“Bridging The Gap, Through Art & Fashion”
Fashion and Modeling, two
industries constantly accused of superficiality molded a trailblazer out of
Monica Watkins, Founder of the
Art in
Motion/Art Meets Fashion grassroots movement. The 22-year veteran of the
Ford modeling company started the movement in 2008 after discovering herself
artistically and reaching a high point of that discovery. The movement is worldwide
going from Harlem to Haiti to Hong Kong and changing the lives of children and
young adults affected by human trafficking, slavery and abuse, involving these
individuals in curriculums based in art and fashion.
Born in
Huntsville, Texas, Monica never had a vast interest in art, much less creating
it, but heavy into her modeling career, reoccurring dreams pushed her to go, buy art supplies and create.
Spending time doing this she had created quite the collection; friends
that would visit didn't believe she made all of the pieces due of her previous
apparent lack of interest.
 |
| Photo Credit: Theo Dora |
The
movement officially started with the “Rebirth of A Nation” and “The Art of
Beauty” events, which she organized simultaneously! “Rebirth of A Nation” was
hosted at the Catalina hotel in Carrefour, Haiti and they auctioned off art
made by orphans of the Diakonos orphanage in the same area, the proceeds were
given to the orphanage. “The Art of
Beauty” event which was held at the GEMS building in Harlem, under the same
premise, which provided funds for not only the GEMS foundation, but also the
Diakonos orphanage back in Haiti. The next stop for the Art in Motion team would
be Hong Kong where they worked alongside members of the HandsOn Hong Kong team,
where kids initially shy and unassuming would be running around engaging with
the Art in Motion team by the end of their week-long stay.
When speaking of her first experiences
with extreme poverty while traveling to other countries for jobs, she explained
how her time in South Africa, was her most eye opening.
“I saw kids who were orphaned by parents that had died of
HIV, there were gangs of these children running around and the thing is, there
not a lot of programs for them… I saw all the kids begging at the street corner
when I had first arrived, one couldn't have been more than 6 years old, when I
looked in her eyes and there was nothing there. I was told that most of the
kids sniff glue and do drugs most of the day as a coping mechanism and that was
a case of it”
It would be experiences such as
that that would be the driving force for Monica and her movement; she mentioned how she still keeps up with the children that were involved in
the program through social media outlets.
On
the support that she received from the fashion and modeling industry, and still
does, she conveyed the fact that she might not have been able to get the
movement out as fast as it has. Creators of every field have joined the
movement, by submitting their works to the art exhibitions curated by Monica.
Monica plans on keeping the movement grassroots for the fact that she wants to
see the movement grow into her vision, but running a grassroots movement has
allowed her to grow in more than an artistic way.
“I feel if we had corporate sponsorship we would have grown faster, but it makes us work harder and smarter. When people discover the grassroots movement they feel like they discovered something and they’re more in tune with it, giving in a much more genuine way. Running it this way has allowed me to grow into a better leader and be more hands on with not only the people I work with, but the children; at the end of the day it’s about the kids.”
 |
| Photo Credit: Theo Dora |
The
future is quite promising for Monica and the Art in Motion movement, at the
moment they are planning on raising funds by throwing a concert in November for
Haiti, the goal is 15k. They are also filming a project called “
The InvisibleOnes”, upon completion of the film it would be sold and proceeds given to HAUP. To join in the movement you can email Monica at
MonicaWatkins@gmail.com.
