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Help a Teaching Artist Thrive!

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Please help me raise  funds for studio space, art supplies, and labor for collaborative art projects!


About Me: I'm a Haitian American artist and educator obsessed with contemporary art, pop culture, and corny jokes. Fueled by my lack of satisfaction with the narrow range of representations of people of color on both sides of the canvas, I decided to pursue a career in art. My passion has led me to completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting at Pace University,  a Master's Degree in Art Education at MassArt and obtaining my teaching license for Visual Art K-12.



About My Art & Teaching Practice:
Creating art has always been my way of navigating through my feelings and experiences with social and cultural liminality. More recently, my practice has been a playground for facilitating conversations with the public as a means of cultivating communal spaces for that kind of inquiry, discourse, and reflection. This has been a welcome byproduct of my philosophy as an educator that views art as an equitable and accessible vehicle for empathy and understanding. Thus far, I have had teaching experience at summer camps, public schools, college campuses, galleries, museums, and non-profit settings like libraries and community centers. I have also been featured as a speaker for numerous conferences and panels around issues of social justice in regards to art, education, and museums.

Here you can see me talking with students about the contours of artist Alison Saar's "Hankerin' Heart" so she can pull some inspiration for her own sculpture made of wire at the Bakalar & Paine Gallery.



Examples of my work:

Currently I'm working on the Our Mattapan Campaign.
Here's a process shot of the portrait series.


 Here I am helping some folks turn their promises into artwork for The Public Trust.


The images below are a part of a piece called "EMERGENCE: What does hope look like?"

 The sculpture was the end product for a series of community surveys where I asked people to have conversations with me about hope during my residency at the Boston Center for The Arts (BCA). With my table set up on the sidewalk of the BCA campus, I invited participants to write or draw their response to the question "What does hope look like?". From there, I asked them to explain their interpretation of the question and together we made a symbol that embodied what had transpired. The sculpture contains the culmination of symbols from one-on-one conversations with over 60 community members.This bottom image shows a response from a community member (left) and the symbol generated from our conversation (right).

You may have even seen my work featured in Daily Serving , The National Art Education Journal , Boston Magazine and CityLine .This is just a small slice of what I'm capable of! If you'd like to see more of what I've done so far check out www.chanelthervil.com.


What the funds will be used for:
-Studio space rental for the rest of the year. For me studio space is not only where I make artwork. It's an office for administrative duties. It's a meeting place for other artists that I collaborate with for critiques and planning. And it's a place where students and other folks can come and make art so that we can learn from each other! Considering the high cost of living in Boston, having a studio space is a privilege that many do not have access to, but it is essential for me  to make my work and continue creating a sense of community amongst other artists, particularly those of color with a lack of resources. Nothing can grow or be made without a space!


-Art supplies. (For making the physical artwork, + materials needed to share artistic techniques with students and other artists. This also includes tech, documentation, marketing, labor for installation, printing & framing).***I also have an opportunity to propose a solo show at an artist space in Boston and I will only be able to secure it, once I have a physical body of work to exhibit. Due to the transient nature of relocating, I did not have the capacity to store my artwork over the years. Which means that while I have great documentation of the things I've made, I no longer have many of the works in my possession.  Having funds for art supplies means I can make more art to show and share.

-Paying part of an outstanding balance left uncovered by my student loans for my education.  As a product of immigrants, I didn't have anything to start with to fund my education but I knew it would be key in launching me into the career that would help me share my talents and help others. My student loans were enough to get me going but there are always fees that managed to travel outside of my payment plan. It's hard to focus on creating, collaborations, and teaching when you have debt hanging over your head. Anything you can give would help!

If you can't give but would still like to help:
Please share, share, share this campaign with anyone you know who supports art and education. Especially with what has been happening in our society recently, artists not only need funds to support their endeavors, but people who believe that what they do has value! Thank you so much for taking the time to hear me out.

Organizer

Chanel T Thervil
Organizer
Boston, MA

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