Art for the Love of Humanity: A Silent Art Auction for Gaza – Isthmus

press release: Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP) is partnering with more than 25 artists to present a silent art auction in response to the worsening humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

The auction will begin online on June 28 and continue until July 8 for more than 50 works of art, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) for the purchase and immediate distribution of the humanitarian aid that Gaza desperately needs. Many of the artists represented are based in Wisconsin and their offered works include a wide range of fine art, including photographs, acrylic and mixed media paintings, pottery, textiles, prints and embroidery.

Available pieces can be viewed now at https://www.32auctions.com/ArtforGaza2024, and online bidding will open at 8 a.m. Central Time on June 28.

An art exhibit will open June 21 at Java Cat Coffee Shop, 4221 Lien Road in east Madison.

Java Cat will host a meet-and-greet event on Tuesday, July 2, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. with a chance to meet some of the artists who donated their works and learn more about the work of the Middle East Children’s Alliance in Gaza.

Because the entry of humanitarian aid is severely (and unnecessarily) restricted by Israel, the population of Gaza is facing an unprecedented level of death, injury, displacement, disease, trauma and destruction of its ability to survive on its own territory. Hunger is now so severe that the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents – particularly babies, children, pregnant women, the elderly and those suffering from chronic illnesses – face starvation and to famine.

Despite these difficulties, MECA staff in Gaza have worked since the start of the crisis with local and international partners to procure food and other essential goods. The MECA team and its partners in Gaza source food and hygiene products from stores, warehouses, factories and farmers.

Recently, MECA has used international donations and its network of local grassroots community organizations to:

• Deliver boxes of fresh produce from farmers and other food items like rice and lentils to 14,000 families currently in Khan Younis (next to Rafah) and the “middle zones” just to the north.

• Provide soap, shampoo, sanitary napkins, laundry detergent, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

• Prepare around 8,400 hot meals per day, even after having to close their community kitchens in Rafah.

• Bring drinking water by truck to families who fled north to Gaza City and to several areas of Khan Younis for people who fled Rafah.

• Begin the installation of four new solar-powered “Maia” water desalination and purification units to provide drinking water to thousands of families daily.

MRSCP was founded in 2003 by concerned citizens of Madison seeking to establish person-to-person relationships with the citizens of Rafah, a town and refugee camp on the southern border of Gaza, Palestine. Over the past 21 years, MRSCP has supported numerous humanitarian projects for the people of Rafah, including water purification systems, mental health resources, a playground, a children’s library, the reconstruction of ‘a house and much more, most of them in partnership with MECA.

Although many of these projects were undoubtedly destroyed or severely damaged by the seven-month Israeli bombardment, the MRSCP remains committed to working with the Middle East Children’s Alliance to provide humanitarian assistance to the population. from Gaza. As of this writing, the “From the Grassroots to Gaza” campaign has raised over $26,000.00 from all sources. Learn more (and also donate directly) at https://tinyurl.com/madisontogaza.