September JAPhA Fund donation of $1000 supports local arts centre

Our September Grant is being awarded to the Kumeu Arts Centre which is planning on painting a ‘Jackson Pollock’ themed splatter mural on one of the walls of its newly renovated building.

The mural will be painted by students from Julie Moselen’s special needs classes which run every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Centre. Most students come from the North and West of Auckland and have association with different community organisations, including Spectrum Care and A Supported life.

Julie, a working artist, began teaching at the Kumeu Arts Centre 5 years ago. “Teaching art is easy”, she says, “but finding a way to teach art to children and people with special needs, in a way that they can connect with, I thought would be a good challenge”. Julie sees this mural as a way for her students to feel a real sense of connection to the wider community, as it can be very common for them to feel isolated. Having this mural proudly displayed on the building for everyone to see will give them a real sense of pride and increase their overall confidence.

The reason behind choosing ‘action’ style painting was a practical one. Doing simple activities such as holding a pencil and even cutting paper can be extremely challenging to people with special needs, so the process of ‘splattering’ paint will not only be exciting and enhance their creativity, but it will be something that they can all accomplish with their own two hands.

The JAPhA Fund (‘Just Another Philanthropic Aucklander’), which was launched in July, is an initiative of the Auckland Communities Foundation - a philanthropic foundation that supports generous people to give effectively in support of worthy causes that tackle the region’s biggest challenges.

Philanthropy can be fun and it can be accessible. JAPhA Fund donors come in all shapes and sizes – whether it’s making a one-off donation or a small monthly contribution to the Fund.

The JAPhA Fund will award a monthly grant of $1000 to fun and innovative projects that achieve social and environmental good.

Anyone who might be interested in supporting the JAPhA Fund can donate directly to the fund via the Auckland Communities Foundation website: www.aucklandcf.org.nz

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