community
For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to
thefreeartfoundation.org.
Every day that goes by, nothing’s really good on the news and then you come across these artists
that are willing to spend hours on a piece and send it for a good cause, it’s a great feeling.”
by tim parks
It’s that time of year, when all things ghoulish become the ordinary, a time when the frightful have their day in the sun, or rather, a night ’neath a full moon. We have entered chillier evenings when darkness falls sooner, lending a macabre air of creepiness to the season. So, it seems fitting that The Free Art Foundation is highlighting things that go bump in the night with their eventMonsters and Villains onSaturday, October 15 at the Saint Archer Brewing Company. The Free Art Foundation is set up to provide assistance for the underprivileged through fundraising events dedicated to art, culture and the humanities. This time around, their fundraiser will benefit Mama’s Kitchen, with 100 percent of the proceeds from raffles and art auctions at the event going to the AIDS and cancer food bank.
The Rage Monthly spoke with Tom Napoli, President of The Free Art Foundation, to get all the gory details on Monsters and Villains. “It’s a charity that was started in 2015,” Napoli explained about the organization. “There’s a couple stages for it as far as its growth potential, but for right now we hold silent art auctions and raffles. It’s for one specific night in various locations and we are always looking for new donated spaces we can use as an art studio or gallery space for shows. We
12 RAGE monthlyRAGE monthly | OCTOBER 2016
try to include a location that is already supporting the charity we are supporting. The majority of what we work with is donated; we turn whatever’s donated into raffle prizes and the art gets sold.” Napoli seeks out art and artists from all over the
world via social media and is always on the lookout for charities through the community grapevine. “I was just asking our friends who own Heartwork Coffee in Mission Hills, who they would support as a food bank and they said that they had worked with Mama’s Kitchen in the past.” He added, “Some of my artists have too, so it seemed like a good fit.” The catalyst for the theme of Monsters and
Villains proved to be,“The time of the year,” Napoli joked. “There’s no hidden political meaning behind it, but there’s always a little bit of truth to that. The artists who are sending stuff, it’s their take on what a monster or villain is. We’re going from old traditional black and white monsters, to the newer age Darth Vader types. A companyI met at Comic- Con, called Rue Royale Fine Arts in Las Vegas, sent me three giant monster movie posters and those will be there for sale, too.” Napoli cited Frankenstein’s monster as his favorite and offered a great sentiment for why movie monsters and villains have created such a lasting impression on the landscape of pop culture. “Everybody can relate to something of that aspect,”
he explained. “Whether it’s the way it looks, or it’s relating to the emotional side. Behind every ugly face on the screen, there’s the emotional side that you can’t see, because it’s untouched. It’s about digging deeper and seeing that emotional side.” Napoli is definitely excited for the event and what
the night has in store for attendees. “Great beer, food and good ambience,” he said. “There’s a bunch of great pieces and most of our artists are published. The art is going to be a little bit discounted, just to pique interest. A lot of good people are going to be there in support. We are also doing a costume contest—it’s not the main stage of the event—but there’s a $100 prize for ‘best costume.’ The 501st Legion will be there, too. It’s an organization that has different chapters around the world and their Star Wars Stormtroopers and affiliated villains ap- pear in movie-quality costumes. They go to events to raise money and awareness, they work with Rady Children’s Hospital and have worked with Mama’s Kitchen in the past.” But what it means in the context of people helping
people that proves to be a very satisfying part of staging events, as Napoli stated. “Every day that goes by, nothing’s really good on the news and then you come across these artists who are willing to spend hours on a piece and send it for a good cause, it’s a great feeling.”
A Bazaar Fundraiser for Mama’s Kitchen
OF MONSTERS AND VILLAINS:
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