CERFe-news

e-news | April 2008

News from the Craft Emergency Relief Fund | April 2008
Jeanne Kirby, Communications and Events Coordinator
news@craftemergency.org
(802) 229-2306

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Program News

CERF Responds to Recent Tornado and Floods
CERF has been reaching out to artists and arts organizations in Atlanta and surrounding communities in Georgia following the March 14 tornado and in Arkansas, Missouri and parts of neighboring states, which experienced severe flooding. If you know of any craft artists who were affected by these recent disasters, please have them contact CERF to learn about our assistance.

CERF at NOLA FiredUp!
On March 1, CERF presented The Insurance Show at the NOLA FiredUp! clay conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. During the show, ceramist Andrea Christie described the significant damage to her home and studio during Hurricane Katrina as well as her evacuation from New Orleans and relocation to Indiana. Business insurance expert Dave Kotary responded to Andrea's story by offering a range of helpful advice to the audience on business insurance, including the ins and outs of flood and wind insurance.

In addition to presenting The Insurance Show, CERF underwrote conference registration fees for 17 Katrina-affected artists. The conference was well-attended, especially by artists from the Gulf Coast. Overall the spirit of the gathering was upbeat and provided tangible evidence that artists are turning the corner on the disaster and clearly moving forward.

CERF and Americans for the Arts Co-host Coalition Gathering
CERF and Americans for the Arts co-hosted the third annual gathering of the Coalition for Artists' Preparedness and Emergency Response on March 30th in Washington, DC. Spearheaded by CERF, the Coalition is a national effort to improve the system of disaster readiness, response, and recovery for individual artists and the arts infrastructure that supports them. The gathering brought together over 30 distinguished leaders of artist organizations, public arts agencies, and private arts funders to discuss the progress of various Coalition related initiatives underway such as CERF's Studio Protector, an artist-friendly practical reference guide on disaster preparedness and survival.

CERF Co-sponsors Arts Advocacy Day
Once again, CERF joined together with more than 90 national arts service organizations as a National Co-sponsor of Arts Advocacy Day on March 31 & April 1, in Washington, DC. Arts Advocacy Day is the only national event designed to bring together a broad cross-section of America's national cultural and civic organizations to underscore the importance of developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding for the arts and culture. CERF especially urged members of Congress to co-sponsor S. 548, the "Artist-Museum Partnership Act," which allows artists to take a fair-market value deduction for contributions of their own works to nonprofit institutions.

Fundraising News

Invitational Ceramics Exhibition to Benefit CERF
An invitational ceramics exhibition entitled Ahead of the Need, curated by Lana Wilson and Anthony Schaller, will benefit CERF. Hosted by Charlie Cummings Gallery, the online exhibition starts on Saturday, April 5 at 11 a.m. (EST) and ends April 30. All sales transactions will take place through two phone lines, (406) 425-3114 and (406) 425-3115. Linda Christianson, Val Cushing, John Glick, Ron Myers, Jeff Oestreich, Pete Pinnell, and Lana Wilson are among the 75 artists who contributed work.

Kentucky Crafted Supports CERF
CERF and the Kentucky Arts Council raised $2,965 from a silent auction held during the March 2008 Kentucky Crafted show in Louisville, Kentucky. Key to the event's success were the dozens of Kentucky Crafted exhibitors who donated their work to the event. The auction's close coincided with the Kentucky Crafted awards ceremony during which sculptor and recent CERF beneficiary Dave Caudill received an Emeritus Award from the Kentucky Arts Council. Last January, Caudill's studio, which was located in Louisville's LAVA House burned to the ground.

ACRE Las Vegas to Donate to CERF
An invitational ceramics exhibition entitled Ahead of the Need, curated by Lana Wilson and Anthony Schaller, will benefit CERF. Hosted by Charlie Cummings Gallery, the online exhibition starts on Saturday, April 5 at 11 a.m. (EST) and ends April 30. All sales transactions will take place through two phone lines, (406) 425-3114 and (406) 425-3115. Linda Christianson, Val Cushing, John Glick, Ron Myers, Jeff Oestreich, Pete Pinnell, and Lana Wilson are among the 75 artists who contributed work.

Wholesalecrafts.com will donate to CERF the proceeds from consultation fees with arts business experts Bruce Baker and Daniel Abramson during the upcoming ACRE (American Craft Retailers Expo) show in Las Vegas, April 26-28. Both retailers and artists will have onsite access to these educational opportunities co-sponsored by ACRE and CRAFT (Craft Retailers Association for Tomorrow).

Donate to CERF While You Surf the Internet
GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue (about a penny per search) to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up! It's easy to do and doesn't cost the searcher anything. Click here for more information.

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