Art Conspiracy, A philanthropical grass roots movement
What is ArtCon, and why am I always blowing up your facebook/instagram feed with it?
Great Question!
The short story:
Art Con/ Art Conspiracy is a non-profit organization that works to raise money for other non-profits.
The long story:
The Dallas Observer has called ArtCon the art party of the year. And for so many good reasons!
They have live bands, food trucks, live auctions, and its normally housed in some type of rustic wherehouse with the Dallas skyline as its background. It's hard not feel edgy and cool there.
Every half hour a live auction starts, where bids start at $20 and everyone is invited to bid on a piece of original hand crafted art made on a uniformed 18 x 18 sized board. There are normally around 150 artist, so you can imagine the diversity of pieces that are created!
The money raised through the auction, through ticket sales, t-shirt sales, and all that jazz goes toward a chosen beneficiary. This year we sponsored a group call MAPS. Making art with a purpose. Last year it was a Ballet Folkloric Dance company, and we raised over $25,000! I'm not sure how much was raised this year, since it happened so recently, will update when I find out!
Here's some photos from the event:::
I was super excited to be able to donate a piece of art to the auction. There is no set theme for the event, so I made a piece inspired by my brothers new job at General Motors and Johnny Cash. "One piece at a time" is the name of the song i'm referencing for those non Johnny Cash lovers.
I look forward to ArtCon every year, and I really love what they are doing for the community. I firmly believe that we are not fully living our lives to the fullest if we are not helping those around us. It's a great way for instant community. If you have the opportunity to volunteer, or be an artist I encourage you to participate!
Check out more about Art Conspiracy at
www.artconspiracy.org
Or check out this interview they did of me!
ttp://artconspiracy.org/art-conspiracy-artist-story-jessie-martinez/