Where once flowers grew,
a sad death stalks my garden . . .
For my birthday last year
I asked you to celebrate
in my garden.
And I showed you pictures of my flowers. Like this one . . .
And so many of you,
being the kind and caring people that you are,
pitched in and worked with me.
Every week my flowers waited
impatiently
for Time In to take them
out into the world.
Looking and seeing
they became citizens of a larger city,
And wherever we went
whether Marian Goodman
or Tony Shafrazi
or Cheim + Read
or the Guggenheim
people gathered round to watch them draw
and talk and think.
And their composure, their engagement, their sophistication
flummoxed everyone's expectations.
And they asked,
Who are these children?
and I told them:
These are the kids from Time In:
a very special project dedicated to
bringing children
out of underserved classrooms in
Harlem
and into the world of the
contemporary arts
-- during their regular school day --
--every week of the school year --
not only as effective and
knowledgeable creators,
but as engaged, responsible
and active participants
in a larger democracy.
And they were impressed!
Those people admiring them don't know
that these are kids whose daily lives are unfathomably
difficult.
.
That every day some
child in their classroom is
Moving to another shelter.
Being removed from their home because of violence.
Being taken away from a family
or
a foster family
because of abuse or neglect.
Dealing with the accidental drowning
of a sibling.
Living in a residence for unwanted
kids.
Can you picture
your
four, five, six or seven year old
learning to read
in the kind of classroom
where scary, disruptive behaviors are the norm?
And there's no art, no music, no gym
No Hope?
No vision beyond the sadness of today's disruption?
And in this environment they're just
supposed to
pull it together
and get good test scores,
love learning,
want to read non stop
and become model citizens?
Become our children's peers?
Time In may not be able to bring back a lost sibling
or take mom off drugs,
but it does give children
hope
and
real world skills
and
personal integrity
which lead them
in
positive new directions.
Right now,
Time In is homeless and destitute.
And the 250 flowers in my garden
and all the extraordinary artists who tend to them
are about to vanish into thin air
-- as if they never were.
The studio is gone
and after six months of pounding the pavement,
not a single affordable space
on the
-- anywhere
Without your help
there won't be
TIME IN
this year.
Time In always begins during the first week of October.
Yet this year,
the very week
that our children were expecting us to appear
I sit here in front of my computer
pleading
instead of teaching.
All the work we have done over the past two years,
all the community building,
all the horizon changing,
all the trust
and self-expression,
all the arts and culture,
and the therapeutic outlet
upon which our kids depend
will go up in a puff of smoke
-- whoosh --
just as quickly as it came in.
if I can't raise the money we need
to move forward responsibly.
And I have to say,
I just don't find it acceptable
to just toss away something that has
had such
a fundamental impact upon these
children
Time In is the real thing -- no fluff -- it's all about kids and artists
working together -- and that's where the money goes. No corporate
retreats to the
All arts all the time
and all about
the lives of the kids with whom we work.
So whether it's donating the equivalent of what you would pay for your own
kids' HiArt! tuition for a
term or a summer or a year . . .
Or sending us a donation of $200, $2,000 or $200,000
We need it.
Because without your support
my kids'
world will stagnate exactly where it is
(and you KNOW that's not good for any of us)
I'm available --
and I'll meet with you,
sit with you, show you, tell you,
even take you over to meet my kids
at their schools
if you need a little extra convincing.
There's a Time In video on my site (www.hiartkids.com/fr_timein.htm).
It's short and shows you what we do.
Exactly the way it is and nothing more.
The second week of October has already begun.
My phone is ringing off the hook.
Principals and teachers want to know when we're starting.
Artists are waiting to see if they have jobs . . .
and rather than writing and cajoling,
I should be teaching these kids.
Help us find corporate sponsors.
Speak to your friends with foundations.
And to the media.
Tell them Time In needs flower money.
Because all kidding aside,
my garden is about to die.
With much love to all,
Cyndie Bellen-Berthézène
Founder and Executive Director
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|
Dear Cyndie, Name |
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Online contributions by credit card can be made through
the NY Charities website. Artist name: Cyndie
Bellen-Berthezene, Project Title: Time
In. |
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