On the evening of May 2nd, I made my way into the artsy community of Kakaako in Honolulu to participate as a guest artist at a charity event. I was completely floored and honored to be asked to help raise funds for Project Focus Hawaii. ProjectFocus Hawai’i, Inc. is a nonprofit organization established in 2005 as a means of giving at-risk children a healing voice through the medium of photography. At ProjectFocus, photography is used to teach at-risk children to express and gain perspective on their experiences. The program strives to enhance self-esteem, self-awareness, and self-reflection, all critical components in fostering the resilience necessary to make a fulfilling life from challenging ingredients.
Here is an interview with the founder about the event:
They approached me to donate some of my prints for a silent auction during the event. I donated 4 high definition aluminum prints and to my delight, my prints brought the most money in for the charity out of all the other artists! What?? That seems so unreal... I was completely humbled to hear it! Not only that but one of my pieces brought in the highest bid for one piece!
I was also completely taken aback when I saw the other artists my work was hanging next to. Some of the best photographers I know of donated and I got to be counted amongst them. WOW! Some of the other artists included my friend Alisa Greig ( alisagreig.com ), and two guys who I have admired for their artistry and aspired to be like... Jay Greiner ( Jay's Instagram Feed ) ... and Clark Little ( clarklittlephotography.com ). Again, to be on the same wall as these guys means the world to me and I count it a complete honor.
Now for the most amazing part of the whole evening... getting to meet the wonderful people who bid on and won my pieces! A highlight of the evening was to learn that the co-founder of the organization, Laurie ( Laurie's bio ), won my piece "Laying Low". I was thrilled that she loved my work and just had to have it :) Here are the wonderful ladies that walked away with my prints:
All in all it was a wonderful evening celebrating amazing people who make a huge difference in children's lives every day and I'm so glad myself and CreationScape got to be a part of it!
