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Recent Event(s) | Photo Gallery
RURBAN ARTS'TRUCTIONS | 2016
The intersection of rural agriculture and urban farming with artistic creativity, innovation and sustainable development
RURBAN ARTS'TRUCTIONS is an international awareness initiative that brings artists of all levels and disciplines together with development advocates focusing on the importance of sustainable development with an emphasis on soil. 2015 was the International Year of Soils promoting the theme of “Healthy soils for a healthy life” that conveys critical messages on the importance of sustainable soil management as the basis for all agricultural development, ecosystem functions, food security and key to sustaining life on Earth!
Select pieces of this art project are featured in the latest art'ishake publication and were on display at the RurbanArts'tructions public exhibition & event in Washington DC during Earth week.To learn more about the recent arts-infused evening filled with conversations about edible landscapes, sustainable living and global food security, inspired by our expert guest speakers please get contact us and ask for the complimentary art’ishake 2016.

Mr. Shovel and Ms Spoon @ the 5th World Children's Festival | June 2015




On June 30th, Art4Development.Net facilitated the RurbanArts Kids Workshop at the 5th World Children’s Festival organized by the International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) that employs the power of the arts for nurturing creativity and developing empathy within children. Throughout the years ICAF’s festival has become the world’s premier children’s celebration on “Creativity, Diversity, and Unity", bringing children from across the globe to Washington DC. This year, those beautiful children with sparkles in their eyes, performed, learned and did some great and fun stuff related to environment, health, creativity, imagination, peace and leadership.
The RurbanArts Kids Workshop, part of our Rurban Artstructions Project, focused on festival’s environment and health themes and advocated the importance of sustainable development and soil. 2015 is the ‘International Year of Soils’ promoting the “Healthy soils for a healthy life” message and highlighting the importance of sustainable soil management as the basis for all agricultural development, ecosystem functions, food security, and key to sustaining life on Earth!
Yes! We did it. We dressed up compostable wooden spoons and turned them into Fashion’istas! During our workshop we used all natural and biodegradable materials (such as a compostable wooden spoons, little stones, seashells, dried beans, lentils, cotton/woolen yarns, scrap paper and fabrics, and more) to create dolls/puppets. We talked about what the spoon represents; such as “healthy food/healthy eating” and that it also resembles a shovel to work with the “soil”. We shared with our young participants the engaging story of “Mr. Shovel and Ms. Spoon”. The children had the opportunity to cultivate their imagination and creativity and strengthen their fine motor skills, and at the end were able to create their adorable handmade dolls to play with.
Celebration of Hope, Creativity and Inspiration | October 2014 - Current

Arts for Global Development, Inc., together with the Global Fund for Children and Girls Gotta Run Foundation, organized an event at the Tenley - Friendship Library on October 11, 2014 to observe the International Day of the Girl Child and created an opportunity to discuss with parents the importance of education/literacy, communication, and economic empowerment related to girls, share inspirational stories and offered story time and arts activities for the younger members of the community.
As part of this celebration Arts for Global Development, Inc. also facilitated the creation of a community based artwork that includes childhood photos of event attendees and others.
Over twenty images of female participants were used in the creation of the artwork that aims to continue conveying the important message of the day beyond October 11. The collaborative artwork consists of photo contributions used together with acrylic paint on a canvas board. The naïve style and imperfections in painting bring out the childness of the work. The core composition elements include a girl with a white dress that shares inspirational words and quotes. Holding a warm red heart in her hand, she is surrounded by black and white cut out flowers which embrace childhood photos of female contributors, symbolizing visual voices of girls collectively seeking peace, love and respect for girls.
“Celebration of Hope, Creativity and Inspiration” donated to the Tenley - Friendship Library on November 14, 2014, intends to further share the important message of ... Invest in girls to overcome the cycles of underdevelopment and make a positive change, locally and globally!
The artwork is currently on display at the library. Tenley - Friendship Library, 4450 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016
[Click here for the eventprogram, and flyer.]