Artists Against Tyranny: A Reflection

A sincere thank you to everyone that participated in the Artists Against Tyranny gallery event and online auction! We have been following up with all the winners and artists that contributed their artwork for the event.While we still have some reimbursements to payout for shipping costs, we wanted to give you a quick update on the overall success of the art fundraisers. Most of you may not know that there was just a little over one month between conceiving the idea to hold these fundraising events to processing, gathering, shipping, preparing the art for the gallery, and having the events! None of us had ever organized a gallery but we were determined to do what we needed to in order to raise funds for those in dire need at this time.

Each of you played a crucial role to make these events a success. Especially the courageous Myanmar artists who participated despite the dangers they face daily for expressing their thoughts, feelings, values, and talents! In addition to the gallery paintings from Myanmar, we also received over 150 art submissions for the online art auction from generous-hearted Myanmar and international artists!

Because of all of your support, we were able to raise $60,000 USD from the gallery event and online auction and were able to direct funds to the Myanmar artists who contributed their art for the gallery. We will begin dispersing the remaining funds to support humanitarian aid to groups most in need and to other groups working on important aspects of the democracy movement. We will keep you updated as much as we are able to without compromising their safety.

Over the next few weeks, we'd like to highlight the talents of some of the artists, poets, and singers who privileged us with their stunning art & performances at our live-streamed event. We also hope to give more context to certain pieces of art. We invite you to share photos of the art you receive in the mail on our Facebook page and message us with any ideas you might have to keep relief efforts alive!

Last but not least, a personal thank you to the small group of organizers who believed in this fundraising idea and independently went above and beyond to ensure each task was completed with great care!

Wishing you all peace, love, & safety as one of the most challenging years comes to an end. May we all find ourselves renewed to serve the people of Myanmar in the new year!!

*Attached is a digital copy of art submitted by a People's Defence Force artist called "Resting our minds." Thank you.