WoCA releases Indiegogo campaign for community arts programs on #GivingTuesday, December 2, 2014

FORT WORTH, Texas - Dec. 2, 2014 - PRLog -- #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving back online, and a response to the consumer culture activities involved with Black Friday and CyberMonday. #GivingTuesday, with its social media tag,  was meant to encourage a global culture of not simply consuming but “giving” to important causes both locally and globally. So in partnership with crowd-funding platform, Indiegogo, Fort Worth-based art non-profit, WoCA Projects, has launched a campaign to encourage the local community to be not only givers but active participants in some new community arts programs.

So far WoCA’s initial campaign goal of $2500 was raised within a week before #GivingTuesday even started and now WoCA Founder, Lauren Cross, is ready to push the campaign to the next level. “I feel that it is a very important time in history and in our community to be a part of transformative change. We need change desperately, and creative action has always been one of the most affective catalysts for change.” WoCA’s campaign lists an ambitious list of new programs that will be piloted in 2015, including ongoing art-making activities for local children in need of creative development and exposure; a young curators program that mentors, trains, and develops young women ages 13-17 for careers in the arts, particularly curating; an artist grant for artists of color in the local community, and a creative entrepreneurship initiative that aims to train women experiencing great economic hardship with creative tools towards financial empowerment. The campaign even plans to hire local artists and creative entrepreneurs to teach select programs.

WoCA’s initial goal was raised through a soft launch one week prior to #GivingTuesday through personal emails and Facebook. “I am really blown away by the overwhelming support that we received within the first week. It was amazing to see so many people who believed in the potential of this project to make a difference. And now that we’ve met that goal we are just charged to do more.” WoCA has already made all of the necessary partnerships with local community organizations to bring art and creative entrepreneurship programs to the individuals the organization hopes to serve. “I completely believe in the idea of not re-inventing the wheel, and what we’ve found is that there are many organizations already serving the people that we want to reach who are just as excited about reaching the women and children they serve through art and creative practice just as much as we do. So I am just excited that we will be able to move forward. By doubling our goal it simply allows us to reach more people and support them with more resources.”

Though WoCA hopes to raise all desired funds on #GivingTuesday their Indiegogo campaign ends on December 22nd. “We are hopeful that we will not only reach our goal but surpass it. It will take a ‘village’ to do that” says Cross. For more information about WoCA’s Indiegogo campaign visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/art-in-community-progr...