Cantwell is the founder of Curating for a Cause, which is putting on “RESTORE: Japan” from 7 to 11 p.m. Thursday. The art auction will be held at the Lamont Bishop Gallery at 1314 Ninth St. NW. There is a suggested $10 donation, but the event is free. Proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society. What is Curating with a Cause?
Curating for a Cause is a for-profit right now that will grow into a nonprofit that puts on fundraising events for nonprofits. They will hire us to put on a fundraising event and we take care of everything and we try to promote local artists and local venues and local nonprofits to make it a win-win for everyone.
What is RESTORE: Japan?
It’s an event that was planned by ReadySetDC. … One of their people, Peter Chang, came to me with the idea of putting together an art auction to benefit Japan. We … decided to get together 30 artists to [contribute] work, with some of the proceeds going to the Red Cross. We did it in 48 hours.
Where did Peter get the idea from?
He was noticing that a lot of the design and artist community were creating work based off of what was happening in Japan, or the flag. … We thought that was such a great idea. Fifteen of the artists are curated by Peter Chang, and 15 are curated by me and my partner Allison Byers. The show will focus on works that have been influenced by the Japanese flag, culture and scenes of hope through disaster and chaos.
What types of visual art will there be?
There will be all types of visual art. It’s mostly 2-D. We have some street-esque art from some really great graffiti-like artists.
– Erica Redmond
