Hello everyone! My project is a fundraiser for an art center called My Artist’s Corner (MAC).
1. ) Where are you with your action? (e.g. what involvement have you had so far? Describe with examples)
My mentor and I discussed my current progress with the orders I still must finish. Through my art studio, I have a set hour a week to work on the paintings; therefore, though it is gradual, I do make progress every week. The issue is the remaining ten paintings. I am slightly worried about how long I have been taking with these paintings although, I have not had too much free time to work on them. Hopefully, soon I will be able to find the time to get lots of work done. Furthermore, my mentor and I discussed what I could have done differently to make my project more successful. I mentioned how the orders were not placed one at a time. Since many they came in loads, I was not able to keep up with them. Because of the sudden influx of orders, lots of customers were kept waiting. To work around this, I could have had a limit on the amount of painting orders I took a month and depending on how many I finished I could have increased or decreased that number.
2.) What are some successes that you have had? Provide specific examples.
This project aligns with what I believe as it advocates for mental health by supporting an organization that is a crucial resource to people seeking wellness. For example, there are people like Louise Houle, one of the featured artists in MAC who will benefit from new supplies that my project will be able to provide. Moreover, I’m satisfied with how I organized the project because I catered my project to my artistic ability. Because I recognized my skillset, I was able to make my project personal more valuable to myself. Subsequently, this project helped me expand my knowledge of the mental health community. Foremost, when I began the project, I knew I wanted to fundraise for the mental health community, but I wasn’t sure how. By brainstorming and talking to my peers, mentor, and family, I was able to settle on fundraising for MAC. Furthermore, questioning the various organizations I could have fundraised for demonstrated my open-mindedness. For example, when researching organizations, I thought the Canadian Mental Health Association would be the best organization to fundraise for because it is very well known. Although, later I decided that a local, lesser-known organization would be more beneficial to fundraise for because they are less likely to receive big donations.
3.) What are some challenges that you have faced? Have you been able to overcome them? If so, how? Provide specific examples. If not, can you problem-solve some ideas that might work for next time or if a similar situation arises? Again, provide specific examples.
One of the challenges was taking orders from people I did not know. This pushed me to better my customer communication skills when I had to clarify orders or give details such as my progress. Third, I was able to reflect on my accomplishments after each painting was finished. Constantly attempting to improve, after each painting was given to the customer, I asked them what I could do differently to make the experience more positive next time. For example, with the dog portrait I did, the customer asked for an abstract background, leaving the decision to me. When I gave him the painting and asked if I could’ve done anything differently, he said he wished it was a different colour. As a result, in later paintings I made sure to ask for specific instructions or alternatively, if they ask me to use my judgement, I checked to make sure they were happy with my decision. In addition, I was able to test my self-determination by taking on a time-consuming project despite my lack of time. Each painting takes me around 5-10 hours of work depending on the level of detail. Through my perseverance, I have completed roughly 45 hours of painting to make this fundraiser possible. Furthermore, I have also considered my own well-being throughout this project by providing breaks for myself and recognizing when I am too tired to work. As a result, the project has bettered the community by providing new supplies and funds to “My Artist’s Corner”.
4.) What are you doing next and why?
The final step of this project is to collect the money from all of the orders and send my donation to MAC through their website. I’m very excited to complete this project and see the positive effects it has on my community!
Thank you for reading!