Today I found out that Gen Art has closed it doors. I'm a little late, they closed on May 5th, I didn't notice because I was in the midst of moving drama. I'm crushed by the news because I loved Gen Art and the goals that they represented. Gen Art was a nonprofit geared towards exposing young talent in the fashion, art, and film worlds. It had a bit of a bad reputation as a party charity but I have interned for a young designer whose career was launched by the Gen Art team. I've also had conversations with some of the Gen Art staff and they have always impressed me with their genuine passion for the arts and for giving young artistic talent a much needed lift. It's a shame that they've closed, but I do not doubt the rumours of mismanagement. I witnessed their lack of organisation first hand when I briefly volunteered there.
Some bloggers have tried to make light of Gen Art's closure, Gawker for example asked, "Why not give your 'Charity' money to, ya know, UNICEF?" I'm not surprised by that, a lot of people tend to assume that interests in the arts and humanitarian issues are incompatible. The former being pointless and the latter relevant. I think this is a misguided approach, both are important and both are necessary. A person who devotes their life to creating art is no less than a person who does the same for humanitarian work. This is coming from a person who has been engaged in non profit work for almost ten years while nurturing a love of art for a short lifetime.
The demise of Gen Art is not an indictment on the art charity but on the mismanagement and lack of organisation that is common to many nonprofits regardless of their mission. Hopefully when the economy recovers we'll see a revival of our nonprofits too. We need them!
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