Emergency Response Art Initiative in Japan
for Students Affected by the 2011 Earthquake, Tsunami
and Nuclear Power Plant Disaster
When the 2011 earthquake and tsunami hit the north eastern coast of Japan, many
children lost family members and friends. Thousands of homes and many schools
were damaged or destroyed. Entire communities were evacuated after the disabled
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant released radiation into the atmosphere.
In March, 2012, Art in a Box began the Emergency Response Art Initiative in
Japan. We are now providing boxes of art supplies to students in the Fukushima and
Miyagi Prefectures in the hard-hit Tohoku region of Japan. Each box includes a
complete set of art supplies for a class of thirty-six students. Each box also contains
our Nature in Art Lesson Plans and illustrated Classroom Art Resource Packages
that have been translated into Japanese. A selection of note cards of paintings created
by American students is included to express support and encouragement for the students
in Japan.
The Emergency Response Art Initiative / Japan is being conducted in partnership
with Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project (KEEP) and the American Committee for
KEEP. KEEP is a nonprofit organization in Kiyosato, Yamanashi dedicated to environmental
education and community development.
Our goal is to help children in Japan recover through
art—mentally, physically and spiritually.
For more information, contact:
Valentina DuBasky
Founder and Executive Director
Art in a Box, Inc.
463 West Street, #G-122
New York, NY 10014 USA
Email: artpartners@aol.com
Art in a Box partners with communities around the world that are in need, disadvantaged by poverty, or that are facing crisis situations due to war, public health emergencies or natural disasters, and assists in recovery and empowerment through art. Art in a Box also promotes international understanding across geographic, artistic and cultural borders through art education and public art programs. Since 2006, Art in a Box has designed and implemented five long-term art programs and forty shorter-term art projects with twenty-eight international partner organizations. We have worked in Cambodia, China, Guatemala, Japan, the Marshall Islands, Peru, Russia, Thailand, the United States and Uzbekistan. Our art classes have enriched the lives of more than 2,000 students at risk or in need.
www.artinabox.org.
