What Can the Art World Do to Help Hurricane Victims in the Bahamas? Here’s How One Artist and Museum Are Providing Relief

Hurricane Dorian has claimed at
least 30 lives in the Bahamas, a number that is expected to rise
dramatically as the hundreds of currently missing persons become
accounted for. To help aid relief efforts,  artists and art
organizations are coming together to raise money and
supplies.

The Pérez Art Museum Miami is
joining forces with its home city of Miami and international relief
organization Food For The Poor, to collect supplies for Bahamians
impacted the storm. 

“Our neighbors in the Bahamas
were hit hard by Hurricane Dorian, and it is our duty as an
institution at the crossroads of the Americas to help those
affected by this devastation,” museum director Franklin Sirmans
said in a statement. The museum “is dedicated to serving the
community, and I am proud that the Miami area can come together to
show our support for the Bahamas.”

Now through Sunday, September 8,
the museum is accepting canned food items, hygiene kits, disposable
diapers, and school supplies during regular business hours. The
donated supplies will be sent to the Bahamas later this month. (The
museum organized a similar campaign in 2016 for Caribbean residents
affected by Hurricane Matthew.)

Meanwhile, Bahamian artist
Tavares Strachan, who splits his time between New York and the
island capital of Nassau, is also contributing to the cause.
Yesterday, the artist announced a plan to donate proceeds from his
current exhibition at Schiff Fine Art to World Central Kitchen, a
non-profit that supplies meals to disaster victims, and Direct
Relief, which provides medical resources.

“People are dying, so every
penny at the moment counts,” Strachan told ARTnews, explaining that he was in Nassau for the
majority of the storm. “The fate of these islands is dependent on
support from outside”

Strachan’s show, “Smalls (from
Hidden Histories series),” includes new sculptures, collages, and
articles of clothing made by the Bahamas Air and Sea Exploration
Center, a Nassau-based community organization founded by the
artist. ARTnews reports that 10 percent of profits from
the sculptures and collages and 20 percent of proceeds from the
clothing will go toward hurricane relief.

The post What Can the Art World Do to Help Hurricane Victims
in the Bahamas? Here’s How One Artist and Museum Are Providing
Relief appeared first on artnet News.