Dear Friends,
I know you receive many requests for support at this time of year. Here is the reason you should respond generously to this one – stated quite elegantly in a recent email from New York-based South African teacher, poet, and novelist Yvette Christensë:
…. the Art21 broadcasts and podcasts enable my classrooms. They help me teach students about different ways of seeing, and they help underscore for students the fact that art is inseparable from our lives, from our daily, our political, our psychic lives. Which is to say that art is inseparable from our membership in what we hope is a just society.
I founded Art21 in order to provide a forum for artists’ voices to be heard by the broadest possible audience via television, the Internet, and an assortment of publications. Since its premiere on PBS in 2001, our ongoing series Art in the Twenty-First Century has showcased 86 artists at work and in their own words, presenting the artists themselves as role models for creative thinking. In a brief ten years, Art21’s accomplishments, among others, include:
- The Peabody Award for Art in the Twenty-First Century, “a unique forum for the display, analysis and appreciation of myriad forms of contemporary visual art”
- Education and public programs that annually reach over 1.8 million people in more than 200 countries
- A growing national educator network – graduates of Art21’s Teachers’ Institute
- The Art21 Blog – to date, nearly 2,000 posts focused on contemporary art and its social impact; over 36,000 readers per month hailing from 206 countries; in 2010, a total of over half a million visitors
- A collaboration with PBS to produce an Art21-hosted live-streamed conversation about performance in contemporary art, with local, national, and international viewer participation
- William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible, an in-depth feature film on the creative process, political and artistic philosophies, and personal background of one of the most dynamic artists working today, premiered on PBS October 21, 2010
A donation to the Annual Fund – in any amount – contributes directly to Art21’s programs, ensuring that resources on contemporary art are available free around the globe.
Your gift today helps us share countless examples of why art is inseparable from the daily act of living. Thank you for your support.
With heartfelt thanks,
Susan Sollins
Executive Director
All gifts are 100% tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. Learn more about making a donation to Art21, or select an amount below to make a secure donation using Paypal.