Save the Date: 'Art from the Heart' at Northwest Cellars Winery
Saturday, June 9th, 3pm- 6pm
Click here to reserve your place at this unique fundraiser
Also, sample our new private reserve wine "Grapes for Animals' Sake" brewed especially for AFAS!
Education Program: Monthly Community Youth Outreach Workshops
Art for Animals' Sake conducts monthly Art Workshops as part of our Education Program. Our art programs focus on instilling empathy for animals in young adults, a key component of our mission to reduce the neglect and abuse of animals. Our first workshop took place in January and continues once a month.
Pet Portraits with Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets, January, 2012
In early January, Art for Animals’ Sake presented an art workshop at the offices of Peace For the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS), a Seattle organization providing support to area homeless youth and young adults. With a room full of clients and their canine companions, it was surprisingly tranquil as everyone focused on creating painted portraits of their pets.
Sky with her portrait in progress and the final painting.
Homeless youth and young adults sometimes adopt puppies and kittens to supply surrogate love and a sense of family that is often absent on the street. As our volunteer teacher Meredith remarked, “It was so inspiring to see how people who had just met could come together and form immediate bonds by connecting through art and a shared love of animals."
Aimed at fostering a sense of pride in the creative process, the workshop attendees learned how to use paint and canvas to express the connection with their animal companions. The proof of this unique bond is evident in each of the imaginative portraits.
The second day concluded with a visit from Heather, Niki, and Solomon from Animal Aid & Rescue Foundation (AARF). Solomon, a gentle dog who won over everyone in the room, had recently been the victim of abuse resulting in the amputation of one of his legs. The three representatives from AARF helped facilitate a dialogue about animal health, welfare, and responsible ownership.
We will continue our partnership with PSKS by conducting a monthly workshop on every 2nd Tuesday of the month. See below how you can help support our workshops.
Heather, Solomon and Niki from AARF. Solomon is available for adoption through AARF.
AFAS believes that through education we can encourage empathy for all living beings, thereby preventing abusive behavior toward animals. We are dedicated to educating underserved populations about animal health, welfare, compassion, and responsible guardianship. It was evident in this workshop that through art, education, and a desire to learn, we can build a more responsible and empathetic community.
Read more here about our education program here...
Donate to Support our Education Program
Your generous donation will allow us to continue delivering art and humane education and support to underserved communties.
'GiveBIG' and 'Reclamation' Art Exhibit were both a Big Success!
Thanks to everyone who donated during GiveBIG Campaign. Your donation will be partially matched by Seattle Foundation Sponsors, making a larger impact, improving the lives of animals through our Education Programs.
Reclamation featured artists re-imagining and giving new life to paintings and objects which have been discarded.
Click here for more informationReport from Sundance 2012
BEAR 71,
Canada's Wildlife Under An Artistic Lens
By Xaque Gruber
Though Sundance is known for its movie events, this year one of the Festival’s most groundbreaking world premieres took place in the annual New Frontiers Art Center, with Bear 71, an interactive, documentary/installation showcasing the life of a Grizzly Bear in Alberta’s Banff National Park.
Produced by The National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Bear 71 was the brainchild of artist Jeremy Mendes and filmmaker Leanna Allison.
Co-creator, Mendes comments, “I saw Leanne’s beautiful photographs, close to a million of them taken by trail cameras over a ten to fifteen year period. And the way we were looking at these animals was like surveillance to me – like footage at a security office, which brought a new kind of immediacy to the experience. We kept pushing that angle and we saw the piece evolve to be about us (humans). How animals communicate and how we communicate. Through the development process, there was a true story of a very specific bear, who was tagged and studied for eight of its 11 year life. From there it started evolving into a narrative story of this bear, and in the video it is all told through the bear’s point of view (voiced by actress, Mia Kirshner). This piece is a celebration of us trying to get closer to animals because we care.”
Through an interactive screen that marries technology with the vast northern wilderness, viewers can follow the elusive paths of many native Canadian species including lynx, pine martens, cougars, moose, a dragon-like Golden Eagle, and many others. Humans can even journey through the landscape as one of the animals.
In the center of the installation stood a northern pine known as a “rub tree” with worn out, missing sections of bark. Grizzly bears rub against these trees as a method of communicating with each other – almost like their version of Facebook. A memorable layer in Bear 71’s multi-sensory ride, the rub tree illustrates the parallels of the wild world with the wired world.
In the documentary, we witness the tagging of Bear 71 by park rangers. When asked about tagging, Lance Weiler, Story Architect/Designer, says, “It’s just the reality of the world that we live in. Being able to tag them and monitor them teaches us about things we don’t know. And then we can really know the impact of what’s happening. Usually there’s a human footprint, but with these trail cams there isn’t one. Through this footage, we learned that the elk use the trails the humans use because the scent keeps the wolves away. There’s so much we can learn from the animal world.”
The producers behind Bear 71 would like to use this trans-media art piece as both a classroom, and multi-generational, teaching tool. Weiler adds “This time is like the silent film era for new media. We’ve been doing a play on a stage and now we realize we can take the camera off the tripod and move it outside. You can see the next evolution of storytelling in action.”
Check out the link to the Bear 71 interactive web site http://bear71.nfb.ca/#/bear71.
Watch a trailer for Bear 71 here - http://vimeo.com/35267742
Xaque Gruber is a writer for film, television, magazines and online sites including the Huffington Post. An avid animal lover, he's had many pets: 13 cats, 3 dogs, 2 ferrets, 1 lizard, and, currently, two mice: Tigerlily and Boo.
An Exclusive Interview: 'True Blood's Kristin Bauer Stands Up for Animal Rights'
Kristin spoke exclusively with AFAS about her activism, art and passion for exposing the unnecessary animal suffering that occurs in cruel laboratory experiments.
The interview begins here...
A Fur Free West Hollywood: Newly Elected City Councilman Wins with a City-Wide Fur Ban
West Hollywood, CA, 2012
by David Walega
The West Hollywood City Council made history last November with a first ever city-wide ban on the sale of garments made from the skin or pelt of animals’ hair, wool or fur. In an unprecedented vote, the council passed Ordinance No. 11-877 on November 21st, 2011. In an exclusive interview, City Councilmember John D’Amico spoke with Art for Animals’ Sake (AFAS).
The story begins here...
