BIRTHRIGHT Armenia particpant organizes art show for the children of Gyumri

What Tamara and her father have accomplished can only be seen as a goal in further connecting the Diaspora with the Homeland and aiding in its development far into the future.

In the summer of 2005, 25-year-old Birthright Armenia participant and Sacramento native Tamara Shahabian embarked upon a four-month journey to Armenia to change her destiny. Little did she know that when she left Armenia, she would begin yet another journey – to help a group of young emerging artists from Gyumri discover their own destinies.

These emerging artists are between the ages of 4 and 20 who attend the Gyumri Aesthetic Center, a school/orphanage promoting cultural education and development.

With classes in drawing, painting and carpet-weaving, and a dedicated gallery displaying artwork created by children living at the Center, the school serves as a beacon of hope for a region that still suffers from the devastations of the 1988 earthquake.

It was during a planned excursion to Gyumri with Birthright Armenia as a volunteer with the Armenian Volunteer Corps, that Tamara and her father, John Shahabian, first discovered the school's gallery of artwork. As owners of Coffee Works, a caf? in Sacramento that displays and sells artwork by local members of the community, Tamara and her father realized they had stumbled upon something incredibly valuable.

Determined to help these young artists, they decided to plan an art show at Coffee Works featuring artwork created by the children of the center. All proceeds from the show would then be sent back to the school.

With the help of Birthright Armenia, the father/daughter team was able to transport almost 50 pieces of art all the way to Sacramento. Tamara then worked with Coffee Works art director Melinda Johnson to touch-up, preserve, and frame each piece. The artwork, which consists of large paintings, paper-plate pieces, religious icons, and medium-sized and miniature carpet weavings will be displayed on March 19 and March 20, at both St. James Armenian Apostolic Church of Sacramento and Coffee Works respectively.

`We are extremely excited about the art show and its potential to return much-needed revenues back to Gyumri,' says Tamara. `My main goal for the show is to illustrate to the students and orphans at the Gyumri Aesthetic Center that they are capable of using their talents and creativity to generate opportunities for themselves.'

Tamara's dedication to the upcoming Coffee Works art show provides a source of inspiration for other diasporan Armenians. As its core mission, Birthright Armenia is not only committed to enriching the experience of volunteers while in Armenia, but lso promotes continued connections with Armenia even after they leave its borders. In fact, Tamara's idea for the art show came as part of a `promise' she made in a ontinuing Involvement Proposal that Birthright Armenia requires of all its program participants when they leave Armenia. Tamara's fulfillment of this `promise' is just one example of the lasting impacts her journey through Armenia has made in both her life and the lives of other Armenians.

What Tamara and her father have accomplished can only be seen as a goal in further connecting the Diaspora with the Homeland and aiding in its development far into the future. What they have also provided to the children of Gyumri is a message of hope. `I want the children's contributions to this art show to inspire them to discover their own strengths and learn how they can turn their strengths into career prospects,' she says. `I think that in some ways, Gyumri is a desperate place, but it is so important that the children there, and all over Armenia, remain hopeful and learn at a young age that they can control their own destinies.'

Birthright Armenia's mission is to strengthen ties between the Homeland and Diaspora youth by affording them an opportunity to be a part of Armenia's daily life and to contribute to Armenia's development through work, study and volunteer experiences, while developing life-long personal ties and a renewed sense of Armenian identity.

Source:

Press release by BIRTHRIGHT ARMENIA

Contact: Linda Yepoyan

March 8, 2006

Tel/Fax: 610-642-6633

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.birthrightarmenia.org/