Art Relief International
We believe in the transforming power of art to heal global ills. Art Relief International is dedicated to raising public awareness through the artistic expression of Joe and Jenny Smith.
Jenny has worked as an international relief worker in many third world countries. She is a published writer and a sculptor who has several exhibitions and art awards to her credit. She is also the owner of the J.E. Smith Gallery. Her gallery has earned local and national recognition.
Joe is Professor of Art at Oakland City University. He has exhibited , conducted workshops and lectured extensively. His work is held in numerous public and private collections, including that of Fuijo Cho, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.
Proceeds from the Smith’s work will be donated to providing clean water for Haiti and helping street children in Honduras.
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| "Darwin" by Joe Smith |
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| In San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Darwin does what he can to scrape by -- begging, selling bananas for a few pennies and salvaging what he can from the garbage dump. Darwin is a street child, sleeping on sidewalks or by an abandoned train station. To curb his desperation and hunger, he has become addicted to inhalants, sniffing industrial solvents that almost certainly cause brain damage. Darwin doesn't know how old he is or how long he has been living on the street. Local gangs pursue him offering food, clothing and shelter. To join Darwin must commit murder. For this reason, he has not joined. However, the "police" are cracking down on begging street children making it more difficult to find food and shelter. Joining a gang begins to look like his only hope for survival.
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"When I don't have a client, I don't get any food and I cannot pay the rent," says 21 year-old Feliceene. Feliceene became involved in prostitution at the age of fourteen. Both her parents were killed during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Feliceene lives in Gisenyi, a town in the northwest of Rwanda, with her younger sister and brother, Umotoni and Justin. Since the age of eight she has struggled to provide for the three of them. "Umotoni and Justin were always hungry," Feliceene says. "I asked my friend Clausine to help me. We went in a bar and she told a man that he could take me home for the night."
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| "Feliceene" by Joe Smith |
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| "Mr. Abraham Jokmoch" by Joe Smith |
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| "Mr. Abraham Jokmoch" by Joe Smith |
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Mr. Abraham Jokmoch, a weathered man in an equally weathered robe, described a dual attack. First it was Arab men on horseback (Jinjaweed), he said, who swooped down on his village, outside Kaliek. The soldiers moved in. In Mr. Jokmoch's case it was his two sons, ages seven and ten, who were killed. Mr. Jokmoch, his wife and two surviving daughters now stay at the Kas school yard. He wants desperately to return to his land and pick up again. Like so many of the uprooted villagers, Mr. Jokmoch is a farmer. He relies on the heavy rains that come in June to add some life to the dusty earth. His sorghum and ground nuts keep his family alive. But he and hundreds of thousands of other farmers in Darfur missed this years planting season. It has been too unsafe for them to farm. "We may have to stay here forever," he said at his campsite, looking glum. "There are too many Jinjaweed."
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