Step 1: My chosen approach:
JUST SEEDS
Step 2: Research:
Step 3: My Analysis:
Sources:
- Generally - Educating people about sex trafficking while also healing trafficking victims.
- Specific Approach/Organization - Chip Thomas - “a photographer, public artist, activist, and physician who has been working between Monument Valley and The Grand Canyon on the Navajo nation since 1987. There, he coordinates the Painted Desert Project – a community-building project which manifests as a constellation of murals across the Navajo Nation painted by artists from all over the rez + the world.” (Just Seeds)
JUST SEEDS
Step 2: Research:
- What the history of the artist and the organization he works for? “Founded in 1998, and originally the graphics distribution project of Josh MacPhee, Justseeds made the transformation into a worker-owned cooperative in 2007 – the original network being largely in place through past collaborations and friendships. In May 2010, Justseeds moved our distribution center from Portland to a new and larger base in Pittsburgh. We operate an online store and wholesale distribution center, as well as an active, multi-voice blog detailing current art and resistance projects around the world.”
- Mission/Vision. We believe in the transformative power of personal expression in concert with collective action.
- Results? “These murals aim to reflect love and appreciation of the rich history shared by the Navajo people back to Navajo people. As a member of the Justseeds Artists Co-operative, he appreciates the opportunity to be part of a community of like-minded, socially engaged artists.” From what I am reading about Thomas, his work is well known for people who live near the murals. I think he should expand out of Arizona and put his work in reservations all over the US. This would make his work more well-known and bring more awareness to his cause.
Step 3: My Analysis:
- What I love. I love that Thomas is bringing awareness to whatever cause he is working on at that time. I love that he is taking a place that although has a rich and long history, is troubled with the ugliness of drug abuse, highest teen suicides, and pregnancies, alcoholism and many more travesties, and turning it into something beautiful; something worth seeing. He has created a land that the people who live there can be proud to call home, and that people come from miles away to see. Not only that, but he has taken his long medical work history and used it to help those who live there.
- Limitations. I think his work should be taken all over the world. As I said above, he works mostly in the four corners and I believe that more people should see his work, he should broaden his causes and work outside the box. In the article about him, in Gulch Magazine, they mentioned how he went and traveled through Africa and Brazil, which would have been a perfect opportunity to talk to locals and bring more awareness to whatever problem they were having.
- How ill apply to my proposal. I love his mission and I want to bring that to life here at Animas, although human/sex trafficking might not be as relevant here, we should still be aware of it. High school is the step before entering the real world. When you are starting to become an adult, you think about all the places you want to live and/or travel to and you never know how risky it can be, walking home by yourself or accepting a job from someone. Basically, I am bringing awareness to this very scary cause so that students who are going to live by themselves are cautious of their actions, and I figure I should put my own spin on it, by making it creative and fun to look at.
Sources: