Small Art. Big Heart.
Elevating the Stories of ChangeMakers Through Index Card Art
Art is the most basic form of human expression. It has the power to communicate, connect, heal, create community, and change our lives and the lives of others.
Small art is exceptionally powerful: quick to make and easy to share, requiring minimal effort, time, and resources. Art is a universal language: a face, smile, tree, house, the sun, the mountains, the ocean - these are all recognizable and understandable regardless of our language, culture and geography.
Art tells stories - the story of the artist and their subject. Art is a way to communicate what we value, fear, love, and hope for. Art, even the simplest art with singular symbols or icons, can convey big ideas. Art is for everyone: young, old and in between, encouraging inter-generational relationships and understanding.
Creating art together - whether collaboratively or in parallel - is a way to reduce isolation, increase connectivity, bolster cross-cultural understanding, and form relationships.
For all of these reasons, art to me is essential and deserves to be integrated into every aspect of life. This is why, with the launch of RainMakers & ChangeMakers, that I’m focusing initially on art, specifically small art.
Starting Saturday, June 1st for 61 days (through July 31st), I’ll be creating SMALL ART every day to elevate the stories of the RainMakers & ChangeMakers who are making great strides with limited resources in the areas of sustainable agriculture, poverty relief, and food security particularly in East Africa.
I’ve also invited these same people to join me in making small art. Some of them, particularly the youth artists at Nakivale Refugee Settlement (see here for their profiles) are drawing portraits of people who have made significant changes in their own lives.
In this way, we will use art to uplift the stories of many. We will create small art independently yet side-by-side. Ultimately, we will have a compilation of 61+ people who are making (or have made in the case of those who have passed on) a difference in the world. I will gather our small art pieces and share it as a collection over the next two months on this Substack newsletter, Facebook, and my Instagram page: emma_art_mm. Will you join me?
Index-Card-A-Day Tie In
The idea of small art is by no means original. There are likely a number of other small art challenges happening worldwide at any given time. I’m tying in specificallyto the index card art movement which started 14 years ago as an annual Index Card A Day (ICAD) challenge organized by Daisy Yellow on Instagram [hashtag this year is #ICAD2024 and #indexcardaday; the IG handle is “indexcardaday”]. I’ve participated with some success (consistency is the name of this game!) the last two years. Are there any rules to this challenge? There are two rules that I’ll mention here: the art must be small (max size 4x6” or 10x15 cm) and preferably on an index card (but not required).
To learn more and stay up to date, follow “gypsy999” or “indexcardaday” on Instagram.
Using Small Art to Elevate RainMakers & ChangeMakers
ICAD draws thousands of creatives around the world every year. While the ICAD organizers offer prompts to follow daily, some people identify their own theme. With my theme being RainMakers & ChangeMakers, I will draw a portrait each day (spending less than 30 minutes a day in ink - no time for pencil underdrawing so these will be wonky!) of one person who is a RainMaker, a ChangeMaker or both. I’ll also include their bio and the one person they have identifed as making a significant change in their life. The hashtag for my ICAD effort this year is #indexcardsforhumanity (credit to Jessica Perini!) and #smallartbigheart.
My hope through this concerted and intensive effort is to elevate awareness of all of the unsung heroes making significant changes in the lives of others, whose stories go unwritten and whose faces are never seen in social media or elsewhere.
Join Me in Making Small Art!
This is an inclusive art opportunity. Come join me! You too can make small art, on your own or in tandem with this effort. Invite your friends, post on social media, and post here on Substack (more art is needed here in my opinion). Ultimately, the more people making art, the more connections we make, the more barriers are broken down, the happier we are, and the better our world will be!
An important note. Challenges are meant to be just that - challenging! Don’t let the “art every day” part of this challenge PREVENT you from doing some sort of art alongside me. I will also likely stumble here and there. Life happens! There will be interruptions. I expect it!
Every day (to the best of my ability), I will post a new portrait on Substack Notes. Then, weekly, I will create a compilation post of the art that I’ve made including the art that various RainMakers and ChangeMakers have made and shared with me.
I hope you consider joining in. And, if you are a RainMaker and ChangeMaker, I might be reaching out to you to draw you! I can’t wait to see what I make, what you make, what we make together!