This December, we are very pleased to welcome the Zimbabwe Artists Project, (ZAP), as they present the exhibition “Working Women of Zimbabwe.” The Zimbabwe Artists Project is a nonprofit organization partnering with women in Zimbabwe, buying artwork and supporting self-enterprise. ZAP buys artwork directly, and finds a market for it in the US, providing a stable and consistent income for the artists.

We look forward to seeing you at the Opening Reception on Sunday, December 6 from 12:00 noon – 1:30pm.

Each colorful, unique piece of artwork shares a personal story from the artist in her own words - a folktale, local words/themes of wisdom and more. Embroideries, fabric paintings, and paintings on wooden boards offer a connection to a woman a world away. The artists featured in ZAP are subsistence farmers, mothers, and householders as well as artists. Most women live on their own, providing for families. Some are widowed, others are single heads of households. Women’s income from agriculture is unpredictable and limited. Sales of art help women afford food, clothing, school fees, medicines, transport, seeds and fertilizer.

Come out and support this important organization! The Zimbabwe Artists Project purchases more art locally than any other buyer, delivering cash at the time of purchase. ZAP also provides health care assistance to the artists, covering the immediate costs of urgent health care needs, and maintains an educational assistance program providing school fees for children in the area who are orphaned. ZAP celebrates the artistry and accomplishments of these talented women, and supports their efforts to become economically self-sufficient.

Contact Nancy for more info or weekday appointments at assistant@uusm.org or 310-829-5436.

Contact Beverly at balison@aol.com, for further info about the artist or about exhibiting on the Art Wall at UU Santa Monica.

Small things are a big deal this October when UU Santa Monica presents “The NanoArt Exhibition,” by NanoArtist Cris Orfescu. We look forward to seeing you at the opening reception Sunday, October 9, from 12 noon to 1:30pm. The exhibit will run through the end of October.

Scientist by day and artist by night, Cris Orfescu is on a mission to bring the small world of nanotechnology into the public eye. With the width of a single hair measuring 80,000 nanometers, the world of nano objects is not well known to most people, at least at first glance. But as Orfescu put it, “With more than 70 percent of the people in the U.S. using products incorporating nanotechnology, I want people to know about it and I hope my art stirs their curiosity to find out more.”

Cris Orfescu, born in Bucharest, Romania, is a degreed scientist and self-taught artist. For more than 30 years he has experimented with an emerging art form, NanoArt, which reflects the transition from science to art through technology. Orfescu has shown his works all over the world, including in Italy, France, Finland, Korea, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Colombia, Greece, Romania, and Israel, in solo and group exhibitions. His art is also commissioned by public institutions and private collectors.

Of the process of his art, Orfescu explains, “My art is a reflection of the technological movement. I bring the “invisible” world in front of my audience by visualizing, with a scanning electron microscope, the…nanosculptures I create by chemical and physical processing. The depth and three dimensions achieved in NanoArt sets this process of electron imaging apart from photography, where images are created by photons, (particles of light) rather than by electrons, (electrically charged particles). The electrons penetrate deeper inside the structure, creating images with more depth and a more natural 3D-look than photographic images.”

For more info or weekday appointments please contact Nancy Thompson at assistant@uusm.org or 310-829-5436 ext 102.

For further info about this show or about exhibiting on the Art Wall at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, please contact our art director, Beverly Alison.