Cigar Box Shrine

This is what I submitted for an art call of Cigar Box Shrines. The Shrines are going to be auctioned (it will be a web based auction: Rebecca Brooks is the mastermind and designer of this altruistic project).

Overhead view (obviously) of the shrine. I made the paste paper that covers the lid of the box. The rubber stamped image is Sandra Evertson's design (I just love that character).

You can click on any of these images to get a larger view.

This is front of the box. These are all handmade papers. Some I've made, some I've purchased.

We open the lid and here we have the treasure!

The fundraiser is a very good cause; the beneficiaries of the monies raised are young teenagers in Oaxaca. You see, when a child completes their elementary school education, they cannot continue on to high school unless they can pay $150.00.

Consider it like an 'application fee'; it's the key (and fee) that is needed to further their education. Many families cannot afford the $150.00, so of lot of young teenagers end up not getting an education beyond elementary (or primary) school.

This is the artist statement that I submitted with my piece:

$150.00 in our country doesn't sound like much at all. For most families, it is what a trip to the grocery store costs. For so many poeple in other parts of the world, day to day life consists of struggling to survive. Getting the basic needs of food and shelter takes precedence over anything else.

For anyone who purchases a shrine from this project, know that you are making a profound difference not only in one person's life, but their family too. A simply deed like this will foster such a positive change in ways beyond our imagination. The ripple effect will be long lasting and generational. How empowering is that?

Hence, "The Golden Egg"...because YOU have the ability to give someone else a golden opportunity of a lifetime.

So, keep checking back to the link for this Cigar Box Shrine Project. If you don't purchase a Shrine, at least post the link to your site so that the word can spread and all the Shrines submitted gets sold!