Expat English teacher living in Japan. Business opportunity for my painting aspirations: sponsored gallery event. Please help me realize my dream. Every donation is much appreciated.

To make the trip, I would need an estimated ¥110,000 (roughly US $1100).

This amount is to pay for gas to and from the venue (for transportation of artworks), food, gallery space, hotel costs, and any last minute necessities to survive on the trip.

The extra $100 is to offset the transaction fees charged by GoFundMe on each donation, calculated as 2.9% of the donated amount + $0.30 base fee.

Background Story:

Hello all!

It's been over eight years since coming to Japan for work as an English teacher.

Though it's been rough, with constant health problems and relocations, I was finally able to leave an abusive job and return to Hyogo prefecture, my second home. I love being back here but after so long of not being able to find a job in this small city, I have no choice but to look elsewhere.

Over the years, I've taken up painting and started to showcase my art in various places where I was living at the time.

Last November before coming back to Hyogo, I made a promise to the owner of a gallery near Tokyo (7-hour drive) to showcase my art in October of this year. Originally, the plan was to pay the travel costs with the funds from a new job, thinking that I would be able to have one by then.

It's already the end of August, which leaves a little more than a month before the gallery event. If and when I do find a job, in Japan the first paycheck isn't paid until the end of the second month. Something to do with processing systems, I suppose. This means that I won't be able to pay for the trip from Hyogo to Gunma prefecture with the money received from the new job.

The gallery is located near a densely populated area of Japan. So if I am able to showcase my artwork here, then there is a good chance this will be a breakthrough for my sub-career and dream as a painter.

-Laura Bynum

(Fundraiser hosted by sister Jennifer)