I am in the middle of moving!
not only that but my parents are in the middle of moving!
and I'm trying to get ready to teach on Saturday!
Overwhelmed.

I want to talk about the artists role in society.
How do I connect the work I do to my outside audience?
How do I use my passions to connect to the the community?
How do I get students engaged in their communities?
Where is the line between art and life? Is there one? Should there be one?

Does art give us the opportunities to empathize with differences? How?

These are all questions I'm raising to my students, but also questions I need to deal with as an artist myself.
I'm having a hard time connecting the things that I am passionate about with outside causes.
I feel this need to help my community, to become an active citizen of the world.. because I truly believe that art is the best way to change, and can become the most effective weapon in battling injustice.

So,
National Foundation for Cancer Research Breast Cancer Fund America's Second Harvest Global Health YouthAIDS Doctors of the World - USA Pro Literacy Worldwide Wildlife Trust Prevent Child Abuse America Environmental Defense Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation Amnesty International Best Friends Animal Society International Child Art Foundation National Alliance to End Homelessness Youth Advocate Program Kids Can Free the Children Medical Research Agencies of America Child Welfare League of America Transplant Recipients International Organization Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. Brightside for Families and Children Downtown Skaters Health, Peace, Joy, Happiness People of Peace World of Peace PEACE Kids Starry Night Children of the World Children of the World.

Where do I start??

How do I narrow this list down to find something I really can put myself into? I dont have cancer.. I'm not homeless.. How do I put the amount of passion I have for the things I love into a topic that doesnt have to do with me?
I think I need to make it more personal..
maybe there is someone I can talk to that has been abused, or maybe I can go and talk to a medical researcher, these types of relationships will help to make the distance between the subject and I more real..
I figure since I am giving my students this same assignment, I should also be making art for a cause..so i can go through the same frustrations and successes along their side.

My next project for this class is going to be for a cause. I'm just not sure what that is yet.