Amplifying the #ArtistsForAlithia Movement

?The #ArtistsForAlithia Movement Needs You!

#Firestarters , this is a call to action. We have all mourned the senseless loss of so many lives in the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. Young artist Alithia Ramirez was killed that day. But there’s a movement building to keep Alithia’s most-treasured dream alive. And you can be part of it.

Alithia, who had just turned 10, wanted to go to art school in Paris someday. My friend Caroline Weiss, a multi-hyphenate creative, felt called to make sure that Alithia’s art would still be shown in the City of Light. So she is building a team to present the Alithia Ramirez Paris Retrospective 2022, with the support of Alithia’s family. I am beyond grateful — and absolutely fired up — to be part of the event committee and to invite you to join our work.

My friendship with Caroline is a relatively new one, but it’s also one that’s already been rich in meaning. In fact, we had been spending some together focused on how to activate our specific passions when we got news of the Uvalde shooting. If you joined the online group meditation I hosted on my birthday, you might remember seeing Caroline there.

?Like so many of us, Caroline navigated feelings of helplessness and hopelessness after the shooting. Also like many of us, Caroline watched Matthew McConaughey’s speech about the tragedy in his hometown. He talked about meeting Alithia’s parents, Ryan and Jessica Ramirez.

They “were eager to share Alithia’s art with us,” McConaughey said in his speech. “And said if we could share it, then somehow maybe that would make Alithia smile in heaven. They told us that showing someone else Alithia’s art would in some way keep her alive.”

?That moment, Caroline knew she “had to show Paris Alithia’s art.” She realized her connections in the Paris art community could help with this goal, and she started telling others about her vision. Just like that, a movement was underway.

Caroline got in touch with Alithia’s parents to get their blessing on the project. “We’re going to put on a retrospective for her here in July, and we are going to bring her family out from Texas,” Caroline says.

How You Can Help

As Caroline wrote on the Movement Maker Collective blog :?

“Good people have a responsibility to make sure the bad is the exception, not the norm. It’s so easy to get discouraged and want to give up on the world. But now is the time when we must do more—we must embody empathy, sympathy and generosity in big and small ways. Good actions still matter. Good work still has a positive ripple effect in a world of hate and hopelessness.”

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So, good people, how can you help make Alithia’s art show happen? Here’s what’s still needed.

• Six plane tickets for Alithia’s family and organizers to travel from Texas to Paris.
• A place for Alithia’s family to stay in Paris.
• A space in Paris to stage the show.

If you have a lead on any of these things, or if you have another way you’d like to contribute, email [email protected]. You can also make a huge difference by spreading the word about this movement. Share this article and spread messages of kindness with the hashtag #ArtistsForAlithia . Tag your friends in Paris.

As Alithia’s parents told Caroline, their daughter was always caring for everyone else. Now it’s our time to care for her and her dream. We can do this, #Firestarters . Let’s go!

Copyright (c) 2022 Movement Maker. All rights reserved.

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