This is from my good friends at Duirwaigh Gallery.
The same great folks that brought the wonderful knock At The Door film and book to the world to help raise money for the make a wish foundation ( a project I was fortunate enough to have my art a part of).
Dear friends,
a new film is on the horizon. a little project about saving our country, our planet, our selves through hope, tolerance and inclusion: 
www.duirwaigh.com/hope.mov
if it blesses you, please forward to anyone and everyone you feel could use a blessing.
a note: it's image-laden, so please give it a few moments to load!
www.duirwaigh.com/hope.mov
if it blesses you, please forward to anyone and everyone you feel could use a blessing.
a note: it's image-laden, so please give it a few moments to load!
brightly woven,
angi
The Quietest Day in China(14x11), by 
Obama wants to increase funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and change the Federal Tax Code for artists. He has ideas like sending out "Artists Corps" to underprivileged schools and communities, expansion of public-private partnerships to increase cultural education programs, cultural diplomacy and the inclusion of foreign talent, less inward-looking xenophobia all 'round, as well as health care for artists.Obama also backs Senator Patrick Leahy's "Artist-Museum Partnership Act," allowing artists to deduct the fair market value of work given to charitable institutions. We might hope that this enlightenment may shine on fundraisers too. Here in Canada, if you want to donate your painting to raise cash for a favorite charity, you can get a "tax receipt" all right, but the government wants you to pretend you sold the work, take the amount into income, and then deduct it. The result is a wash--extra paper-shuffling for accountants, misery and dismay for both artists and charities. We don't get no respect, eh? Positive change in this last area would do wonders for charities. Fundraisers would attract better and more valuable art, raise standards, and would give relief to perpetually beleaguered artists. Think of the value to educational institutions alone. Canada--that great nation somewhere north of Detroit known for its regular, south-sweeping cold fronts, is watching carefully. So are our American cousins. "It is unprecedented," says Robert L. Lynch, CEO of "Americans for the Arts," a Washington-based arts advocacy group. "No presidential candidate in recent times has addressed cultural issues in such detail."
Best regards,
Robert
PS:
Esoterica: Government involvement in the arts is like the porridge in the Goldilocks-Three Bears story. It has to be "just right." Obama is brainy enough to get the support going toward education so that young people begin to know and appreciate the arts once more. Then, perhaps sometime later, free enterprise can truly kick in--yep, it works in the arts too. Lest we forget. Oh, and by the way--Congratulations, Barack Obama.
Yes, please go ahead and 
