Art School for Yhanni

24 donors

$1,985 raised of $3.2K

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Art School for Yhanni

Yhanni Durdin-James is organizing this fundraiser.

Hey family,

Miraculously, I was accepted to an art school that offers classes from instructors and artists around the world. I decided to (finally) apply after a conversation with Judah, our eldest, where I said to him “if you don’t try you’ll always fail.” Lightbulb.

I needed to apply this to myself.

When I received the acceptance letter AND a $500 scholarship award for “artists invested in collaborative work for social change” my face lit up with excitement, surprise, and inspiration! Then my reaction turned downcast, “how the heck am I going to pay for this!?”

As some of you know we’re relocating to the East Coast in the (very) near future. Leaving a lot, trusting a lot, and being guided to expand beyond our wildest imagining.

$2,000 pays for the three classes over the next few months, taught remotely, with The Alternative Art School. I would be learning from Alicia Framis in Amsterdam, RAQs Media Collective in Delhi, and Vashti DuBois and DaSaint in Philly. The $3,250 goal includes the cost of a class by Puyallup artist, Epiphany Couch in Portland.

This acceptance letter is a gift. One that again calls me to stretch beyond insecurities and ask for help. This acceptance letter is a dream deferred for ten-year-old me draping fabric on my grandmother’s dress form. For 18-year-old me, recognizing the impossible financial burden of art school. For a 25-year-old me starting a collective of Mother artisans, Mama Makers’ Collective. For 31-year-old me who co-founded an art and wellness center. For 31-year-old me of the present who has no title, but is free, inspired, and unstoppable. This acceptance is my future.

Fearlessly, I applied for this because it was EXACTLY what I wanted for myself. And divinely.. it is not selfish. I always thought that by pushing my needs to the side the people around me’s needs would be better filled. I see how wrong I was. I see now that I can be myself, fill myself, and ensure the fulfillment of others by leading by example.

Below is my artist statement.

With lots of love, Yhanni

Art is a way to express the deeper emotions that I believe are collectively felt by Creative Mothers of Color. What I create is a transformative production of my vulnerability.

My viewpoint is that of a young Black woman of Caribbean, Indigenous, and Native American lineage who is devoted to her family and screaming for separation from society’s normalization of women’s free labor. My art journey is a rediscovering of the value of my voice and how to use it. I have long been creating, but I am now marrying art, communication, emotion, and activism.

After leaving the non-profit art and wellness center that I co-founded in Los Angeles. I followed my emotions up a tornado of self-discovery. When I landed, I was weaving. Through the processing that can only be done with repetitive movements, I remembered two things:

The emotions that arise from my work can unify across multiple understandings.

This viewpoint wants to be expressed.

This art, this expression, and the designs that I hope to bring to life are a ticking, time bomb at the precipice of positive political and societal change.