People being cruel to each other. Same old story. Such a waste.
The conflict in South Sudan caught my attention in 2011, when my friend Cynthia Davis brought her Canvas Peace Project to a booth at the International Decorative Artisans League (IDAL) convention in Virginia. Artists, using Sudan as their muse, painted mainly portraits of women and children from the region. The paintings were beautiful, but I don’t paint portraitsIn 2013, at another IDAL convention, Cynthia’s friend and inspiration for the Canvas Peace Project was going to speak nearby and then there would be an auction of the paintings. I did not want to buy a painting. I did not really want to hear Gabriel speak about war and sad things. I just wanted to show up and support Cynthia for like an hour and then go out to dinner with my friend.
Well. I did hear Gabriel speak. His story was riveting. I looked back at my life in the United States and any time I was down or thought I was having a bad day and there’s nothing to compare to what he experienced as a young boy. Nothing. And so I bought a painting.
That night, my friend and roommate, also named Julie and I cooked up a plan to bring the Canvas Peace Project to California.
How can you help?
- Buy art! Hang it on your wall and talk about it. Become an advocate.