First Furniture Art by Ken English
OK. It’s not as good as the work of a real artist, but it is the first ARToire. This is the top half of an armoire that was given to Operation Green Leaves by the Westin Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, Floirda. The Westin is renovating its rooms, so all of the furnishing are being removed. Initially, it was the bedding. Gradually, it included lamps, chairs, sofas and armoires.
The idea of using selected pieces of furniture as the ‘canvas’ for an artist to paint on was inspired by the work of the noted Haitian artist Jude Papaloko. I saw a variety of functional art pieces in his gallery and believed it was a great way to recycle an old piece of furniture and convey a message at the same time.
Papaloko will be one of the artists who paint a piece of furniture for our environmental art gallery. He will display his ‘ARToire’ in his new gallery in Miami when it opens in November.
More than a dozen artists have expressed an interest in the project which will raise money for Operation Green Leaves’ Plant a Tree in Haiti campaign. To get a better idea of the project, and to see a list of artists, check out: http://www.oglhaiti.com/westin2008/artbaselproject.htm
