Bridging The Gap, Through Art & Fashion

“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.