SEATTLE — One Drop, an international water foundation, is partnering with Phillips Auction House to present Art for One Drop. The auction will feature contemporary art that will be auctioned off to raise funds for safe water initiatives in Latin America. The charity auction will begin on September 21 under the orders of Phillip Kaiser, a distinguished curator and critic. It will be open for public viewing from September 15 through September 21 at the Phillips Auction House in New York.
Most of the artwork has been donated by famous artists, such as Barbara Kruger, Kara Walker, Ed Clark, Nicolas Party and Tracey Emin, along with 45 others who created art that “embodies our shared ambition to make a difference and bring positive change to the global water crisis,” as the Phillips Auction House described it in a press release about the event.
The One Drop Foundation
One Drop was established in 2007 by Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil. It focuses on making safe water available in Latin America, India and Africa. The foundation has created 13 active water access projects in these countries, which will reach more than 1.3 million beneficiaries once the projects are completed. In order to complete these projects, however, they must raise the funds needed, which is where the arts come in.
More than 2.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water. One Drop has taken an innovative stance on fundraising by linking it to something people are already passionate about, such as art. In doing so, the One Drop Foundation has made international development, specifically sanitation and safe water initiatives, something that is intriguing to get involved with.
The Results to Come of This Partnership
All funds raised at Art for One Drop in the Phillips Auction House will go toward the Lazos de Agua program, which is working to provide more than 200,000 citizens with safe water in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay and Colombia. The Lazos de Agua program holds a multi-stakeholder partnership between One Drop, IDB, Fundacion Femsa and the Coca-Cola Foundation. These organizations are all working together to attain three objectives:
- Encourage sustainability by cooperating with community leaders and governments to bring about lasting change.
- Use One Drop’s innovative water, sanitation and hygiene program and other global practices to change behaviors and protect water sources.
- Better the standard of living and health of those in poor and vulnerable communities.
How to Get Involved with Safe Water Initiatives
There are many ways for individuals to contribute to safe water initiatives besides art auctions. One Drop hosts many different events that can benefit from individual support, and encourages people to share news stories about the need for clean water with others in order to raise awareness of this key global issue.
International development is not an easy task to work on. This is precisely why it is so important that events such as Art for One Drop exist. By combining events that people would already attend with a charitable cause, the monetary goals that make programs such as Lazos de Agua possible are much more attainable.
– Raven Patzke
Photo: Google