts identify as necessary for young people to grow and succeed in today’s world. At a glance:

- When children regularly participate in art-making in a safe, supportive, and structured environment, they gain communication and comprehension skills that support learning across the subject spectrum. 
- When that environment is grounded in growth mindset and research on neurodiversity, as DrawTogether is, young people from all backgrounds feel heard, seen, and encouraged to take creative risks.
- And when technology facilitates these practices, DrawTogether helps to bridge the digital divide: it becomes a critical access point through which young students can have positive experiences online, develop digital literacy skills, and set themselves up for successful online learning.


BUDGET and ART KIT INFO: 

Each DrawTogether Art Kit costs $35, which includes the supplies, box, and fulfillment/mailing. To start, we are raising money for 2000 kits which will cost $70,000. Your support will change the lives of thousands of students in need!

DrawTogether Art Kits will be beautifully custom-designed boxes containing high-quality supplies kids need for drawing and creating - paper, pencils, watercolors, oil pastels (which studies show are better than crayons for emotional processing) and more! We believe the kit will make a huge difference in how kids feel about making art - and moreover, themselves. AND we want to prove it. So in addition to providing these supplies as part of our DrawTogether Classrooms pilot, we are going to collect data to learn more about how art materials impact students' creativity and sense of self.  


Please donate, share, and follow along with our DrawTogether Classrooms journey! 


All donations are directed to Intersection for the Arts designated U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Each donor will receive a tax-deductible receipt via email upon donating. 

Covid-19 is interrupting kids’ schools and schedules, keeping them from friends and loved ones, and exposing them to sky-high stress levels. They’re going through a LOT right now. Drawing is one of the most powerful ways kids can process their emotions, and help them hope, cope, and heal - while having a lot of fun.


And all they need? Art supplies. But for many families, paying for food and shelter is tough right now - there’s no budget left. That’s where we come in!



#DrawTogether is raising urgently needed funds to put art supplies in the hands of kids who need them the most. By partnering with local organizations like The Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco  and local art supply stores like Arch Drafting Supply , funds go to support local small businesses pressed in this hard time, and art supplies are delivered through community based organizations already distributing essential supplies to family. This ensures that the art kits reach the kids who need them the most.

We are beginning in the Bay Area, and will replicate and scale this model to provide Draw Together Art Kits across the country: alongside a network of trusted community partners and beloved local arts stores. (Some of our partners are listed below!)

Each Art Kit includes:
- drawing paper
- pencil
- pencil sharpener
- super fun eraser
- watercolor paints and brush
- crayons
- outrageously inspiring activity sheet

For just $20 we can assemble a kit; our goal is to raise  $27,500 and reach 1,250 families in the SF Bay Area. A small portion of monies raised will go to support Intersection of the Arts, who are providing fiscal sponsorship and resources making it possible for us to realize this project on such short notice!



Who we are:
#DrawTogether with WendyMac began as a rapid response to school closures resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic by providing free live daily online art classes  to thousands of kids in over 40 countries.  Art classes are archived online and freely available. Now a non-profit dedicated to getting art into every home, #DrawTogether understands art is an emergency relief service that helps kids cope, hope and connect in hard times.

Wendy MacNaughton  is a NYT-Bestselling illustrator, and the co- founder #DrawTogether. She is trained as a social worker and is a former visual columnist for the New York Times and California Sunday Magazine. She now teaches kids (of all ages) to draw Monday-Friday.

Caroline Paul  is a co-founder of #DrawTogether. She a NYT-Bestselling writer and is now better known as "The Art Assistant."

Vinny Eng is the Program Director of #DrawTogether. He is a kid for life, mental health advocate, and grateful friend helping Wendy and Caroline to realize the vision of #DrawTogether. He is a community organizer building local solutions and kinder communities and is very excited to connect helpers of all ages!

Intersection for the Arts  is the fiscal sponsor making it possible for #DrawTogether to realize its vision so quickly. It is a bedrock Bay Area arts nonprofit that’s dedicated to helping artists grow, thinking big, and taking weird and wonderful risks to make our communities better, healthier, more exciting and dynamic places to live our lives.




Who we are working with;
By working with local art supply stores we are able to support small businesses in this hard time. 
Arch Drafting Supply  SF

By working with knowledgeable, experienced local Community organizations to distribute the supplies we make sure they get into the hands of the kids who need them the most. 
Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco
Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth 
Chinatown Community Development Center 
Now Hunters Point 
Refugee and Immigrant Supports in Education SF Mission Education Center 
Support for Families of Children with Disabilities 

Special thanks to Michelle Morrison  and Dropbox , our partners in launching this endeavor, with the initial creation of 500 art kits which will benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco.

Heartfelt thanks to Thao Nguyen for composing original music and Alexander Varheid for editing expertise for our Video Trailer!



More about #DrawTogether:
New York Times-Bestselling Illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, along with her wife Caroline Paul, offers free 30-minute online drawing lessons for kids of all ages all across the globe, every school day through a live Instagram broadcast  (later available on YouTube  with a full archive of on-demand lessons - 20 episodes plus more to come!) In these uncertain times, the classes offer structure, creative experiences and tools that fuel imagination and teach kids to look closely at the world. They also alleviate stress and the impacts of isolation, help kids to process emotions and build confidence, and enable connections down the block and around the world - all while learning to draw an awesome dinosaur. #DrawTogether is raising emergency funds to supply underserved Bay Area kids with art supplies sourced from local businesses, with a vision to scale up and provide these kits nationally, energized by one simple premise: Everything is better when we draw together.

This funding will provide a monthly stipend at $1,000/month in support of Safe Organized Spaces (SOS) development, case studies, organizing, and consulting.

Safe Organized Spaces are transitional villages administered by service provider organizations, that
➣ Meet CA State codes for emergency shelter and service standards; 
➣ Operate in partnership with property owners, neighbors, and village residents in coordination with existing City services;
➣ Activate underutilized public/private land with license agreements, insurance, baseline health and safety standards, a built-in process for multi-stakeholder input & evaluation, and site-specific agreements 

The SOS campaign is a project of the Saint Francis Homelessness Challenge—fiscally sponsored by Intersection for the Arts.  Learn more and access the SOS Petition at www.SaintFrancisChallenge.org.

View our case study for an "SOS Stewardship Village and Wellness Hub" designed for a 4,700 sq ft pre-development site in the Tenderloin, San Francisco.



What SFHC has accomplished. Since founding the Saint Francis Homelessness Challenge in 2015, we have made progress towards our mission to end the crisis conditions of street homelessness by 1) Providing direct services at encampments (including portapotties, trash removal, and building over a dozen locking mobile shelters); 2) Organizing with a diverse group of local, regional, and state-level stakeholders to develop actionable solutions, including currently/formerly unsheltered residents, impacted neighbors, service/advocacy organizations, and government officials; and 3) Developing and piloting the "Safe Organized Spaces" framework for activating underutilized public/private land with community-integrated transitional villages. 


Help us continue this important work. SFHC is focused on scaling up the SOS model in San Francisco with current proposals for a SOS Stewardship Village and Wellness Hub on public land. SFHC's Founder and Director—Amy Farah Weiss—is further developing the SOS policy framework, conducting grassroots organizing with volunteers and unhoused residents, collecting signature for the SOS petition (currently at over 600 SF residents), making proposals to SF City Hall officials and CA State Officials, meeting with potential funders, and presenting to local/regional/state organizations.

Fund more of what YOU LOVE- an Alphabet Rockers soundtrack for evolution.

We need your help to finish and launch the Alphabet Rockers album and media for “The Love.” Our fundraising goal is $20K; Our stretch goal is $40K.

WHY IT MATTERS
Following the success of our social justice-infused, GRAMMY-nominated Rise Shine #Woke album, THE LOVE is 12 songs of family-focused hip hop, accompanied by live performance and music videos providing self-loving anthems for trans and gender non-binary kids and families. It’s a platform to shift culture around gender identity.

It’s not acceptable to us that 30% of transgender youth report a history of attempting suicide, and that 40+% report a history of self-injury. Alphabet Rockers founders both identify as cisgender and heterosexual, yet understand the importance of these messages and are committed to break the barriers around queer, trans and non-binary identities so all our children can be more accepting of themselves and others.

OUR PROJECT
We make all our music with and for The Community. Our new album is no different. We interviewed queer, intersex, two-spirit, trans and gender non-conforming kids and families to let their stories guide us in making THE LOVE.

Digging deep in these listening sessions and writing songs inspired by their stories took a whole year. We always engage high level educators & thought partners in our work. For THE LOVE, we brought in Our Family Coalition and key LGBTQ+ advisors like Maya Gonzalez, Mia Nakano, D. Lo, Mari Posa, and Kevin Seaman to help us keep educating ourselves.

Next, we made room for incredible representational voices- almost 50 artists are featured on this album. Sharing the spotlight with incredible talent only made the work better. Our song “Someday,” shares the intention that “Someday we will learn how to step up and make space.” Well, we mean it. Someday is today.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
We can all stand up to be culture keepers and co-create the world we want for our kids. Join the the Haas Foundation (Creative Work Fund), Zellerbach Foundation, and Our Lady of Perpetual Indulgence in funding this album.

Fund more of what YOU LOVE- an Alphabet Rockers soundtrack for evolution. All donations are tax deductible and are processed through our fiscal sponsor, Intersection for the Arts.

SELECT TRACKS & LYRICS
This is Ohlone Land This album was recorded on Ohlone land, with our community: You.

Until You’re Free I’m not free...Until you’re free...And we will be Louder, stronger, together

Black Girl Magic Don’t hide your shine...Just let it flow...Yea. You got it...That black girl glow

We Royal It’s in the Love...The growth...The evolution

Not Alone Standing up for me when they say those hateful things...Hold my truth.

I Know You See Me I am the ultimate me beyond the he she

Be Strong If I'm scared I can pray in every way... knowing my pain might not go away, I can love it anyway

I Am Enough I look-like a queen and a king...I’m not going to Hide - my pride

Someday Someday we will learn how to step up and make space 

TAKE A LISTEN Young changemakers share their pronouns on our new album!

MORE ABOUT US
Alphabet Rockers make music that make change. Led by Kaitlin McGaw (she/her) and Tommy Shepherd (he/him), they create brave spaces to shape a more equitable world through hip hop.

Alphabet Rockers' GRAMMY-nominated music, videos, concerts and curriculum are designed by an intercultural team of expert educators, artists, parents and young people of all genders. With headlining performances at Lollapalooza, The Kennedy Center, San Francisco Pride, Art & Soul (Oakland), and in over 50 schools across the country each year, diverse audiences love their contemporary sound and positive messages.

Lyrics like “I will stand up for you” and “I shine in my beautiful skin” appeal to a broad audience, landing them in the top 5 songs of 2018 for Sirius XM Radio’s Kids Place Live. Reaching over 300,000 kids and families, Alphabet Rockers inspire American kids to stand up to hate and be their brave and beautiful selves.

Have you ever experienced the trans-formative power of travel?  The opportunity to witness new cultures first hand and visit a place you  learned about in a textbook? Then you know how essential and vital it is to explore beyond familiar neighborhood turfs. 

It is for this reason that I have decided to lead a group of 8 Oakland Urban Youth Ambassadors  on an educational tour of New York City on June 11-14th 2019. The experiences they will have while traveling will serve as life-long lessons and will undoubtedly advance their perspective on themselves and their place in the world.


Highlights of our New York City Trip include:


-United Nations Tour

-Time Square

- Harlem cultural tour and soul food buffet

-Coney Island

- Youth led team building with NYC peers and more!


It is my hope that all deserving students  selected can participate in this unique learning opportunity to represent Oakland regardless of family income  Students are responsible for fundraising $400  which includes  airfare and deposit.


My goal is to raise $3350 by May 1st to help offset the cost of trip for  students and parent chaperon. $3350 includes airbnb- $1600 , $315- transportation, healthy food- $350 and activity fee- $600 Travel insurance-$485. We greatly appreciate any donation you are willing to contribute. Every $25, $50 or $100 adds up!

Urban youth Ambassadors is a fiscally sponsored project of The Intersection for the Arts  and your donation is tax deductible.
INCLUDE:  UYA NYC TRIP IN MEMO LINE

Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

In 2016, we wrote the song "Walls" for our GRAMMY-nominated album, Rise Shine #Woke. We stand up for all immigrant kids and families. We saw our kids get bullied in school by kids and by adults adhering to an unfair system. This year we performed this song for 13,000 kids in schools. See video footage here. 

It's 2018. It's worse. We will not give up or give in to the human rights abuses against our children and families. This music video, WALLS, will be used as an advocacy tool. In it, we tell a different story - one of our resilience - our pride - and our fortitude. We will not be made to feel unwelcome. We stand together.

We are filming this weekend - a triumphant video, featuring Juan Amador (Wonway Posibul), and special guest Emilio Delgado (Luis from Sesame Street). We'll host filmmaker Mochilla from LA, famous for his portrait work in videos like Blaxican and Optimistic. 

Here is where you come in. We need additional fees to cover costs for the video production, including venue rental, lighting, costumes and food for the kids and families helping out. No actors are being paid. Additional funds will support marketing and sharing this video with press and organizations. Our total budget is $7000.
We have raised $2000 - can you help us match this before we film?  Gifts are tax-deductible.

OR, you can also consider buying a T-shirt here, and make an extra donation onto the purchase. Gifts here are not tax-deductible, but are welcome.


We thank you.