Families Weekend to Feature Live Concert and Haitian Art Sale
Families Weekend to Feature Live Concert and Haitian Art Sale
The Vassar Haiti Project’s annual art sale continues through October 7 and will run in conjunction with several other events during Families Weekend, VHP Co-President Catherine Wu ’21 announced. The sale benefits projects supporting education, health, environmental, and women’s initiatives in a rural region of northwest Haiti.
“This year’s Virtual Families Weekend is a manifestation of one of our favorite lines in our organization and a recurring mantra these days: ‘creating from nothing,’” Wu said. “Despite the disappointment of not being able to hold our 20th art sale physically at Vassar, we have learned to think more creatively and flexibly planning new and exciting possibilities that will allow us to continue to support our Education Initiative in Haiti.”
More than 70 original Haitian works of art are currently available for auction and can be accessed through thehaitiproject.org. All purchases are 50 percent tax deductible and donations are 100 percent tax deductible. The weekend of October 2–4 will feature four live virtual events. Christopher Bjork, Professor of Education, Asian Studies, and International Studies at Vassar College, will present opening remarks to kick off the festivities at 6:00 a.m. on Friday, October 2. Meet some of the Haitian artists and gallery owners at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 3. VHP will present a special live concert and interview with the Haitian singer NAÏKA at 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening. A raffle and closing remarks will wrap up the weekend at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 4.
Families Weekend will be a virtual event this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Events will include a virtual tour of the campus hosted by Colton Johnson, Vassar College Historian, Dean Emeritus of the College and Professor Emeritus of English; a tour of the Vassar Arboretum hosted by Professor of Biology and Faculty Co-Chair of the Arboretum Mark Schlessman; a Conversation with President Elizabeth Bradley and Dean of Faculty William Hoynes, Dean of the College Carlos Alamo-Pastrana, and Dean of Strategic Planning and Academic resources Marianne Begemann; a faculty panel on academic life, and a presentation by several current students on how they spent their summer breaks, hosted by Stacy Bingham, Associate Dean of the College for Career Development.
For more information about Vassar Haiti Project’s weekend events, go to the event link, https://thehaitiproject.org/familiesweekend
For more information about Families Weekend, go to https://families.vassar.edu/events/weekend/