THE BACKGROUND

SpinningTop’s Little Lotus Project 2011 is the follow up to the 2010 Little Lotus Project, which saw four NZ artists and volunteers, Tanja Jade (aka Misery), Peap Tarr, Alex Chalmers and Pat Shepherd travel to the Thai/Burma border in November 2010 to work on art projects with refugee and migrant children from Burma. You can see the incredible work they achieved here: www.littlelotusproject.org

THE LITTLE LOTUS 2011 PROJECT

The charity SpinningTop is launching the Little Lotus Project 2011 this December and taking twelve talented artists from across the globe to the Thai/Burma border to work with and inspire refugee and migrant children who have fled from the instability of Burma. Filmmaker Gareth Moon from Nektar Films, who has worked on projects such as Bacardi Brazil OE, Fly My Pretties, Shapeshifter and more, will be documenting the project along with US filmmaker, Daniel Zana, the creator of ‘The Vinyl Frontier’. Videos will be produced and distributed across various media channels to further promote the project. These twelve talented artists are fundraising their own way to the Thai/Burma border for this year’s project after being inspired to get involved after the success of the first Little Lotus Project. They are a talented international crew from New Zealand, Cambodia, Singapore and the US.

THE ART

During this trip the artists will work together with the children of Sky Blue School and SAW School for two weeks where they will undertake a number of youth development and education projects with an artistic focus, including murals based around the alphabet, sculptures using found materials reclaimed from the vast trash fields that surround where the students live, and customized toys using Kidrobot's iconic Munny platform.

The integration of art into these children's lives is an important goal, as it is being used to not only serve as a cultural exchange, but as a therapeutic program to help serve these displaced refugees in a cathartic way.  These 12 artists will utilize their talents in ways that will both challenge themselves while exposing these children to a world of art that they normally would never have the opportunity to see. 

Each school will celebrate the completion of their mural with a paint party where the artists and children will collaborate on a huge canvas that will be cut up into smaller works and auctioned off in New Zealand and LA at post trip fundraising exhibitions alongside the customized toys. The overall goal is to raise awareness of this program as well as create opportunities to raise money through selling original artwork in dedicated gallery shows that will go back to helping the continuing education for those in need.

THE ARTISTS

This Kickstarter project was created to specifically help fund the trip and associated expenses of Ritzy Periwinkle (LA), Angry Woebots (LA/HI), J*RYU (NC) and Daniel Zana (NYC).  Your contribution will allow these four talented artists to enact a positive impact on these children's lives through the use of their talents, and show that effective change can come from art.  Read below to find out more about each artist:

:: Ritzy Periwinkle - Army of Snipers crew :: Follow on twitter : @ritzy_p
Ritzy Periwinkle is a Los Angeles based cross media visual designer/artist/dreamer on that hustle and grind. Working in Illustration, graphic design, mix media and designer toys, Ritzy compliments her gritty stylistic tendencies with a positive vibe that is attributed to her eclectic influences and unique background.

:: Aaron 'Angry Woebots' Martin - Army of Snipers crew :: Follow on twitter : @angstwoes
Aaron Martin was born on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, but  spent most of his childhood growing up and moving from Southern California to Nevada before finally landing back into Hawaii during his Junior year in high school. In 1999 while a car accident changed everything; this life-threatening experience inspired him to leave the island once again, this time to Seattle, Washington. Inspired by the rain and being indoors, he started playing around with different art mediums again. He then left back to Hawaii with a new perspective.
Aaron had his first show in 2002 and has not stopped. Showing in galleries up and down California the east coast, have even showed in shows that have traveled from the United States, Tokyo to Hong Kong, Australia & New Zealand,Germany – Berlin, Munich, Thailand & Cambodia. Aaron has worked with companies & crews like Mind Style toys/Disney, Blue Scholars,  Kidrobot, Vinyl Addiction, Art Whino, Intoxicated Demons Berlin, Fitted Hawaii /New Era, & Kicks Hawaii. Also being published in magazines in the US & Europe.
His focal medium is acrylic paintings on wood and canvas. Using minimal colors and detailed character design, these paintings are usually comprised of stressed out emotional pandas. The pandas tend to represent the story of struggle.

"Angry Woebots was never a name it was a concept of what I created, concept of my art, from the car accident until now, from being in a dark place and coming out of the situation fresh and ready to change  from the negative to a positive thing, getting slammed into metal actually woke me up. Rocking art was the doorway it’s been nonstop ever since."

:: J★RYU - Army of Snipers crew :: Follow on twitter : @jryu
J★RYU, AKA the Purdy Supremacy, is an east coast-based designer/sculptor/artist focused primarily on exploring the themes of life and death and more intriguingly, what lies beyond. Primarily recognized for his signature Forest of Sorrows series, with its emotive, eerie and ghostly themes, J★RYU has garnered an avid fanbase of fans who eagerly look forward to seeing each subsequent new piece and how the accompanying narratives add to the ongoing story.

In his career, J★RYU has worked on projects for clients such as Marvel Ent., Sony Ericsson, Wonderbra, AT&T, NCAA Final Four, Columbia Pictures, TOPPS, Mia Hamm, Michael Crichton, IBM, Slim Jim and more and has shown in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, New York, Nebraska, Washington DC and Miami.

:: Daniel Zana - Filmmaker :: Follow on twitter : @danielzana
Daniel Zana is a filmmaker born and raised in North Hollywood, CA. After graduating from Cal State University Northridge, he worked on music videos for such acts as Against Me, Death Cab For Cutie, Seppy Sol, The Willowz, and Tahiti 80. The Vinyl Frontier is his first feature length film and he now calls New York City his home.

Please click on an artist's name below to view their incredible work:

• Ritzy Periwinkle AOS
  
• Angry Woebots AOS
  
• J★RYU AOS
  
• Daniel Zana

FUNDRAISING

The artists participating in the Little Lotus Project 2011 need YOUR help to raise money to cover travel and program related expenses.  In addition to their generously donated time and efforts, financial backing will be needed in order to get these talented individuals over to Mae Sot and help the refugee children.  Expenses include travel, lodging, equipment and supplies, all of which will help to ensure that the Little Lotus Project 2011 is a success.  As a small thank you to those early contributors, each of the artists have offered up artwork and goods that can be viewed in the right hand column for each tier of financial contribution that a supporter pledges to this worthy cause.

NOTE: If you are interested in corporate sponsorship through in-kind goods or endorsements, please contact us at snipersinternational@gmail.com as we will have many opportunities for high-visibility sponsorship as well.

We appreciate you taking the time to read about this incredibly unique and special project and thank you in advance for your consideration. 

With great respect and love to you all,
Ritzy Periwinkle, Aaron Martin, J★RYU & Daniel Zana