It's been a long time coming! Setting up this foundation with the hopes of helping others has really been a dream for quite a while, and now, it gives me great pleasure to do so.
I have spoken to so many artists over the years that have sadly told me their tales of fighting through massive red tape and inane requirements to get grants or funding, or not having the right "style" or worldview to receive critical funding, and are left to find ways of making ends meet on their own. Not cool.
Being an artist is a calling, and not a job. We artists contribute much to the cloth and fabric of our culture, and most of the time, are not financially, or even emotionally compensated for the expenditures that we donate. Again, not cool.
So, in our current political climate of so many uber wealthy Americans coming forward and stating they believe in a concept of wealth redistribution, and the "haves" giving to the "have nots," I decided this was fertile ground for my concept: a lottery system for artists. No red tape, no explaining obscure reasons "why," no having to justify why you do what you do...just sheer neutrality, like Powerball!
And, getting back to the wealth in this country, we have plans to ask some of these super wealthy to donate a minimum of 10% of the yearly income to our foundation for a minimum of one year, so we can support hundreds of artists with these funds. Ten percent is a small sum for these mega wealthy, and not really "redistribution" per say, but let's see who "put's their money where their mouth" and belief system is!!! We will keep you posted as we approach each celebrity, politician, athlete, public figure, etc. so you can see whether or not they are honorable about keeping their worldviews true when it comes to money. This should prove to be very interesting!
So, if you are an artist, and you want to be put into our lottery system, please visit our website at:
www.utopia-realized.org and go to the "Artists" section. It's pretty simple. Please note that although we are looking for some big contributions from the super wealthy, little contributions are also welcome! We are here for the visual artists, and this is all about you all, so spread the word, and help us to help you! Please post our website and our current fundraiser link http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/utopia-realized/x/70689 wherever you can, and we can help even faster! The faster we raise funds, the quicker we can get them out to you all.
So, that's the long and short of it!
I have spoken to so many artists over the years that have sadly told me their tales of fighting through massive red tape and inane requirements to get grants or funding, or not having the right "style" or worldview to receive critical funding, and are left to find ways of making ends meet on their own. Not cool.
Being an artist is a calling, and not a job. We artists contribute much to the cloth and fabric of our culture, and most of the time, are not financially, or even emotionally compensated for the expenditures that we donate. Again, not cool.
So, in our current political climate of so many uber wealthy Americans coming forward and stating they believe in a concept of wealth redistribution, and the "haves" giving to the "have nots," I decided this was fertile ground for my concept: a lottery system for artists. No red tape, no explaining obscure reasons "why," no having to justify why you do what you do...just sheer neutrality, like Powerball!
And, getting back to the wealth in this country, we have plans to ask some of these super wealthy to donate a minimum of 10% of the yearly income to our foundation for a minimum of one year, so we can support hundreds of artists with these funds. Ten percent is a small sum for these mega wealthy, and not really "redistribution" per say, but let's see who "put's their money where their mouth" and belief system is!!! We will keep you posted as we approach each celebrity, politician, athlete, public figure, etc. so you can see whether or not they are honorable about keeping their worldviews true when it comes to money. This should prove to be very interesting!
So, if you are an artist, and you want to be put into our lottery system, please visit our website at:
www.utopia-realized.org and go to the "Artists" section. It's pretty simple. Please note that although we are looking for some big contributions from the super wealthy, little contributions are also welcome! We are here for the visual artists, and this is all about you all, so spread the word, and help us to help you! Please post our website and our current fundraiser link http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/utopia-realized/x/70689 wherever you can, and we can help even faster! The faster we raise funds, the quicker we can get them out to you all.
So, that's the long and short of it!
