Art from Grassroots: What Takes to Change a Community

I am very excited today and equally flooded with work. Classes begin tomorrow for me but that is not my prime fear. I am worried that my classes are going to interfere with my daily routine of working on graduate school applications, my seniors thesis research, job applications, interviews, AGM coordination, CGI U mentoring and my art exhibition preparation.

I wish there were no classes so that I can emerge myself into all the rest of the things that I just mentioned. But I am not going to let my classes ruin my fun from all these things that I have been doing right now. Hence, I have not even checked my schedule yet, pretending that tomorrow will be just like any other day of my winter holidays.

I am lost in preparation of the Art Exhibition based on Mithila paintings from Jurshital Institute along with Arts from Haiti brought back this winter by my colleague Haeinn Woo. I am enthused since this is my first time organizing an exhibition!!! I feel like an artist, framing the paintings, buying supplies for that, writing descriptins, and so on. The exhibition starts on 1st of February until the 13th in the Mount Holyoke College Blanchard Student Art Gallery. People can bid on these paintings from day one until February 24th, which is the final day of the auction happening at Blanchard Great Room.

The fund raised will go towards Jurhistal Mithila Art institute in Nepal and building a school for Haitian children in Haiti.

Artist Profile: Rukmini MIshra

The artist Rukmini Mishra is a mother of three daughters and the youngest son. She lives with her father in law and her husband. Her husband has been working abroad in Qatar for three years in a steel industry. He has taken a lot of loans from the village for his first flight and itinerary to Qatar which Rukmini hopes to start paying back from the extra money she makes at the Institute.

Artist Profile: Indu Baitha

The artist Indu Baitha is one of the three daughters in laws in her house. She is the last one in line and her husband is mostly abroad in India, working in some factories. She only gets to see her husband once a year during off season at the factory. She is very happy to have had this opportunity to join the Institute and would like to thank all the customers that buy her paintings.

Artist Profile: Mamta Baitha

The artist Mamta Baitha is one of the three daughters in laws in her house. She is the second one in line and her husband is mostly abroad in India, working in some factories. She only gets to see her husband once a year during off season at the factory. She is very happy to have had this opportunity to join the Institute and would like to thank all the customers that buy her paintings.

Artist Profile: Heera Karna

The artist Heera Karna has two sons. Her husband left her seven years ago and got married to another woman. Since then Heera has been supporting herself through different manual jobs and educating her two sons. Joining the Institute has been different because she can use her creativity and talent instead of manual labor in the fields.

Artist Profile: Nagina Karna

The artist Nagina Karna lives by herself since her family left her few years ago. She had taken Mithila painting training few years back and hence it was easy for her to join the Jurshital Institute and get engaged in making Mithila paintings. She loves spending her time at the Institute and creating paintings that she feels like creating each day.

Artist Profile: Usha Pandey

The artist Usha Pandey is grandmother of two grandsons; she lives with her two sons, husband and a daughter in law. Her eldest son dropped out of high school and got married to a girl from Delhi that he lives with. He works in a mobile phone shop in a nearby town that provides for his family. However, the income in mot enough for a family of seven and hence Usha decided to join the Institute for some extra income.

Artist Profile: Nilam Pandey

1. The artist Nilam Pandey is a mother of three daughters and two sons. She married off her eldest daughter at an age of fourteen. The next daughter in line takes care of all the household works and the youngest daughter is too young to do any work. She wants her son to go to school and get education but since both Nilam and her husband are illiterate, their son lack guidance and hence they are not that successful at school. Nilam finds peace at the Institute, where she can leave behind all the family responsibilities and engage in painting beautiful works of creation.

Artist Profile: Sunita Pandey

Sunita Pandey is a widow who has a son and a daughter. Her husband died in Qatar, where he got really sick while working as a manual laborer in one of the factories there. No one knows what disease he had, as his dead body was incinerated right after it arrived in the village. Sunita is extremely happy to have joined the Institute where she can earn an extra something to fend for her family.

Artist Profile: Anarsi Mandal

The artist Anarsi Mandal lives with her two daughters, a son and her husband. She works in the local agricultural development bank, where she cleans the offices and makes tea for the staff members and clients. Her husband is not mentally sound and hence she joined the Institute to earn extra money to feed her family.

Artist Profile: Kusumi Mandal

1. The artist Kusumi Mandal lives by herself most of the time, as her husband is away in the state of Punjab in India. He works for a big agricultural company and visits home about twice a year during festive season.

Artist Profile: Shardha Thakur

The artist Shardha Thakur is a mother of two children. Her husband is a potter who makes clay pots and pottery for the village. He is known for his hard work and finely made potteries. However, the money that her husband makes is hardly enough to feed her family. Hence Shardha is glad to be at the Institute during her free time in the afternoons and wants to save the extra money that she earns for times of emergency.

Artist Profile: Rani Pandey

The artist Rani Pandey is a mother of two daughters and two sons. Her husband works in the fields of the landlords in Halkhori village. He also goes abroad to Punjab in India during off season to make some extra money to better feed hi s family and to be able to send his children to school. With the extra money that Rani earns from the Institute, she hopes to save it for any medical emergencies.

Artist Profile: Sawari Mandal

The artist Sawari Mandal lives with her in laws. She has two daughters, both of which are very young. Her husband works for a big agricultural company and visits home about twice a year during festive season. Sawari mandal is glad that she joined the institute since she can spend her free time into doing creative paintings and also earn extra money to save for the future of her children.

Artist Profile: Sanju Baitha

1. The artist Sanju Baitha is a young woman of around twenty but she does not exactly know her age. Her husband is a local builder who builds brick houses for people in the village. She lives in a joint family with her two sisters in laws, their husbands and her own father in law and mother in law. She currently has a daughter who is two years old. Sanju wants to save the extra money from the Institute towards the education of her daughter once she grows up.