Repeating Islands

Vassar College-my home institution-will be holding its eight annual Haitian Art Sale and Auction this coming weekend, April 3-5. Over 300 paintings and sculptures will be on view and for sale, including work by artists like Fritzner Alphonce, Raymond Lafaille, Pierre Maxo, Mario Montilus, Gary Rochebrun, and Jean Adrien Seide. (Paintings for sale can be viewed on the Vassar website, see link below.) Since 2001, the project has raised over $400,000 to build and support a seven-room school in Chermaitre, a small village situated in the mountains of rural northwest Haiti outside the city of Gros Morne. Now that the school has been completed, the project has developed, in consultation with village leaders, four new initiatives: reforestation of the area around Chemaitre, water purification, regular medical visits, and emergency relief funds.

For further information about the Vassar Haiti Project and the 8th Annual Haitian Art Sale and Auction, visit http://projects.vassar.edu/haiti. A video documenting the work of the Vassar Haiti Project, may be viewed on the website.