The year 2020 challenged everything we are familiar with. Our humanity, our livelihood, and our way of life. In April, Deb Stone and Dawn Yamazi were talking about how Deb was explaining the pandemic/quarantine to her young children, trying to answer questions like “Why can’t I go to school?” “Why can’t I hug Uncle Ricky?” „What’s wrong with the world?” Dawn suggested that they bring artists together and create a book that could help explain the state of the world to our children.
On May 25, 2020 the world changed, and so did Deb and Dawn, as they watched in horror as George Floyd succumbed to police brutality for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The Movement that followed affected us all in different ways and the world’s reaction spotlighted that we all must take action to eliminate inequity and injustice. They changed the book’s focus to support Black lives and after sharing their vision with artists who were equally impassioned, Art of Change was born.
Entertainment has been one of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic. The second most important part of this Kickstarter campaign is to provide revenue to artists and support their livelihood in art commerce. The art and rights they create are owned by the artists and can expand their reach and impact, further supporting their craft. Our hope is to extend their art beyond Art of Change into other areas of pop culture and media.
Art has the unique capacity to tell stories that go straight to the heart without words. It is our hope that bringing this book into the world will help tell the story of Black lives in a way that enthralls and creates curiosity and dialogue. Through art, our goal is to inspire new generations to remember the past and move forward with context and meaning to change the future and support a Movement of change.
Goal
More than 100 artists came together to tell a story of Black lives through art. Our goal is to bring the book to the market by publishing 500 books to meet our pledge goal. If we meet our first and most important stretch goal we will be able to pay each artist $500.