ART NEWS
Artists: paint a door, help the homeless

On any given night in Lee County there are an estimated 2,000 people without a place to call home.

The Lee County Homeless Coalition was reorganized under the umbrella of the Lee County Department of Human Services in January, 2005. The Coalition consists of community-based and faith-based service providers, local businesses, persons who are currently experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, and other advocates committed to supporting the mission of the Coalition. While working to eradicate chronic homelessness, the Coalition stands ready to aid and educate those at serious risk of becoming homeless.

The Coalition is issuing a call for artists who might like to play an important part in a creative fundraising effort on behalf of the Homeless Coalition.

Artists will be provided with 6 foot or 8 foot unfinished doors on which to create original artwork portraying the artist's vision of "Opening Doors for the Homeless." The dynamic doors will be exhibited as a public art display at ArtFest Fort Myers in downtown Fort Myers on Feb. 2 and 3. The doors will be sold by Silent Auction during ArtFest and all proceeds will benefit the Lee County Homeless Coalition.

To Participate, submit your Artist Registration to Janet Bartos at the Department of Human Services between Oct. 5 and Nov. 5. There is a limited supply of doors and they will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Probably the easiest way to obtain a registration form is to print out the brochure from the Coalition's web site at: www.leehomeless.org/Door%20ART. html. This page also has color examples of previous Door Art. The Coalition can also e-mail the brochure. Contact Janet Bartos at jbartos@leegov.com or 239-533-7948.