“Through emotional inspiration and cultural awareness art is responsible for bringing all of us together,” insists the founders of The Art of Giving Foundation, which was born from passion, diligence, and a genuine concern for the enrichment of communities and the common good.
A philanthropic art broker, The Art of Giving Foundation provides artists around the world the means to promote and sell their art all while giving back to their communities. Art purchases through the organization’s website are tax-deductible, and a portion of sales benefit their social initiative programs.
The organization was founded by Autumn Pippenburg, a Chicago artist with a passion for merging art with philanthropy. Her personal work focuses on mixed media, although her roots are in modern dance and classical piano. Her dedication to the arts has infiltrated into her love for helping others and thus the Art of Giving Foundation was born.
Throughout her adult life, Autumn has been involved in dozens of charitable causes and has been responsible for leading several philanthropic affairs.
Autumn has traveled around the world to establish relationships with government leaders, charitable organizations, and communities in need. She has not only devoted her life to giving back personally and teaching her son to do so as well, but giving others a mechanism to give back, that’s fun, easy and rewarding.
“Everything around us is in some way, shape, or color, art,” she believes.”There is an artist in every one of us and we all have the innate ability to create. Art allows our soul to express its happiness, pain, desires, and goals through a healthy medium. When communities have the right tools, art saturates, and impacts lives with positive influence and change. Let’s color the world with creativity, love, and understanding. In the end, we’re all a part of the big picture.”
NEW: Art of Giving Community Outreach Center — 920 E. Roosevelt Rd. Suite 952 West Chicago, IL
Art of Giving Foundation specializes in community center development and planning and offers a bounty of services.
Autumn explains: “Together we can ignite change.”
- Collaboration is key: Art of Giving Foundation has partnered with a variety of public and private projects and organizations, providing feasibility studies, market research, funding services, and development services.
- Our core objective is to bring opportunity to the most underprivileged neighborhoods, so they too can flourish within the arts and trades.
- Here at the West Chicago location, we serve a population comprised of over 7,500 households, more than half being of Latino or Hispanic descent.
- All after-school cultural arts programs are offered free of charge for students from third grade to their senior year of high school.
- Back to School support and food drives at Thanksgiving and Christmas are just a few of the resources we provide to the community.
- Counseling and mediation services are provided by licensed professionals as well as domestic abuse help and resources for those in need.
- Community Centers like the Art of Giving boost the local economy: It may be surprising to some, but community centers can boost a neighborhood’s economy. They require large staffs, which creates new jobs within the community.
- Hosting events at the center can convert it into a cultural arts destination, capitalizing on the $878 billion-dollar industry.
- As people travel to the neighborhood for such engagements, they are likely to bring money to restaurants, shops, and other small businesses.
- For a struggling neighborhood, an economic boost can have a huge impact.
- Art of Giving provides much-needed support — especially in a pandemic: With most local businesses being closed or abandoned due to financial exhaustion, and few entertainment options, adolescents are likely to get involved in drugs and alcohol, gangs and other criminal activity.
- Community centers provide a safe place for young people to hang out, make new friends, and stay out of trouble. Outside of school and church, many underprivileged neighborhoods do not have a safe meeting space.
- Whether it be a corporate event, a club meeting, or a fundraiser, community centers provide a convenient place to gather.
- A meeting venue like this one increases community involvement and revitalize the neighborhood’s social scene. Providing a safe space for pro-bono conflict resolution can decrease crime and provide a healthy means for counseling and mediation.
- Community Centers Boost Property Values: Community centers are a great addition to any neighborhood. People are drawn to convenient and affordable access to programs, meeting spaces, and other amenities. Overall, this can boost property values and the resale value of homes. By increasing property values you’re increasing tax revenues, providing more funding for other improvements within the community.
Get Your Hands Dirty: Here’s what the Art of Giving Foundation is up to, and how you can play!
Kids Create: A a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization is looking for aspiring young artists in grades K-6 to participate in online art, music, and cooking classes. “We need teachers and helpers, like yourself, to help us create fun and engaging content for our children to participate in to keep them stimulated and creating.,” says Autumn. “Best of all, all of our online classes are free of charge. Simply follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram and enjoy! New classes are uploaded weekly so you’ll always have new material to participate in.”