pairAsoul
Type: Art Installation/ Capital Fundraiser
Role: Project Lead, The Kefi Project
Client: Various
Location: Nashville, TN
Status: Completed, December 2013
Project Detail
Pairing one soul to the next - The exhibit created a multi-layered roof of umbrellas in the open-air Sarratt courtyard between Sarratt Gallery and Last Drop Coffee Shop, transforming it into a whimsical retreat replete with a multi-colored canopy of Poppins-esque floating umbrellas. The space will be completely transformed, offering a rejuvenating experience to any who choose to walk through or sit in the courtyard, or perhaps an uplifting moment to those walking past one of the windows in Sarratt gallery, the Last Drop lounge area, the Sarratt promenade, or one of the other areas the installation will be visible from.
More important than being a visual pleasure, pairAsouls is rooted in the idea of providing shelter to those that need it, like an umbrella that provides shelter in the rain. The true aim of PairAsouls is to bring together individuals and organizations in an effort to combat the plight of homelessness that exists in our city, pairing one soul with means to another in need.
Each umbrella is up for sponsorship, i.e. adoption. Each sponsor will be acknowledged for their contribution on the exhibit’s placard. All of the donations will go towards Safe Haven.
Additionally, sponsors can attend a dinner and a discussion hosted through The Cookery restaurant. The Cookery was founded on a dream to provide homeless individuals with culinary training enabling them to find stable jobs and get off of the streets.
Once the entire project has run its course, the umbrellas will be taken down and sponsors will have the option to either keep their umbrella as a reminder of the good that has been and still needs to be done to help those in need, or they can choose to donate the umbrella to The Contributor so that their vendors will have literal shelter from the elements when selling their papers.
Those of us in Kefi hope that everyone enjoys the installation as an art piece and as a new bright spot in their familiar student center and day-to-day lives. We also hope that the exhibit will serve as a reminder that there are those who are not as fortunate as we are, those who lack even the most basic human needs of food and shelter, and that
Umbrella Sponsorship - The installation comprised 130 umbrellas hung within the courtyard of Sarratt Student Center. As an umbrella is a place of shelter for millions around the world, the metaphor of shelter is extended to the people of Nashville. Each umbrella will represent a sponsor within our community that wants to help those affected by homelessness.
The majority of the proceeds from the umbrella sponsorship will go towards the charity Safehaven, a local family shelter that has been a part of the Nashville community for over 28 years, and has just recently expanded their facilities to help serve more families. Safe Haven is unique in their approach towards homelessness by pursuing a comprehensive care that keeps the family unit together in the traumatic process of being displaced from their home. We selected the organization to be the main charity for this installation because they’ve proven to be a real testament for change in Nashville signified by the fact that 86% of the families they’ve supported remain employed and living independently one year after completing the charity’s program (one of the highest success rates in the country). The effects of this project do not only extend to Safe Haven. After the installation’s end, the donors will have the option to keep the umbrella as a reminder or donate it to the Contributor, a homeless publication, in support of its street vendors.