MweM Fondasyon

We are excited to announce that we have partnered with the MweM Foundation. MweM Foundation is a non-profit, run by Haitians, that educates local communities through film and visual arts. Many of JE’s friends and collaborators have worked with MweM and their project Sinema Anba Zetwal (Cinema Under the Stars). MweM has traveled all of Haiti with an outdoor screen and projector. Videographers interview people during the day and show those interviews at night in their own community. The videos range from Haitian made short films to  health education films. This year MweM Fondasyon received a grant from the European Union to create a Jacmel City Festival. This festival is the brain child of one of JE’s founders, Bayard Jean Bernard. Bayard has been talking about the idea of a city festival in Jakmel where there is an international exchange of culture between friends. The Festival De L’Amitie will be realized on December 6th through 9th, this year!

Just yesterday we came to an agreement with MWeM to share the building. MweM’s festival office will be located in JE. They have already utilized the building for a press conference. We will be housing workshops for the festival as well. This will be an excellent opportunity for the member’s of JE to see what can be possible if you put your mind to it! Check out MweM on their Facebook page “Food for the Soul” https://www.facebook.com/Fondasyon.MWEM and don’t forget to push the like button.

JE is on a really exciting path right now with numerous new partnerships, friendships and artistic collaborators. Thank you everyone for supporting us and allowing us to come to this beautiful place.

 

New Way to Support the Art Center

http://www.iGive.com/JakmelEkspresyon

Jakmel Ekspresyon has signed up with Igive.com! This awesome new way of supporting JE is easy and doesn’t cost you a dime.

So many people buy online now. Igive.com has partnered with many of these online businesses to generate donations for worthy causes. Every time you buy on-line the business you buy from will donate a percentage of that sale to Jakmel Ekspresyon. The sign up only requires you to give your e-mail address and create a password. You can also download the Igive button so every time you buy on-line from an Igive partner the purchase is automatically recognized by the partner and a donation is made. Some of the Igive partners include Amazon.com, Best Buy, Grainger, Dick Blick, Staples and so many more. If you install the Igive button and make a purchase in the first 45 days Igive will donate an extra $5 to our cause.

I think the most amazing part of this on-line fundraising platform is that you can switch the cause that you choose to support at any time. Our good friends at Kay Angel are signed up with Igive too. So whether you want help to buy new art supplies or help give the kids a good home you can determine how the donations the Igive partners make are used. Now that’s what I call some purchasing power!

Sign up for Igive at http://www.iGive.com/JakmelEkspresyon

Badio “Phoenix” Junior

Meet Badio “Phoenix ” Junior. Badio is the the Gallery Co-Ordinator and the Director of the Fine Arts Program. He is a local artist from Jacmel. He is a painter, actor, and sculptor and has sold work internationally. In 2007, Badio met the Co-Director of Jakmel Ekspresyon, Sue Frame, and Alex Polotsky, Director of Development. They worked together at FOSAJ art center to help coordinate Festival Mizik, an international music festival. Badio is a motivator in the arts community of Jakmel and has been affiliated with FOSAJ art center and KOLAJ collective. He often helps to guide new artists in Jakmel and introduce them to the community of forward thinking creative artists.

After JE was founded in May 2010, Badio worked with JE in many capacities. This year Badio has shown his leadership skills and developed the Fine Arts Program that includes painting and drawing classes. The first six months dealt exclusively with drawing still lifes and figurative work. Now the class is learning how to paint. We hope to advance the program this next year to include printing. 

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Benefit Success!

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Thank you everyone for coming out and enjoying all the talented artists last Saturday. It was an amazing night. We raised over $500 which is a months operational costs. If you missed the event and still want to support JE please visit our Donate page.

The last month was a big month for us. The center ran workshops six days a week. The workshops included dance, theater, painting, fire spinning and a film club. The majority of the workshops were run by local established Haitian artists! In the US we met with our new pro-bono lawyer. With one more step to solidify this new relationship we will be on our way to establishing ourselves as a legal non-profit.

So many people have contacted the Administration to find out more about JE and how the can help. Our network just keeps growing. This is an exciting time and filled with opportunities to grow. If anyone is interested in helping by donating time and talents, please contact the Co-Director, Sue Frame, at jakmelekspresyon@gmail.com.

Spare Change Theater Program is starting round three of workshops.

Spare Change theater was founded by JE’s Administrator, Aaron Funk. In the first two rounds the members learned improv theater, character development, theater lighting and more. In the new round the members hope to continue more of the same. Pictures to come.

Spare Change Theater

Phase #2  Stage direction, stage design, script writing, character development,Intro to technical theater, Online research. Plus theater history…Greece, Balinese, Egypt, Shakespeare, modern.

Workshops start this week, including acting and theater lighting.

Check out Spare Change Theater Program on Facebook.

Super 8 workshop

Ivy McClelland, Cary Cronenwett, Matthew Christiansen and Ebby Louis Angel have joined forces to bring back Super 8 film. These artists feel that the 8 mm film medium can give a unique aesthetic that modern digital video cannot capture. 10 students not only learned how to use the camera and develop the film but were also instructed in how to develop content based on visual aesthetics. 

January 12th Anniversary

The memorial show was a huge success. The mayors office let Jakmel Ekspresyon block the road off for our show. The sound system was set up on the front porch and the singers and dancers performed in the street. Between acts mixed sound pieces were played. There were also sculptures installed on the sidewalk across the street from Jakmel Ekspresyon. We painted the exhibition space on the second floor and a painting exhibition was installed. Thank you to everyone who helped make this exhibition become a reality.

It was amazing to be apart of a city wide commemoration. Jakmel was a peaceful, positive and creative space on January 12th. We projected images of the city right after the earthquake. There was an astonishing difference between the images being projected and the current state of Jakmel. Jakmel is one of the only cities where I see rebuilding happening consistently. Everywhere you turn there is construction. Unlike Port au Prince the streets are clean and the rubble has been cleared. Most of the buildings that fell have been cleared. The evidence of the earthquake that is still visible is the damage on standing buildings. All the local Jakmelian people went to church on this day and then strolled around town to take in all the creative exhibitions that were happening. 2 blocks away from the art center, Cine Institute was showing short videos created by the students. 1 block in the opposite direction FOSAJ art center had an exhibition up. The main street in town was blocked by a christian organization that had erected a stage and sang for 3 days straight. There were so many creative and positive activities on this day.

Making Connections

This week has been a week of making connections. I have talked with numerous people about how Jakmel Ekspresyon can partner and work with them. The prospect of a library seems a little closer. We have volunteer trade workers, “Boss”, who have offered to help build and do electricity. I will also have the pleasure of being introduced to a family in Jakmel that may be able to help by donating construction materials.

I have also talked with a representative from Haiti Soliel. They will partner with us by running some theater workshops. We are also talking with them about the possibility of sending books for the library.

Our crated equipment in Miami has been put on a list to be transported by small airplanes that are still flying aid in. It will be piece by piece according to how much space each plane has.

Great achievements are on the horizon and as new friendships are being created.

Sue Frame