Call for Artwork!!

Art2Heart is back on the road again. We will be in Mexico in November, then Asia, Africa, and Central America in the Winter and Spring. We needs LOTS of art for this many trips!! Think about classroom projects or other community group projects?? Please send any you have, and self address envelopes to 559 Marin Ave, Mill Valley, CA 94941, USA. More information about how to participate is on the home page.

Thank you!!!
Many Blessings,
~nance

Art2Heart is up to almost 4,000 exchanges!

This year exchanges have happened in Guatemala, Nepal, India, and Korea. And the project keeps growing! I am forever amazed at how much joy this brings to people.

Please join in by sending in a picture! (see details on home page "How to get involved")


Nepal...SMD School for Himalayan Children www.himalayanchildren.org

Kopan Monastery www.kopan-monastery.com
Parizat Nestling Home www.parizatnestling.org



Guatemala...

Second Trip was A Huge Success!

This year I was lucky enough to conduct almost 1,000 art exchanges across India and Nepal!!!

Thank you to all! The funds helped make the trip possible, and the art made smiles on children's faces and in their hearts.

Artwork will be mailed out in the first half of September.

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Ruchika Social Services Organization, Bhubhaneswar, India www.ruchika.org


Ruchika is an incredible program whose philosophy is "If the child can't come to the school, bring the school to the child."

Art went to street children at Platform schools, Slum Schools, and into the rural villages.

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Tibetan Children's Village
Dharamsala, India
Working with the children at the TCV was an incredible experience.

2000 children - all Tibetan Refugees.


I also spent time in the Refugee Center where people had just entered India after crossing the Himalayas - on foot.

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Educate Nepal -- Kathmandu, Nepal

This is a beautiful home run by a very caring brother and sister. They primarily take in children whose parents are in prison.








This program is in need of funding if anyone has any connections.

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SMD, or Schools for Himalayan Kids
www.himalayanchildren.org

A beautiful school, run by Ms. Shirley Blair under the guidance of Thrangu Rinpoche. Approximately 500 children from the Himalayas are fed, clothed, and get an education here.



























These two wonderful young ladies were my first official Art2Heart Assistants. They went around with and without me to gather over 200 pictures. Many thanks and blessings to them.













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Parizat Home for Girls

This is a very special place that is run by an exceedingly caring family. It is the director's belief that the girls should not only have a safe place to grow up, but that they also should learn skills so that they will not be dependent on anyone again. He encourages self esteem and self reliance, and instills pride and compassion. The girls were very happy here.

This program like all of the others, is also in desperate need of funds. Times are hard in Nepal with the current political situation.




















View of Kathmandu Valley from Kopan Monastery.

I am now collecting art for the next trip. Funds are gratefully accepted as well. All proceeds go to the project as there is no overhead.

Many Blessings,
Nance

Getting Involved - Spring 2007

I am deeply touched by the amount of interest in reaching out to children all over the world through art. Thank you!!!! Plans now include a trip in summer of 2007 to India, visiting Bhubaneswar, Dehli, Jaisalmer, and possibly a few more locations. I am also in the process
of developing connections in some other countries for early 2008. Please scroll to January blog to see pix from last trip.

Want to get involved??? It is easy...

How it works:
Send me a picture following the requirements below. I will take it to a child in need and provide them with supplies to make a picture for you in return. Each artist will receive a piece of art upon my return, mailed to you in your envelope. Whenever possible, there will also be included a photo of the child who created it. Works of heart-felt art are exchanged!

For consistency I ask that the pictures contain some sort of figurative element. This way, children around the world can find some element they recognize in the work and find comfort in the familiar. Because of this, smaller children may choose something like collage work. Shared adult/child art is also appropriate. Keep in mind that many of the children I work with overseas are 5-16 year olds.

Requirements:
1) The art needs to be on 8.5x11 paper for consistency and ease in transport. They may be drawings, rubbings, collage, however you are inspired, so long as it is flat and stackable.
2) Each piece should say “To my friend, From ______” (artist’s name) as personalizing this is a part of the experience.
3) Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Optional: Include a photo of the artist to be given to a child along with the art.

It is that easy. Please join me. For info. or to get involved write: art2heart@collectivecompassion.org

Always Learning and Growing...

Initially when I dreamed this up I had hoped for a solid connection. After my
first trip, it was quickly apparent that the children we are reaching out
to can be quite transient. And, mail to many of these places is unreliable at best. I go to
the same places and look for the same children, but cannot guarantee that they
will be there. Thankfully for them, as sometimes they get adopted or sponsored
to go to a boarding school!

And, I had envisioned the children's need to see their name. However, what I
saw in the children was thorough joy in seeing "friend". I learned the
importance of the connection itself,
receiving a hand made piece of art with "friend" on it was quite effective.


Therefore, I have adapted the program for this by having everyone put "to my
friend", as the children were just delighted to have a friend in another
country.


Please feel free to email me with any further questions.

Many Blessings,
Nance Miller
Art2Heart@CollectiveCompassion.org

First Exchange is Complete!!!

Hello! I am back and the trip was immensely successful. The children were so very excited to receive, and to give. I wish there was a way to convey how touching this was.

I started the trip in Croatia where I worked on a floor of 2-4 year olds. The rest of the Orphanage was out on "holiday" as most of Zagreb heads for the coast in August. They were very adorable. (Please see the picture on the home page.) They were delighted with the pictures from the US, and very happy to send off theirs.

In October we landed in India. The first program that I worked with here was Ruchika in Bhubaneswar.

Ruchika
Bhubaneswar, India

Ruchika is an amazing program. They run schools on the railway platforms for homeless children, schools in the rural villages where the children would otherwise receive now education, and they also have a school on the back of a bicycle that goes out into the rural areas bringing some basic literacy to the children that work full time along side their parents to support their families. They also have schools in the slums and a hostel for children that are found abandoned, rescued from trafficking, or have families that are unable to take care of them (such as brothel children.) Their philosophy is "if the child cannot go to the school, bring the school to the child". Their program is INCREDIBLE. I stayed with them working in all of their programs and doing art with many of the different groups.
The schools in the slums and in the rural villages are constructed by the people that live there (the building supplies are donated) so that the people have an ownership and are more likely to support their children going there. Ruchika is also working to build latrines (as open defecation is still in practice). They are also teaching water sanitation and and building containers for catching rain water during the monsoons.

Many of the children I worked with here were orphans, brothel children, or victims of trafficking, but not all as I thought would be the case. Some had families, but lived in the slums or in VERY rural villages. I hope you as the artists on this end are understanding of this. Please trust that all of the children that I worked with were indeed touched by your work, and had a once-in-a-life-time experience to have the gift of your art and the gift of giving back. They were SO excited to know that their art was going to the United States. In Delhi and Kerela I worked solely in orphanages.

Delhi, India

We connected with an orphanage in Delhi, made an appointment, met with the Director, and were just about to met with a group of children when we were informed that due to a Dengue Fever outbreak the children were to be kept in and not disturbed. We have an appointment for this July.

Kochi, India
In Kochi I had a very special opportunity to work in a Muslim Home for Girls. They RARELY let any foreigners in. In fact, the girls were so amazed to see a white person that they kept rubbing my skin to see if the white came off. There were also at least 4-5 girls at a time wanting to see what blonde hair felt like.

They were very afraid at first. Finally, one verbalize her fear that I did not like them because they had heard that Americans hated Muslims. Once I had assured her that I liked them very much they felt much more comfortable and we had an incredible discussion about politics, life, and womanhood.



The project was tremendously successful. These programs and many more are awaiting the next exchange. I am currently trying to raise money, gather drawings, and plan the next leg of this adventure. If you can help, or know of someone, PLEASE let me know!

Thank you again, it is the care and compassion of all that sent me artwork that made this a success.
-nance

Art to Heart

Welcome! Art to Heart is an art sharing program that is cross borders, ages, genders, religions, and socio-ecomomic lines. It's sole purpose is to connect underprivileged children with someone else in the world that cares. I want to give these children something of their own - made just for them, and a chance to give something back.

Vision: Every living being needs to be recognized, respected, and loved for who they are, just as they are.

Mission: to connect children with someone else on the planet. Someone to know their name and communicate with them through art.

Why art: Art speaks volumes. And, there are no language barriers.

How it works:
Send me a picture following the requirements below. I will take it to a child in need and provide them with supplies to make a picture for you in return. Each artist will receive a piece of art upon my return, mailed to you in your envelope. Whenever possible, there will also be included a photo of the child who created it. Works of heart-felt art are exchanged!
For consistency I ask that the pictures contain some sort of figurative element. This way, children around the world can find some element they recognize in the work and find comfort in the familiar. Because of this, smaller children may choose something like collage work. Shared adult/child art is also appropriate.

Requirements:
1) The art needs to be on 8.5x11 paper for consistency and ease in transport. They may be drawings, rubbings, collage, however you are inspired, so long as it is flat and stackable.
2) Each piece should say “To my friend, From ______” (artist’s name) as personalizing this is a part of the experience.
3) Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Optional: Include a photo of the artist to be given to a child along with the art.

It is that easy. Please join me. For info. or to get involved write: art2heart@collectivecompassion.org