A Message from Wendy Black-Nasta
Due to Covid, we had to close our main office and reduce our staff from 10 people to two working full time from home. What is it that keeps us optimistic and passionate? LOVE.
LOVE is alive and flourishing in many forms here at AFWP. The love and support we receive from our Council of Elders—a group of 16 women who have worked together for the past 11 of our 20 years. This is the group I call the heart of AFWP. Our Board of Directors, who only meet 6 times a year but are there to help guide us. The absolute love of our Children of Peace, our fantastic children in Tanzania, along with our dear friends there who work with us and are the constant in our children’s lives when we’re not there. LOVE from our friends on Rosebud, as well as our travel team of 50+ doctors, artists, and supporters working with us on our NATIVE EYES clinics in South Dakota and Connecticut. LOVE from the hundreds of visual and performing artists who have worked with us each year. LOVE from the sponsors of our children, and our supporters—all of whom become part of our AFWP FAMILY. The LOVE we receive from our State of CT Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts, CT Humanities Council, Inc., Middletown Commission on the Arts and the Community Foundation of Middlesex County. And the LOVE we receive from all those for whom we design and create our humanitarian projects—the recipients of all the love that is directed their way.
I began Artists for World Peace 20 years ago with one simple question: “How can artists help change the world?” Little did I know that I would devote 20 years of my life answering that one single question. I personally have learned countless lessons in these years, but one thing has been shown to me over and over again: No matter how much you give of yourself—your time, your energy, your talents, your money, your ideas—they pale in comparison to how much you receive in return. We are grateful to all of you whose love and passion for us have given us the ability to continue our work despite the challenges of the past few years. AFWP was never something I planned to start—it came to me as a sacred vision. And like all visions, they will unfold and manifest in their own time, guided by love and nurtured by shining our light bright and strongest when times are the most difficult.
Due to Covid, we still haven’t traveled back to Tanzania to be with our children, but since the fall of 2021, we have continued to host our free NATIVE EYES clinics and host some of our live events here in America. Through the pandemic we have transitioned our live gallery shows to virtual art shows, which have been an unexpected surprise. We had 4,000 people join us on our first virtual art auction! This year we held on our 3rd Annual BUCKETS OF LOVE, where we once again distributed 450 BUCKETS of free art supplies to children in our community on May 14th. We added an exciting performance by Friends World Music to the event, an African drum and dance group we love working with. With the generosity of St. Vincent dePaul we were able to serve lunch to over 450 people who attended, and our face painters, once again, were there to create art on the children’s faces. On June 1, 2022, we returned to Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota and once again hosted our largest NATIVE EYES Clinic. Together, we will continue that which we began. June of 2023 will be our fourth clinic on Rosebud, and will honor the four year commitment we made when we opened our first clinic there.
Please continue to follow our work through our website, FB page (Artists for World Peace) and Instagram (@artistsforworldpeace) To view our videos, you can visit our YouTube channel, Artists for World Peace, where you will find videos on our international work by typing in key words such as “NATIVE EYES,” “BUCKETS OF LOVE” “The International Peace Belt” and “Tanzania”
From all of us at Artists for World Peace, we are grateful to each of you who are part of our amazing journey.
In Peace,
Wendy