#1327: Haitian art sold at UM fund-raiser (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:nozier@tradewind.net

Published Wednesday, December 8, 1999, in the Miami Herald 
 Haitian art sold at UM fund-raiser
 Money to help pay for health care in Haiti 

 BY CAROLYN SALAZAR 

 Scenes from Haiti: hordes of people plucking cotton in rolling fields.
Neighbors  coming together to strum guitars and simply laugh. A woman
roaming through the vast, green, mountainous pasture. On Tuesday, it was
unnecessary to be in the Caribbean to capture the rich beauty and
culture of Haiti. It was delivered through the stroke of a paintbrush.
Thirty-six paintings by Haitian artists were selling quickly Tuesday
night during an auction at the Lowe Art Museum at the University of
Miami.About 200 people packed the Coral Gables museum, bidding hundreds
of dollars to get a piece of the Haitian art, and to help raise funds
for Project Medishare. The auction is the largest fund-raiser for
Project Medishare, an organization of physicians and nurses who adopt
rural Haitian communities and supply them with medical treatment -- from
performing Caesarean sections to tending to the malnutritioned to
screening for sickle cell anemia. The auctioned artwork was mostly
donated by three galleries in Haiti -- Gallery Mapou, Gallery Marassa
and Atelier Jerome. They display work from such artists as Philippe
Dodard, Sophia Lacroix and Errol Louis. ``These pieces capture the
beauty of Haiti and its people,'' said Dr. Arthur Fournier, the UM
assistant dean of Community Health Affairs who organized the
 event. ``What a great way to learn about the Haitian community than
through art.''The auction helps pay for the trips of medical students
from across the country who volunteer in Haiti. The trips help UM
medical students like Tom Heffernan immerse themselves in the Haitian
culture while helping the disadvantaged. Heffernan has visited and
 volunteered in Haiti for the past two years through Project Medishare.
 ``There is a sense of pride that comes out on a lot in these
paintings,'' Heffernan said. ``Just like in Haiti. I've never met more
happy people than the Haitians I met while I was there.''