VHP features Haitian art for annual fundraising event

While the Vassar Haiti Project (VHP) went to Chermaitre for ten days over Spring Break, they did more than check up on their education and medical initiatives and visit with locals in the village. They also accumulated a vibrant collection of Haitian art, which was on view and on sale in the College Center MPR this Friday through Sunday.

“This is our main event, our main source of fundraising,” said Director of International Services and Founder of Vassar Haiti Project Andrew Meade. The money made from the sale will support the cost of operating the initiatives that VHP has already put in place. “It will be sent to help support the lunch program, pay the teacher’s salaries, and buy supplies; just make sure everything continues smoothly throughout the year,” Meade continued. Any additional money made will go into new programs in Haiti.

The Haitian Art Sale will be open Friday, March 30 from noon-8pm, Saturday from 10-4, and Sunday from 10-2. On Saturday the auction will be held from 4-6, with registration beginning at 2 pm.

“All of the art is made in Haiti, often Port-au-Prince, and we have some handicrafts that were made in more rural areas,” said David Bridgman-Packer ’12, who went on the Haiti trip. “We buy some of the art directly from the artists, some from art galleries, and others from art markets, which are unique to Haiti. They are these open-air markets where artists and art vendors bring their selections.”

“In Haiti, and in general in most underdeveloped countries, art is not the top priority. People don’t just go out and buy art, as they have other basic expenses,” said Alex Ciucu ’12, who also went on the trip over break. She emphasized how the art sold this weekend at Vassar will not only benefit VHP’s initiatives, but will support the livelihood of the men and women who created these pieces, allowing them to continue in the profession they love.

The artwork VHP has on display reflects much Haitian art today: the paintings depict natural, outdoor scenes and landscapes in beautiful, vibrant colors, while the metalwork uses these same colors in eye-catching designs and motifs. Everything normally on the walls of the CCMPR will be taken off, and one wall covered entirely in paintings for sale. Said Ciucu,“The tables will be covered in handicrafts like papier-mché and metalwork. We also have larger metalwork pieces for sale, as well as … silk scarves and jewelry, beads.”

VHP has already paid all of the artists and sellers for the works; any profits they make will go into the initiatives. The project currently has four initiatives in place in Haiti: “The main one is education,” said Bridgman-Packer. Since 2002, the group has been funding the lunch program and teacher salaries at Chermaitre’s primary school. “We also have a water initiative, in which we built a spring cistern that brings water to the school and village; a reforestation initiative, as we have planted several thousand trees; and a medical initiative, working to build a health clinic staffed by Haitian doctors,” Bridgman-Packer continued.

To best support the Vassar Haiti Project, the members hope that the students, parents, and members of the community who visit the sale will purchase a painting or handicraft. “Art is something that represents Haiti in a way that most people don’t see in the newspapers,” said Ciucu.

As trip member Charlotte Ong ’14 noted, the 10 days spent in Haiti helps the members of VHP see how their initiatives are working and what needs improvement. “We met with the village leaders, and had a focus group with the women and girls of the village, and had more meetings to assess the progress and needs of the initiatives. This will help us in directing what we do for the rest of the year,” Ong said.

As the members of VHP emphasized, the art show depicts the real Haiti, and not what is painted of the country by Western media. Said Andrew Meade, “Haitian art really speaks to the spirit and resilience of the Haitian people. Despite all of the stuff that people see on TV, or whatever happens to the country in terms of natural disasters, and man-made troubles like political or racial strife, art has just continued to show the true elements of Haiti.”