A Year in Review: How You Helped Jakmel Ekspresyon

 

The supporters and Administration of Jakmel Ekspresyon have raised $5,800 towards rent. We have $700 to go in order to meet our goal of $6,500 by June 1st. Help us today so that we can continue to provide resources where they are needed.

The past six months have been monumental for Jakmel Ekspresyon. Let’s look back at all of the amazing events that have taken place at or for Jakmel Ekspresyon since December of 2011.

December 2011

• Jakmel Ekspresyon Rented a New Building
• Jakmel Ekspresyon Started an IndieGoGo Campaign and raised $3000 from 44 funders
• Kwochè Ayiti Workshops at Jakmel Ekspresyon
• Caroline Paquita Sold Art to Benefit JE

January 2012

• JE Hosted Knitting Workshops
• JE Finished A Successful IndieGoGo Fundraiser
• Had Classes at JE 6 Days a Week
• Spare Change Theater (Resident Theater Program at JE) Website is Live

February 2012

• Hosted Kaleidoscope at Phyllis’ Musical Inn With Amazing Performances 
• Held Even More Classes Six Days a Week at Jakmel Ekspresyon

March 2012

• Saw the Amazing Film Makers For a Cause Video of JE
• Hosted Classes at JE 7 Days a Week!
• Spare Change Graduated A Class of Actors and Actresses

April 2012 

• Held Ra Ra Yo! A Fundraiser at Martyr’s 
• Got Invited to Verge Art Fair in NYC

May 2012

• Held Our First Concert at JE 
• Exhibited at Verge Art Fair NYC

On June 2nd, Jakmel Ekspresyon along with our neighbors – the dance troupe Explosion, will shut down our block for an epic dance party. We’re happy to be a part of our community and are glad to open our doors to the world!

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.

Jakmel Ekspresyon in Art Info!

We’ve been lucky enough to be mention in Art Info, an international art magazine and website. One of the co-organizers of our Kaleidoscope event (see below) has written an extensive piece about art and our approach to art in Haiti. Please check it out:

Over the last eight months or so, I’ve been working with a group here in Chicago on a mission to stabilize and fund an art center in Jakmel, Haiti headed up by the Frame Family Foundation and its delegate, local art activist Susan Frame. I was brought into the project by Steve Raden, an old Chicago friend of mine and activist humanitarian in the field who has traveled extensively in third world countries, often exclusively on his own dime, to help provide aid where he could, and there are real, clear egalitarian reasons for working to support such a project. As the stories I’ve heard serve to illustrate, the Jakmel center functions as a safe haven from persecution by others in Haitian society who find hate a productive response to lesbian and gay male lifestyles, or who find those physically handicapped in the wake of the earthquake easy pickings. They also work to imbue its participants with art-making knowledge and skills that give them an export upper-hand in their own localized markets and, at a minimum, a means of realizing a productive living.

Kaleidoscope- Benefit for Jakmel Ekspresyon in Chicago, February 18th!

If you are in Chicago, please join us on February 18th at Phyllis’ Musical Inn (1800 W Division in Wicker Park)  for Kaleidoscope.

This benefit for us features Megitza Quartet, Honey & Buffalo, Diane Christiansen & Steve Dawson, Cynthia Plaster Caster, Katherine Chronis, Mike O’Flaherty, and Ashley Thornton.

It starts at 8pm, and is just $15 at the door. What a deal!

See you there!