May I introduce you to Art Meets Education?! Here, children from financially disadvantaged backgrounds are given the opportunity to create their own works of art. The photographs that they create are placed in exhibitions and the proceeds generated from the sales of their art will provide the financial means for their formal education from primary school all the way up high school graduation. Art Meets Education´s priority is to provide the tools for the powerless to empower themselves. To give these children the means to finance their own education forges the key to which they can use for a self-determined life, a life without poverty.
Art is an endeavor, which enriches life through emotions and stories for each individual. While it is clear that art gives meaning, can it, however, also educate? The organization Art Meets Education intends to do exactly that – children from impoverished backgrounds will be able to finance their own education through means of their own creativity. Children are honest and terrific artists. They possess imaginative and experimental minds unbounded by rational adult thought. This naive creativity is what enables them to create incredible works of art, unharmed by society’s values, rules and structures.
The real help comes from within – The story of the beginning
Justice and sustainability are the main values which Art Meets Education embodies. Nico Klein-Allermann, born and raised in Germany, has a strong attachment to the Philippines through his Filipina mother. After studying photography and education, he initiated the first project of Art Meets Education in Manila – Olandes Marikina. Photography is his life and profession. His interest as a freelance photographer includes socially and structurally discriminated people. In his works, one is confronted with the moving and gripping biographies of his subjects. Looking at his photographs, one inevitably becomes sensitized to the “lives of others”. However, for Nico, simply moving people on an emotional level, which is often fleeting, was not enough. A moment of sympathy alone cannot change the lives of his subjects. Upon realizing that through his photographs alone he was not able to positively affect the lives of his subjects, he, together with Jana Seibert, established AME in December 2016.
“Art Meets Education is acutely aware of its responsibility: we help, aide, and support – and most importantly, for the long run. The project in Manila was the first milestone reached together with artwork buyers, donors and sponsors. Every year children will be given the chance to finance their education by means of their own creativity. AME has established a foundation, through which new input is added to this structure on a daily basis. Ultimately, our long-term goal is to expand to other countries, whereby organizing and financing several parallel projects. It is our goal to have a collection of artworks at different locations in the world – putting on display the pieces created by the naive and innocent creativity of children from many nationalities. “
Art Meets Education e.V. is a non-profit organization whose goal is funding the education of children 100% through the proceeds of their sold photographs. In order to achieve this, Art Meets Education rely on donations, which serve to cover the overhead costs of the organization. This includes purchasing the photo equipment, printing and framing the photographs, as well as exhibition expenses. Thus, all donations go towards sustaining the organization, which in turn guarantees that all proceeds from the sold photographs go towards the funding of the children’s education. If you like more information concerning the investments of their donation, please feel free to contact them at anytime. www.artmeetseducation.de/donate
Donation Account
Art Meets Education e.V. Postbank
IBAN: DE07 8601 0090 0987 3189 04
BIC: PBNKDEFF
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Onlineshop:
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