Arts Revitalization in a Broken Haiti
After an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, taking 316,000 lives, the Art Creation Foundation for Children decided to do something about revitalizing the city of Jacmel. You can read the article here.
ACFFC partnered with artist, Laurel True, to create the piece Mosaique Jacmel. True worked with local children on the project to help them cope with the devastation. Students took part in the process of designing, development, and execution of the project just 6 months after the earthquake. That first project has led to several other student led, mosaic projects and Jacmel has become known for its beautiful mosaics across the city.
I love the article because it is a great example of using art to heal a city, revitalize a city, and empower youth. “We focus on how to train kids to start thinking of how to flow this into a small business; how to order supplies, to price things, create a proposal, how to talk to a client, etc.,” says True of the project. Others have stated that it is the children who are changing the face of Haiti.
By giving them these skills and supporting them, the ACFFC is preparing the children for their futures (possibly even as creative leaders!). I can not praise the success of this program enough.
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Survey of Arts Management 
Earlier this year I attended an open meeting on Cultural Heritage and Public Diplomacy. At this meeting one of the speakers brought up the point that it’s a challenge garnering major support for antiquity trafficking, or cultural protection/preservation in war zones or disaster areas because of all of the other awful things that go along with war or disasters—like human trafficking, child soldiers, loss of life, disease, contaminated drinking water, food shortages. She admitted that all of those concerns are more important than objects. However, the next most important thing when it comes to recovery in post-war or post-disaster areas is culture and identity. She stressed how important it was to bring back culture, community, and the artifacts that represent those things to a traumatized region and group of people. It returns a sense of humanity, normalcy, and unity and those are important concepts in rebuilding. This project strikes right at the heart of that.