The Bridge

Everyday, Americans take for granted the boundless resources at our fingertips. These inalienable resources, needed to sustain a healthy existence and community, present themselves through both material and psychological commodities aimed to obviate systems of class, misogyny, ethnocentrism, disease and hunger. A small determined group of artists is embarking on an artistic journey to place these inalienable resources, to eradicate psychological and material injustice, into the hands of communities and cultures that have been displaced, marginalized and subjugated at the hands of the dominant society. In this new millennium, the dawn of the global economy is rapidly gaining momentum. Wheat is now our largest export, technology our greatest import and democracy our most controversial manifest destiny to Earth. The Hunger Project’s (THP) mission is “to end hunger and poverty by empowering people to lead lives of self-reliance, meet their own basic needs and build better futures for their children.” A community knows what is best for them. Rather than infiltrating their society and forcing a culture to succumb to America’s ideals of “democracy” and “republics,” THP strives to empower all communities at a micro level. Poet, artist and activist Jenny Checchia teamed up with Allison Bottomley and Blackhawk & Noble Press to create a project that would benefit THP. Initially formed as a book of poetry illustrating her concerns with globalization, classism, misogyny, ethnocentrism, disease, illness and hunger, Blackhawk & Noble Press used this opportunity to involve more members of an ever growing politically charged artistic community. Featuring the visual artwork of award winning, acclaimed and new artists, the metrical composition is interlaced as a multimedia experience with multiple stories, ideologies and vignettes aimed at advancing THP’s mission. Creating both a material and psychological connection from one community to the next, the multimedia book is aptly titled, “The Bridge.” All royalties from “The Bridge” will be donated to THP. Art, on an intrinsic level, has the ability to motivate, mobilize and initiate conversation, ideology and equality; “The Bridge” seeks to epitomize this thought.

There are so many reasons a person would want to spend time at a desk with their head down involved in a world other than the one around them. Mostly, I write to communicate and heal but to be honest, I don't believe I was given much of a choice. One day I woke up to find a large path of paper and words scattered out behind me and I realized, whoa, I am a writer. I also find myself playing other roles in life: daughter, friend, coworker, artist, actor, roommate, codependent, comedian, giraffe enthusiast, addicted-Facebook-checker, voice-over artist and many many more. I believe fanatically that art, in whatever form it takes, can mend and change our hurting planet. Even though we have set up certain systems of judgement to dictate whether work is valuable, (not all of them right or wrong) it is important to remember that each of us comes from a creative center; having been created ourselves. We can come to a better understanding of our lives when making art. Regardless of what school of thought you come from, I don't think any of us can deny the truth of exploration through art.