SA Taxi Foundation taps into the arts
JOBURG - The SA Taxi Foundation has extended its support of local artists by joining the Artist Proof Studio (APS) Education Endowment Auction.
The week-long fundraising campaign began with an online auction which launched on 12 November, and will culminate in a live auction at Absa Gallery on 19 November.
The corporate social investment arm of the foundation, based on 16th Road in Randjespark, has chosen to back local artists because they believe that art has a fundamental role to play in terms of shaping local culture and also has the potential to drive socio-economic upliftment.
According to Kalnisha Singh, head of Transformation and Special Projects of SA Taxi and director of the foundation, they are looking to break new ground within the arts.
“As a moving public art project, the annual SA Taxi Foundation Art Award aims to not only provide support to emerging artists but also to take art to broader South Africa. While so many other worthy initiatives are trying to pull audiences into niche locations such as galleries and museums, this project takes the art to where the audiences are,” explained Singh.
“However, there are currently only around 10 000 economically active artists in the country, yet we have an abundance of talent. We just need to find ways for these artists to gain access to markets, and the APS Education Endowment Auction provides an ideal platform to do so,” she said.
Kim Berman of APS said, “While many organisations support the arts, there are no real, tangible programmes delivering meaningful upliftment in this regard.”
All proceeds from the auction will go towards the APS Education Endowment Fund, which helps to secure bursaries for talented young art students who apply to enrol in the APS three-year intensive training programme. “Without this endowment fund they have little opportunity to translate their incredible potential into a career in the arts,” said Berman.
The SA Taxi Foundation invites all art lovers and philanthropists to register online and participate in the auction.
“In addition, Adrian Kohler’s new series of portraits of some of the world’s most famous puppets, and the puppets, themselves, will be on exhibition at the live auction event on 19 November,” said Berman.
Details: www.artistproofstudio.co.za
