Art Against Assault Book Tour

Art Against Assault 2017 Advocacy Tour
My name is Mirabelle Jones and I'm an advocate and artist hailing from California. I hold an MFA in Book Art and Creative Writing from Mills College and serve East LA Women's Center as a CA-certified Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Victim's Advocate. For the past four years, I've been working on an enormously challenging book art advocacy project that has at last resulted in a collection of 150 beautiful hand-made books that could raise tens of thousands of dollars for sexual assault survivor resources.

I need your help in ensuring these books find their way to where they can be publicly accessed throughout the country! I'm embarking on a 2017 Art Against Assault Tour to share these books and engage local survivor resources, colleges, and arts organizations in workshops and presentations that raise awareness about sexual assault.

ABOUT THE BOOKS

In 2011, during my program at Mills, I was sexually assaulted in my hometown of Oakland, CA. After navigating a complex and depressing legal process, I realized that the United States is far from offering the care and support survivors of sexual assault deserve.  I knew I wanted to make a difference to this issue, to show other survivors that they are not alone and that their narratives deserve to be heard. With encouragement through the local rape crisis center BAWAR as well as my MFA Program, I began an art project to speak out against sexual assault and raise funds for survivor resourced titled: JARRING III .


WHAT IS JARRING III?

JARRING III is a set of artists' books (books that use sculptural and artistic elements as well as text and are considered art objects) that share the true narratives of sexual assault survivors to raise funds for survivor resources. Each book uses a unique balance of structure, material, fine printing, written and artistic content to tell the true anonymously-submitted narratives of survivors of sexual assault. All proceeds from the sale of these books will go towards providing badly needed funding for sexual assault survivor resources in the cities in which they are purchased.


HOW THE BOOKS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Once placed in universities and colleges, these books can be used as a therapeutic tool for student survivors as well as a research tool for students in a variety of fields (including psychology, book art, fine art, trauma therapy, and more). Many of these libraries will also be available to members of the public ensuring the books are available for public use but also protected for generations to come. 100% of the proceeds from each set of books sold will go towards funding survivor resources such as call centers, advocacy training, community outreach programs, counseling services, and much more! For every set of books sold, nearly $800.00 will be donated to a local or national rape crisis center.



ABOUT THE TOUR

The project's success hinges not only on placing the books in special collections libraries and museums where they can be freely accessed by the public, but making connections within the communities in which they are placed.

To this end, this year I'm embarking on a book and workshop tour to introduce these very special books to communities throughout the United States. Along the way, I hope to raise discussions at the grassroots level on the subject of sexual assault as well as provide workshops, presentations, and reading room experiences at college campuses, arts organizations, and sexual assault survivor resource centers.

Working under Art Against Assault, I want to build relationships with emerging artists to plant the seeds of art projects that will change the way we think about sexual assault in our communities and ultimately lead to changes in legislation, government funding decisions, and an increase in resources supporting survivors. I will also where possible provide art therapy workshops with rape crisis centers and local organizations with a focus on using art (specifically printing, book making, creative writing, and performance) as a healing tool to speak out against sexual assault.


HOW YOU CAN HELP

While I am hoping that the majority of my tour expenses will be covered by paid speaking appointments, there are many cities and organizations I would like to visit that do not have the fiscal budget to invite me to do so. For every $200 donated here, I will host a book arts workshop at a rape crisis center or community organization working with sexual assault survivors using art therapy. The more funding I raise, the more cities I can visit, the more workshops I can provide and the more books I can introduce (which means more funding from the sale of these books will go to local and national rape crisis centers).


GO FUND THEM

I want to be clear that I am not making any money from this GoFundMe. Every penny that is donated will be used to purchase materials for workshops or provide transportation to the organizations in question and I will keep you updated on the tour below so you know your money is being put to good use! I am paying for my own lodging, food and other requirements. Donations here on GoFundMe will only be used for workshop materials and travel expenses.


To learn more about this project, you can visit my website at: http://www.mirabellejones.com/jarring3/

More about the tour can be found here: http://www.mirabellejones.com/tour/

To find your local RCC you can locate them via the RAINN database: http://centers.rainn.org/

Thank you for considering it!

Best,

Mirabelle Jones
MFA Book Art and Creative Writing