Saturday, April 22 @ Luna's Cafe in Sacramentowritten Tuesday April 18, 2006
A Benefit for Claudia Bernardi &
the School of Art & Open Studio of
Perquín, Morazán, El Salvador
Event Date: Saturday, April 22, 2006
Event Time: 6:00-8:00pm
Address: Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sacramento; 916/441-3931
Contact: Lucero Arellano, 916/803-0541 * 916/283-4622
Internationally-recognized visual artist, human rights worker, and member of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (AFAT), Claudia Bernardi, will present a slide/lecture at Luna’s Café, Saturday April 22 from 6-8 p.m. as a benefit for the School of Arts and Open Studio of Perquín.
Bernardi’s association with Perquín is a direct result of her 1992 participation in the AFAT’s exhumation of the victims of the massacre of civilians in the community of El Mozote, in Morazán, El Salvador, where hundreds of peasants and their children were killed by the military in 1981. Upon completion of the exhumations, Bernardi was asked to paint a mural in a church in neighboring Perquín, involving many members of the community.
This experience greatly contributed to the healing process and rebuilding of a community all too familiar with the violence and devastation brought by war, and its economic consequences. Bernardi made subsequent trips to Perquín and neighboring towns, and was invited by Perquín’s Mayor in 2001 to create an art school for the community. It took more than three years, the auctioning off of her art work, a couple small grants, and the help and donations of many friends and supporters, before Bernardi could raise enough funds forsuch an undertaking.
The school is now in its second year, and Bernardi expects to return in May with sufficient funding to continue the project.
The School of Art and Open Studio of Perquín is a community-based collaborative arts project engaging all inhabitants (children, youth, adults, and seniors) of Perquín and nearby villages. Perquín is a communityof 4,000 people, where previous to March 2005; there had not been an arts school or arts education program. Students at the school are now involved in a variety of arts projects ranging
from collaborative mural painting to classes in drawing, painting, printmaking, wood sculpture, and art history.
All classes and materials are free.
The School of Art & Open Studio of Perquín needs your help to
continue. No monetary donation is too small and it is badly needed to help this worthy effort. We hope to significantly contribute to this year’s goal of $23,000. Please make your tax-deductible donation to Intersection for the Arts/Claudia Bernardi and support the continuation of this important community effort.
Your tax deductible donation to the Walls of Hope is made through our fiscal sponsor: Intersection for the Arts. It is a secure online donation by credit card. Thank you for supporting the Arts and Walls of Hope!
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