Asking a favor – for eight year old Natalie

Announcement from the family of someone I dated in college and still care about very much…his niece has cancer and needs help. Please spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal, etc.

Natalie is 8 years old. She has a little brother, Sean, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

After five difficult rounds of chemotherapy last year, Natalie’s leukemia was in remission. Now it’s back and we have just weeks to find the bone marrow donor match that Natalie needs to save her life.

Natalie’s greatest chance for a match is from those of ASIAN descent. Please help us spread the word through the Asian community.

http://www.hopefornatalie.com

To register as a potential bone marrow donor…I just did this – (free and easy, cheek swab test, kit mailed to your home and you send the swabs back in a prepaid envelope, only 1 in 200 donors will ever go through the simple outpatient procedure to give marrow to save a life) go here: http://www.dkmsamericas.org

San Francisco Art Institute winter classes

 

Highly recommended – Stephen Wagner’s an excellent speaker and very knowledgeable, and each of these classes represents a networking opportunity in itself. Great for photographers, painters, graphic designers – any type of art…or for art writers and publicists.

If you’re not in the SF Bay Area (sorry for all the local announcements recently) perhaps email the event organizers and have them send information and notes your way for a PayPal contribution.

SAN FRANCISCO ARTIST NETWORK Programs for Winter 2O1O:

 Wednesday, February 10th, 7-9PM

“FOUNDATION:  Setting Your Intention & Strategy” 
- Making a commitment to your artwork, understanding your motivation, obtaining focus, making a game plan, with Stephen C. Wagner

 Wednesday, February 24th, 7-9PM

“SOCIAL BUTTERFLY:  Social Networking for Artists”

– Learn to successfully market yourself and your artwork on-line, with strategies, tips & suggestions from those who have mastered the art of social networking & on-line marketing, using e-mail, e-newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and other on-line sites & tools – with GUEST SPEAKERS:  Tim Aldridge, Megan Wolfe, Mike Yochum

 Wednesday, March 10th, 7-9PM

“ORGANIZATION:  Developing Your Body of Work

Developing themes, creating series, titles, pricing, framing, managing your inventory, with Stephen C. Wagner 

Wednesday, March 24th, 7-9PM

THE JURY IS IN:  Entering Juried Art Shows”

 – Learn about juried shows, how to decide which ones to enter, tips to give you an advantage, how to manage your entries – with GUEST SPEAKER:  Priscilla Otani

Wednesday, April 14th, 7-9PM

“PRESENTATION: Preparing Your Artist Packet” 
- Written materials including artist statement & bio, documentation of your artwork, formats for your packet or portfolio, with Stephen C. Wagner

 Wednesday, April 28th, 7-9PM       

“RISE ABOVE THE CROWD: Presenting Yourself as a Professional Artist”

– Insight from local art gallery professionals on what galleries are looking for and how to approach them – with GUEST SPEAKERS from local art galleries

 ADMISSION:  $20 each lecture

ENROLLMENT:  admission at the door

 

at ARC STUDIOS & GALLERY

1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco


www.SFArtistNetwork.org


follow SFANART at:  http://twitter.com  and  www.facebook.com/SFANART

Volunteer opportunities for contributors and readers

 

These are some volunteer opportunities for contributors and everyone else which involve writing, reading, and music and other arts – great for resume-building and references, and also a chance to use artistic and writing skills for others’ benefit. Synchronized Chaos is all about networking and mentorship, so here are some mentorship opportunities! And, come on, singing with preschoolers is just plain fun!

Yes, I know this list is a bit Bay Area-centric…but many of these organizations have chapters in other states and countries, and schools in many countries would love volunteers and reading/writing and art mentors. This is just encouragement from the editors of Synchronized Chaos to find a program where you are to share your skills with children, students, or up and coming people in your field of any age.

Please feel free to comment if you are, or plan to start, mentoring – either informally or through a program such as these, and we’ll give you publicity and a shout-out in our magazine! Also, there are plenty of writers, artists, etc right here in our Synchronized Chaos community who’d love mentors – if you’d like to work with someone over email as time allows, please let me know and I’ll drop some folks’ names and contact info your way. Maybe you have some work up in a gallery or some stories published in an anthology and you’d like to give some feedback on a beginning artist’s work…please let us know, we will give you extra publicity in our pages for your service to the community and to the artistic fields.

East Bay Agency for Children – Sequoia Healthy Start. Help with after-school program and enrichment activities, 1 hour a week. Contact Reka Lal, reka@ebac.org

East Bay Agency for Children – Hawthorne Family Resource Center. Seeking Spanish speakers, a few hours a month to work with students and prepare for special events. Reach Allison Delgado, allison@ebac.org

Experience Corps Oakland, 55+ years old folks sought to mentor kids one on one or in small groups with reading and homework. 2hrs a week. Reach David Moren, dmoren@aspiranet.org

Lafayette School Mentoring Project – Get trained in language arts or math tutoring, then help in classrooms. 1.5 hours a week, includes evening sessions. Reach Jessica Bilksy, lsmptutor@yahoo.com

Oakland Parents Literacy Project – Help promote parental involvement and literacy, through Family Reading Nights. 2-3 hours, Wed/evening events. Denise Geer, dlgeer@comcast.net

Oakland Public Library’s Books for Wider Horizons. Receive training, and then read and sing with preschoolers through Head Start or Child Development programs. 1-2 hours a week. Reach Chris Waller, kwaller@oaklandlibrary.org

Reading Partners. Receive training, and tutor a student struggling with reading. 1 hour a week, with semester commitment. Reach Salleha Chaudhry, volunteer@readingpartners.org

Super Stars Literacy – Help disadvantaged K-2 students with their reading. Also accompany them on weekend field trips, 3 days a week for three weeks, and/or 4-5 hours Saturday. Reach Erin Drake or Jessica Berry, erin@superstarsliteracy.org, jessica@superstarsliteracy.org

Brothers on the Rise – Help set up and develop this organization. Looking for men to speak for the Speakers Series, for Fruitvale boys from 8-14 years old. Contact John Gilgoff, info@brothersontherise.org

Faith Network of the East Bay – Training provided, serve as a reading tutor or library assistant, or math tutor, or classroom assistant. Reach Randy Roth at randy@faith-network.com, or Rebecca Buckley at rebecca@faith-network.com

Oakland Unified School District Library – work in the school library, a few hours a week. Ann Gallagher, ann.gallagher@ousd.k12.ca.us

AVID – Help middle and high schoolers to prepare for college, using this socratic curriculum. 1-2 hours a week. Reach Robert Wack, elrwack@aol.com

BUILD – Work together with another person to lead a small group of high schoolers in developing and starting their own business. 1-5 hours a week. Reach Hillary Fernandes at hillary@build.org

Be a Mentor – Training provided, mentor kids socially and academically. 1 hour a week. Reach Ryan Gray, rgray@beamentor.org

WriterCoach Connection – Community Alliance for Learning. Training provided, work one on one with teens on their writing assignments. 1-2 hours a week, 2-4 weeks a month. Reach Lynn Mueller, writercoachconnect@yahoo.com

Oakland Schools Volunteer Office – Ask about a program not listed, such as art or music or science, or a specific school. Reach Risha Riley – rishariley@ousd.k12.ca.us or call 510-434-7765.