Rebuild an Art Center in Brazil's largest favela
Donation protected
We are raising funds to help PURCHASE & RENOVATE an ART CENTER in the middle of Rocinha, Brazil's largest favela (slum).
Morro Pela Arte is an organization that works to beautify the favela, and uplift and empower its children & youth, keeping them out of the drug trafficking industry and on positive paths in life. Their growing group of community volunteers offers free art classes, English, music, capoeira (Brazilian martial arts form), and hair cutting classes. They also host music concerts, community events, fundraisers, and other functions that unite and uplift their community.
They have dreams to grow the art center too, eventually building an art gallery and a recording studio in their space. These would be two HUGE assets to the local artists and performers who have few legitimate outlets for expression and exposure.
The volunteer work they do, on minimal funds & resources, is amazing!! Their building however is not.
They currently rent a space that accommodates their program, but even for the favela's standards, its in bad shape. The building has gaping holes in the roof, no ceiling, wasps nests in the eves, no window coverings, very little furniture, and a very inadequate kitchen and bathroom. We think they deserve something safer, more functional, and heaven forbid more beautiful to work in.
Our goal is to raise $20,000.
These funds will help them purchase the building, and get them started with renovations. The american dollar goes a long way in Brazil.
If you want to know why we are investing in this particular cause, let me tell you a little more about our back story.
In October, my husband Justin and I (oh Hi! I'm Sunny Taylor by the way. ) visited Rio de Janeiro to do a little service project, if you can call it that, in the Rocinha favela. We're huge art nerds, so painting murals in Brazil sounded like a vacation to us! (For the entertaining version of our story, check out our video here . )
That's where we met Soca, the creator of Morro Pela Arte. Soca is penniless himself, but has decided in recent years to give the rest of his life to the betterment of his community. He was born and raised in Rocinha, and has seen far too much of the trauma, violence and darkness that the drug trafficking industry leaves in its wake. Soca believes that art is one of the best tools for uplifting and empowering his community in ways that they badly need.
His big dream started with murals. He brings talented artists to the favela and arranges for them to paint the gray walls, one by one, filling them with color and life. Its amazing to see the comparison between the drab, gray alleyways, and those filled with color and art. Walking through Rocinha is now like a unique art experience, unlike any other. And the art has a huge effect on the disposition of Rocinha's residents.
We saw firsthand what Soca has been able to make happen in a short amount of time. He is a dreamer, but day after day, his big dreams are becoming a reality. The community is rallying beside him. His group of volunteer leaders is growing. Kids are filling their classes. Residents are excited about the artistic opportunities coming their way.
We fell in love with Rocinha, and can't wait to visit our friends there again soon. We came home knowing that we wanted to do something more to give back to this community that gave so much to us. Hopefully, as we join efforts with you, we can get them a little bit closer to achieving their dreams.
We are so excited to help them on their journey. THANK YOU so much for taking interest in our cause!!
Sincerely,
Sunny & Justin Taylor
IMPORTANT:
I, Sunny Taylor, am not related to the parties we are raising funds for.
As GoFundMe does not support campaigns in Brazil, I will personally be withdrawing funds, and delivering them to Mauricio Fagundes da Silva, director of Morro Pela Arte, via direct money transfer, within 7 days of withdrawing the funds.
Morro Pela Arte is an organization that works to beautify the favela, and uplift and empower its children & youth, keeping them out of the drug trafficking industry and on positive paths in life. Their growing group of community volunteers offers free art classes, English, music, capoeira (Brazilian martial arts form), and hair cutting classes. They also host music concerts, community events, fundraisers, and other functions that unite and uplift their community. They have dreams to grow the art center too, eventually building an art gallery and a recording studio in their space. These would be two HUGE assets to the local artists and performers who have few legitimate outlets for expression and exposure. The volunteer work they do, on minimal funds & resources, is amazing!! Their building however is not.
They currently rent a space that accommodates their program, but even for the favela's standards, its in bad shape. The building has gaping holes in the roof, no ceiling, wasps nests in the eves, no window coverings, very little furniture, and a very inadequate kitchen and bathroom. We think they deserve something safer, more functional, and heaven forbid more beautiful to work in.
Our goal is to raise $20,000.
These funds will help them purchase the building, and get them started with renovations. The american dollar goes a long way in Brazil.
If you want to know why we are investing in this particular cause, let me tell you a little more about our back story.
In October, my husband Justin and I (oh Hi! I'm Sunny Taylor by the way. ) visited Rio de Janeiro to do a little service project, if you can call it that, in the Rocinha favela. We're huge art nerds, so painting murals in Brazil sounded like a vacation to us! (For the entertaining version of our story, check out our video here . )
That's where we met Soca, the creator of Morro Pela Arte. Soca is penniless himself, but has decided in recent years to give the rest of his life to the betterment of his community. He was born and raised in Rocinha, and has seen far too much of the trauma, violence and darkness that the drug trafficking industry leaves in its wake. Soca believes that art is one of the best tools for uplifting and empowering his community in ways that they badly need.His big dream started with murals. He brings talented artists to the favela and arranges for them to paint the gray walls, one by one, filling them with color and life. Its amazing to see the comparison between the drab, gray alleyways, and those filled with color and art. Walking through Rocinha is now like a unique art experience, unlike any other. And the art has a huge effect on the disposition of Rocinha's residents.
We saw firsthand what Soca has been able to make happen in a short amount of time. He is a dreamer, but day after day, his big dreams are becoming a reality. The community is rallying beside him. His group of volunteer leaders is growing. Kids are filling their classes. Residents are excited about the artistic opportunities coming their way.We fell in love with Rocinha, and can't wait to visit our friends there again soon. We came home knowing that we wanted to do something more to give back to this community that gave so much to us. Hopefully, as we join efforts with you, we can get them a little bit closer to achieving their dreams.
We are so excited to help them on their journey. THANK YOU so much for taking interest in our cause!!
Sincerely,
Sunny & Justin Taylor
IMPORTANT:
I, Sunny Taylor, am not related to the parties we are raising funds for.
As GoFundMe does not support campaigns in Brazil, I will personally be withdrawing funds, and delivering them to Mauricio Fagundes da Silva, director of Morro Pela Arte, via direct money transfer, within 7 days of withdrawing the funds.
Organizer
Sunny Belliston Taylor
Organizer
American Fork, UT