ArtThread Foundation: Creativity for a cause

Scan Design–ArtThread event a huge success!

Art, music, wine, and creativity were all flowing freely at Scan Design’s Fall in Furniture Love art contest and showcase event last week in Tampa. 

This was the fourth annual presentation of this community art event, put on by all four Scan Design stores in Florida.  The wonderful staff at the Tampa store created a magical atmosphere in their huge showroom, which included a presentation of all the fine art that was submitted for the art contest.

We at ArtThread were honored to be chosen as the featured non-profit recipient of the proceeds from the silent auction of items donated by a host of Tampa businesses (see the list at the end of this post), including a fantastic recliner donated for raffle by Scan Design.

 Our “Splash Party” station was set up for everyone to get a chance to experience the engaging fun of doing virtual painting with ArtThread’s online art-maker (Jay is showing people how to do it, above). Projected on one of the walls, you could see the art being made from all over the store (see below). Have a look at some of the art made during this "paint-in" in this thread in the ArtThread Gallery.

 

“This event is a wonderful demonstration of how art creates community,” said Jay Klein, ArtThread CEO. “This was a chance for real immersion – while you were surrounded by the work of all these fine artists who submitted their art, you could at the same time make your own masterpiece. This "art everywhere" experience is just what we are all about at ArtThread.”

Around the corner from the Splash station the folks at Scan Design provided a large canvas (see below) for everyone to paint, too, giving the whole crowd a double whammy of creative opportunities.

 Scan Design’s team deserves kudos for a job well done, and we are grateful to store owner Mikael Eskilden and the entire staff for all their help and support in creating this superlative event. You can see the work submitted by artists from the previous events in this thread on the ArtThread Gallery.

The band Orange Groove provided the jazz music for the crowd, and ArtThread board member Cathy DeWitt sang a tune with the group.

 

Proceeds from the event go toward sustaining the ArtThread Foundation’s web infrastructure, and to supporting our efforts to donate online art-making and 21st century skill building technology to non-profit charities and organizations in the state of Florida and around the world.

Our heartfelt thanks to Scan Design and these Tampa businesses who donated their goods and services for the silent auction:

• Becker Designed, Inc. - BDI
• Dreamweaver's, Inc.
• Foreign Accents
• BAZZ Lighting
• Esther Jensen
• Wildcat Territory
• Ligne Pure
• Crispers
• Café Luna
• Sirata Beach Resort
• Tradewinds Beach Resort
• Dolphin Landings Charter
• Seminole Lake Country Club
• The Art of Massage
• Muse the Salon
• Wrights Gourmet House
• Joshua & Jessica Skroch
• Genesis Weight Loss

 

ArtThread's Founder Chosen as Delegate to 2009 Livestrong Global Cancer Summit in Dublin

"I am a childhood cancer survivor who has used the power of creative expression as a survivorship tool within my own personal experience," begins the commitment Jay Klein wrote for his entry into the Lance Armstrong Foundation's Livestrong Global Cancer Summit, set for August 2009 in Dublin.

Jay, the CEO and founder of ArtThread, was part of a select group of individuals and organizations who have made commitments to global cancer control.  The summit brings together "world leaders, corporations, non-government organizations, and advocates in an unprecedented show of solidarity."

This is a huge honor for Jay and the whole ArtThread team, and we are proud to be represented at this important international event.

"The overall goal of the ArtThread Foundation is to share the international reach of our proprietary technology by partnering with other organizations whose mission it is to improve the quality of lives of cancer patients. Our hope is that these partnerships build community, increase awareness, and offer innovative methods towards sustainability," continues Jay in his commitment.  We'll keep you posted on the event when Jay returns.

Learn more here.

ArtThread chosen as featured member of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH)

Each month the SAH selects a member to feature in the SAH Connections Newsletter. In March they chose ArtThread.

"We have big goals at the ArtThread Foundation - nothing less than creating a global community of people who embrace and share creative expression," said Rob Rothschild, President of the ArtThread Foundation.  Click here to see the interview with Rob and Jay Klein, CEO/Founder of ArtThread.

Making a Moment for Creative Expression: The Story of ArtThread

It was the winter of 1973, and, having pulled a number seven in the draft lottery, 19-year-old college student Jay Allan Klein figured he was on his way to Viet Nam. Yet when he reported for a routine draft physical doctors didn’t send him overseas. Instead they ordered him to see a urologist.

Klein found himself on a different sort of front line altogether — battling testicular cancer in an era when few teens diagnosed with a malignancy of any kind survived. Three and a half decades later, Klein is cancer-free, and keenly aware of what cancer patients experience. He is committed to easing their physical and psychological distress. The story of ArtThread begins with Klein’s survivorship, and with his experience as a musician, which gave him first hand experience in how creative expression can remove the feelings of ac ute isolation and uncertainty that can occur after diagnosis.

Fusing his arts and science background he started federally funded research at the University of Florida involving the role of creative expression and online technology for cancer patients. This work spawned the ArtThread Foundation whose mission is to use innovative technology to make art and creative expression more available to those impacted by illness, physical limitations, or social consequence.

"ArtThread technology gives anyone in need the freedom to take a moment for creative expression – and we are all in need,” says Rob Rothschild, president of the ArtThread Foundation. “In that moment your distress can disappear because you are totally im mersed in the creative process.”

ArtThread uses its online technology and the power of art to build a global community that emphasizes the unique spirit in all of us while encouraging unity and support.

“In this day and age everyone knows someone, a friend, sibling, parent or relative dealing with cancer,” says Klein, founder and CEO of the ArtThread Foundation. “With over 12 million new cases globally last year there are no longer ‘have and have-nots;’ the world community and the cancer community are one in the same, so the need for solutions is greater than ever.”

The centerpiece of the Foundation’s work is the ArtThread Interactive Online Gallery. The Gallery is an innovative, inspirational, and interactive place where people can do something highly unusual with their art: they can start or join an “art thread” — an interactive art-to-art conversation with family, friends, or anyone in the world. The ArtThread Gallery makes creative expression and art available everywhere: home, work, in-patient and clinical settings, schools, and throughout community organizations.

“Making art is great, but making it and sharing it is even better,” says Klein. “Think of ArtThread as the fusion of a gallery and an infinite online graffiti wall. It is social networking with paint brushes!”

Those “paintbrushes” come in a very unique form on the ArtThread website. ArtThread’s proprietary online art making tool “Splash!”makes it possible for everyone to make beautiful art anywhere. “Splash!” encourages fun and experimentation and often unpredictable results. Yet it also has great depth, and is a wonderfully expressive tool for even the most skilled artist. “Splash!” was originally created in a partnership with the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, co-founded by “Last Lecture” professor and visionary Randy Pausch.

“We asked the development team for a creative tool that would work for ages 5 to 85, and they laughed at us,” remembers Rothschild. “But they did it, and did it beautifully, and it fulfills our mission to enhance those opportunities for creativity.” The original team from Carnegie Mellon has now formed Electric Owl Studios and continues to work on new online art-making tools for ArtThread. A new version of “Splash!” was just released that makes artistic collaboration from anywhere in the world possible.

ArtThread also fulfills its mission by creating partnerships with other organizations such as VSA arts of Florida, Shriners Hospitals, and The Creative Center: Arts in Healthcare.

“We are thrilled to be working with ArtThread,” says Robin Glazer, Director of The Creative Center, a New York city community organization that brings the world of art to more than 15,000 participants each year. “Our artists in residence are using the easy-to- use art sharing tools with in-patients, and we as an organization are using ArtThread’s online auction module as a fundraising tool.”

“Our work with these various organizations clearly demonstrates the power the ArtThread Gallery to enhance the mission, and add value to the services of a wide array of initiatives, say Klein. “Art becomes an advocate, a messenger, a facilitator and a fundraising tool. It’s just one product of our mission to bring creativity, connection, and community to anyone in need.”