These are crazy times. Things felt uncertain before COVID-19 came along, but now we've all been told to shelter in place, keep our children out of school and basically put our lives on hold until further notice because of the pandemic, which is also causing a huge economic downturn. Bleak as things might seem, at CAN we've been asking ourselves questions like, "What can we do to make things a little bit better?" and "How can we use art to make a difference in this specific global moment?" After huddling with our artist community and our friends at The Economic Security Project, we're launching our newest art campaign, Money for the People!
Money for the People is a crowdsourced art campaign aimed at shining a spotlight on the millions of workers worldwide suffering economically due to the effects of the pandemic, and helping raise awareness of the need for immediate cash relief to people RIGHT NOW. We're seeking timely and meaningful artwork that illustrates how COVID-19 is impacting everyone's lives, and we'll use the power of social media with #moneyforthepeople to carry the message around the world. Money for the People artwork may be downloaded from this blog post (click each image to download hi-res version) and used to promote the cause with artist credit. We encourage anyone and everyone to contribute art to our Money for the People campaign! (Artwork above by Laura Makaltses, Trevor Messersmith, Rocky Casillas, James McInvale & Kamilla Heinze).
If we can elevate this problem to the highest levels, if we can encourage lawmakers increase calls for immediate aid packages and if we can put more money into people's pockets with our art, together we can make a difference. The landscape of the pandemic and its impact on our daily lives is changing every day, but one thing remains constant: we're resilient and we know that unity, togetherness and caring for each other during this time will get us through. (Artwork above by Rachel Winter, Shannon Anderson, Roberlan Borges & Kamilla Heinze).
The artist community has quickly rallied around the cause and we've gotten some wonderful artwork already, and we're so grateful for the hugely creative folks in our world who are always ready to pitch in. A huge thanks to artists Rocky Casillas, Roberlan Borges, Shannon Anderson, Rachel Winter, Laura Makaltses, Kamilla Heinze, Trevor Messersmith, Yael Pardess, James McInvale, Sayli M. and Rossa Cole for making such great art and getting it out into the world so quickly! Please share this blog post and spread the word, and we hope you all stay healthy and safe out there! ~Team (Artwork above by Yael Pardess, Rocky Casillas, Rossa Cole, Sayli M. & Kamilla Heinze).
More work continues to come in and we invite you to join our campaign. Submit your design to Money for the People here!
