SIDDHI – an innovative art show for charity

New Delhi :Smile Foundation and Yellow Ochre have come up with an innovative art show titled Siddhi wherein two children will be paired with an artist to produce a painting. Ten such paintings will be exhibited and proceeds from the same will be entirely utilized to send children to school.

Siddhi aims to introduce young underprivileged children to the practice of fine art. Not only is art therapeutic, it can also be chosen as a career path. Siddhi literally means accomplishment/ happiness/ achievement. The aim is to help the children achieve this through a process, which will culminate in an exhibition in April 2015.

Mr. Vikram Singh Verma, COO, Smile Foundation says, “It is an interesting concept that resonates with art as a catalyst to bring social change. By involving the privileged section of the society proactively in the process of child development, we aim to bring some real and permanent change in the lives of the most deserving children.”

Yellow Ochre shall aim to make the process of making the artwork inspirational, educative and fun for the children. The process of having children work with the artists will be filmed/ documented for a short film to be produced later.

V. Anamika a Yellow Ochre artist feels that “Things have to be done at a higher level for them to make an impact on the grass-root level. I hope this initiative helps us make an impact. I am happy to be part of this initiative.”

Manu Singh also a Yellow Ochre artist who has recently showcased at the Kochi Biennale says, “Just like food, music and love, art makes us feel good. Art stimulates us. This has been a very inspirational activity for me; I was pleased to see how these children were enjoying painting the canvases with us, and how they talked with such enthusiasm about the artworks. I’m looking forward to getting some of this inspiration out onto the canvas.”

A catalogue of all the artwork, incorporating the process of making them and the inspiration behind them, will be produced. This will be distributed to clients before the exhibition. All the money raised from the sale of the paintings will go to Smile Foundation. The exhibition itself will be held in New Delhi over a period of five days. The private view/opening will be on the 18th of April at the Stainless Gallery in New Delhi.

Yellow Ochre is an art sales & rental platform that has been founded on the belief that art should be accessible to all and everyone should be able to derive pleasure from it. They aim to facilitate the navigation of the formidable world of art with ease, with the range of options they present; they make the process of searching and selecting artworks fun.

Smile Foundation is a national level development organisation benefitting over 300,000 underprivileged children, their families and the community directly through 158 welfare projects on subjects such as education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment across 25 states of India. Adopting a life cycle approach of development, Smile Foundation focuses its interventions on children, their families and the community.

Smile Foundation believes in the spirit of partnership and actively engages and joins hands with community organizations, civic bodies, corporate, brands, educational and development institutions, as well as the government to strengthen its cause and ameliorate the situation of underprivileged children in India.