rise in the city Raises Funds and Awareness

December 7, 2017

Reading Time: 4 minutes

NEW YORK CITY – The nonprofit rise held its inaugural fundraiser, rise in the city, on October 25 at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, 172 Norfolk St, New York. The inspiring art exhibit, auction and social gathering was attended by over 280 people including many leaders from the design and architecture community.

Distinguished architecture firms, designers, and artists from 15 states and 11 countries created 76 original artworks for the event.  The art was magnificently displayed at one of the oldest surviving gothic-revival synagogues in the USA.

Artists combined elements of one of 100 assigned “blocks” around New York with representations of Lesotho, the location of rise’s architectural project and beneficiary of the fundraiser.

All the artwork is available for auction at www.32auctions.com/ritc2017 So far 27 pieces have sold for a total of $15,000, and the event raised another $15,000 for the project through sponsorships and ticket sales.

Prominent judges Michael Sorkin, Jack Travis, Laura Starr, Suzanne Mecs, and Oliver Needs selected the top 10 pieces using specific guidelines.

The grand prizewinner was designer Abiy Dejene from architecture firm BOKA Powell, sponsored by TriPyramid Structures for his plaster relief sculpture Mother Lesotho. Abiy won a 10-day trip to Lesotho to participate in the in loco workshop, which will combine local talent and international expertise in a hands-on learning experience to construct a dormitory at the God’s Love Centre Orphanage in Lesotho.

Abiy was presented with a traditional Lesotho blanket and hat and says, “I feel very honored. I was not expecting to win I was just glad to be part of it. There were many really great arts and artists at the gallery. I want to give back for this good cause. By being part of the fundraising I wish to help inspire the Lesotho people and help build strong community though education, resources and the right opportunity to gain experience.” The runner-up was Beauty and the Beast by Audrey Matlock and Rohan Cherayil from architecture firm Audrey Matlock Architect sponsored by Oakheart.

Event highlights included remarks from His Excellency Mr. Kelebone Maope, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Lesotho to the United Nations, live African entertainment from Nigerian band Floxy Bee, and a cocktail reception with lots of networking and dancing.

Proceeds will benefit rise, a nonprofit organization whose programs combine architecture with social enterprise to address poverty in vulnerable African communities like Lesotho in Southern Africa.  rise is co-founded by BOND Events as an integral part of its corporate social responsibility program.

The program’s social enterprise component will also establish an Entrepreneurship and Work Skills Development Program for the orphans, as well as build the management capacity of the God’s Love Centre’s staff.

“We are thrilled with the success of our first rise in the city fundraiser.  The feedback has been outstanding, and we are well on our way to our fundraising goal of $75,000.  It takes a dedicated team to pull it all together, and I’m grateful to them, to the participants, and to the artists and sponsors who made it all possible.” says Daniela Gusman, Founder of rise.  ###

For more information visit http://www.riseint.org

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Notes to the Editors:

rise – Relationships Inspiring Social Enterprise is a non-profit registered in the USA. rise is working towards a world where sustainable social enterprises, created by local social entrepreneurs from low income countries, are the norm. Through our professional network, rise links aspiring social entrepreneurs to fundamental resources (funding & skills) they would otherwise not have access to, in order to fulfil their potential. www.riseint.org

BOND Events Ltd is a UK registered company and BOND Events Corporation is a USA (Florida) registered Corporation. BOND Events hosts one to one meetings forums for the world’s leading Principal Architects, Interior Designers and Specifiers. BOND’s events are held across the globe and bring together leading figures from the A & D communities in the United States of America, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, connecting them with relevant manufacturing and solution provider companies. rise is BOND Events’ main social responsibility initiative. www.bondevents.com

rise’s inaugural program in loco is a “learning-by-doing” experience in which all participants are involved in the planning, design and building, through a participatory process. A cohort of 20 recently graduated Basotho students from local Architecture and Construction Schools, as well as promoting peer-to-peer knowledge exchange with contingents of 10 international students joining at specific times during the construction for 10 day workshops, in loco aims to create a life-changing experience for all involved. In loco: Lesotho 2017-18

God’s Love Centre is a home for orphaned or abandoned children, many of whom are HIV+. It is based in Sekamaneng, 15kms outside of the capital Maseru in Lesotho. The house was built in 2009 by Lesotho Durham Link, a local NGO connected to Durham in the UK and was designed to accommodate 20 children in two dormitory rooms. The orphanage now has 54 children with 2 to 3 kids sharing a mattress and is in great need of additional accommodation and study area. The orphanage would also like to reduce its dependency on donations by setting up income generating activities, which will also create jobs for some of the older youth at the orphanage so that they can be self-sustaining. www.godslovecenter.co.za

Contact:

Daniela Gusman

Founder & Executive Director
Rise – Relationships Inspiring Social Enterprise

T: +1 954 296 9889 E: daniela@riseint.org

Photos from the event are here

Websites: http://www.riseint.org and http://www.riseinthecity.com 

Auction website: http://www.32auctions.com/ritc2017

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/riseinthecity

Twitter http://twitter.com/rise_soc_ent

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/riseinthecity/

By AIANJ | Posted in Members & the Community, NJ Architect Newsletter | Tagged: rise in the city | Comments (0)