Not Creative Cause!

Join us this Saturday, May 10th at 4PM at Artomatic in the Capital Plaza I Building (7th Floor) at 1200 First Street NE Washington, DC (Metro: New York Ave/red line) as we host our inaugural "Creativity Matters" Spring Speaker Series with a workshop on the Top Ten Ways to Create for the Cause as part of Learnapalooza at Artomatic.

At the workshop you will explore how creativity can bring more awareness and action to your cause/issue - health, education, housing, environment, etc.

Come and meet a young creative entrepreneur, Connell Wise, a Washington, DC native and Ashoka Youth Venture winner who will be our guest speakers. As a selected young journalist he will be joining me and other communicators from around the globe at the 2008 World Youth Congress in Canada this August! Learn more at http://www.wyc2008.qc.ca/.

Register at http://www.creativitymatters.evenbrite.com/ and tell a friend!

Got a booked afternoon? Then come out on Saturay morning to meet other artists and view my two art pieces on display at the Sitar Center for the Arts in Adams Morgan from 10:00AM to 12:00PM near 17th and Kalorama Road NW Washington, DC. http://www.sitarartscenter.org/.

Also don't miss the awesome artwork on display by hundreds of artists on display at Artomatic this weekend.

Haven't heard about Learnapalooza OR Artomatic?

Learnapalooza is an annual event where DC locals learn and teach from teach other. It's entirely free, and they've got more than 50 classes on the list already. All classes are less than 1 hour, and will be taught in the adams morgan area on Saturday, May 10th. For a list of classes, see: http://www.learnapaloozadc.com/workshops/list.

Artomatic is a month-long multimedia arts event that draws together visual artists, musicians and performers and brings their work to the community without charge. Visit http://www.artomatic.org/.

Creative Cause Youth Service America and State Farm Foundation join youth on this day

WASHINGTON, DC (April 23, 2008)—Last week during the Pope's visit in our nation's capitol, he spoke of ‘America as a land of opportunity and hope; yet it has become elusive for some.’ This Saturday, youth are planting hope in the community east of the river through volunteer service to create a community of hope.

Hosted by Creative Cause, the 2nd Annual Plant Hope in the City event commemorates Global Youth Service Day in partnership with Washington Middle School for the Girls and DC Young Women’s Leadership Committee.

This Saturday, April 26th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the home of Washington Middle School for the Girls' 4th and 5th graders in the Washington View Apartments’ Community Room, youth and volunteers will be joined by Steven A. Culbertson, president of Youth Service America and State Farm Foundation staff.

At the free community event, youth, mentors, and volunteers will develop a youth-driven arts project using the “Plant Hope” theme reflecting the community that they wish to see and live. Also they lunch, certificates, giveaways and a chance to win Plant Hope t-shirts will be available.

“As the Pope mentioned, we have a choice to plant the seeds of hope in our community and create opportunities of community empowerment through service leadership and creativity,” said Tambra Stevenson, resident of Ward 8 and founder of Creative Cause. “For us, hope means helping other people everyday. Creative Cause encourages hope in people to use their creativity to make a positive impact in their communities.”

Creative Cause and well over 120 national organizations are helping organize Global Youth Service Day this year along with Youth Service America and 32 international organizations.

Creative Cause’s Plant Hope project, a recipient of the State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grant is proud to participate again in Global Youth Service Day, the largest service event in the world involving over 3 million youth in highlighting their contributions to the betterment of their communities through voluntary service.

"When it comes to changing your community, creativity is key. I am proud to team up with Creative Cause in their effort to provide a fun, creative outlet for young people in Southeast that will give them a chance to begin rebuilding their own neighborhood," says Loryn Wilson, the 2008 youth ambassador for Plant Hope and George Washington University student. "Plant Hope is about thinking globally while addressing the local issues youth face, such as crime and pollution. My hope is that the youth today can not only have fun and use their creative gifts, but will leave with the responsibility of giving back to their communities.”

“The State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning grant winners demonstrate unprecedented global caring and initiative, showing the world that young people can be leaders today, not in some distant tomorrow,” says Steve Culbertson, president and CEO of Youth Service America.

"Young people around the world are experiencing fundamental necessities of democracy - the ability to serve and give back to their community - while gaining academic and workplace readiness skills that are valued by State Farm. We share a common belief that our young people are not tomorrow's leaders, they are leaders today,” says Edward B. Rust Jr., Chairman and CEO, State Farm.

Limited visitor parking and seating is available. Please register in advance at www.planthope.eventbrite.com or via email info@planthope.org. More information about this event can be viewed at www.planthope.org.

Creative Cause is a Washington, DC-based social enterprise dedicated to using creativity to raise awareness and action on social causes and encourage the next generation of leaders to harness their creativity to address social issues in their community. We accomplish this by hosting educational, outreach and community service events throughout the year. To learn more about how to get involved and support Creative Cause, contact Tambra Stevenson at tambra@creativecause.org and visit www.creativecause.org.

The 20th annual Global Youth Service Day (GYSD), the largest volunteer event in the world, will be held April 25-27, 2008. GYSD is the largest service event in the world, engaging millions of young Americans and focusing national attention on the amazing leadership of young people. Serve DC has led the citywide event for the sixth year in a row, mobilizing District youth and their families to participate in various creative community service projects

Baltimore, MD--For the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day, local artists will paint Baltimore red on Saturday, December 1st as they showcase their artwork highlighting the AIDS epidemic impacting communities.

Organized by Authentic Art Consulting and the ThickArt Collaborative, the opening ceremony will be held at Peace and a Cup of Joe Cafe at 713 W. Pratt Street starting from 3-7pm.

Just this week, DC Department of Health released its first report on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the DC region. The DC Dept of Health provides a listing of events and free HIV testing and treatment services.

"With a passion to bring awareness and action on public health issues, I founded a DC-based nonprofit, Creative Cause, to develop creative campaigns for change to engage the community to become a part of a movement," stated Tambra Stevenson, artist and founder of Creative Cause.

So for HIV/AIDS awareness, the campaign is called Plant HOPE, which stands for HIV Outreach is a Pathway to Empowerment.

At the event, Creative Cause will have materials for visitors to make their own artistic postcards of hope in memory of a loved one to become a part of Plant HOPE.

"Initially when I created Plant HOPE it began with the focus of planting hope in ourselves and then in the community," said Stevenson. "So to me, hope has many meanings such as helping other people everyday. I dedicated Plant HOPE to my dad who was a humanitarian and always helping people as a firefighter."

Stevenson, a self-proclaimed suppressed artist now emerging, has recognized for her artwork highlighting health and environmental issues since a teen in Oklahoma. She is a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine/Emerson College joint program in Health Communication program and is the creator of Postcards from Katrina.

Support and learn more about Creative Cause at www.creativecause.org and Plant HOPE at www.planthope.org. Email questions and comments to info@creativecause.org.

THE EXHIBIT: RED
Artists Lifting One Voice in One Common Thread
December 1, 2007 - January 11, 2008

RED is a visual exhibition of original artwork expressing the hopes, fears, experiences dreams about the struggle with HIV/AIDS epidemic in this country and around the world. A portion of the sales of artwork for this event will be donated to CARE' s I AM POWERFUL Campaign's HIV/AIDS Program and the Art Therapy program at the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

The exhibition will feature art from over 20 local artists who were invited to visually express through original artwork their hopes, fears, experiences and dreams about the struggle with HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States and around the world. All artwork is available for sale. Patients in the Art Therapy program at the Institute of Human Virology have been invited to display their art as well

The opening reception will also feature an opportunity for guests to make their own postcards to express their thoughts, hopes, dreams about HIV/AIDS or to honor a loved one who may have died from AIDS, courtesy of Creative Cause, a DC-based organization that creates campaigns for causes that change communities for good.

Participating Artists include:

Lola Akinmade
Prudence Bonds
Sharon J. Burton
Kiesha Carroll
Patsy Cline
Cynthia Johnson
Ebony Johnson
Jennifer Judelsohn
Tina Lassiter
Paul Longanbach
Michelle d. Parrish
Marina Reiter
Aurora Rosselli
Michael Stebbins
Luba Sterlikova
Nora Stinley
Schonda Sweeney
Tanekeya Word