Today, we are asking artists to create without compensation. Music, writing, film making and other artistic endeavours are now being downloaded or viewed for free. What if we could inspire artists to be more creative and compensate them in a unique way? Several years ago after I was downsized, I walked 800 kilometers alone in the winter, across the north of Spain on a medieval pilgrimage route kno
wn as the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. When I returned home my creative side flourished. In the span of a few years I became a film producer/director, best-selling author (with a feature film adaptation of my book in development) and a screen and stage play writer/performer. After conducting some casual research in the artist community, I learned that the majority of artists are inspired through walking. A story in Ripley's Believe it or Not talks about how Beethoven was once commissioned by three Austrian noblemen to write music. Instead of paying him for the composition, they paid him money to walk every day from sunrise until noon because they knew if he walked, he would create a masterpiece. This inspired me to create a foundation to pay artists who walk. It's called Vision One. We are in the process of obtaining Not for Profit nand anticipate the launch of the Vision One Foundation's walk for artists in the fall of 2013. Currently, we need to create awareness and fundraise. Our goal is to raise $8,000.00 to cover the costs of the Vision One Walk including expenses, promotion, social media campaign, collateral materials and accommodation. These funds will also contribute to the seed money required to officially launch the foundation with a Vision One Walk that coincides with Culture Days in September 2013. The intention is to support a select group of artists who will be paid to walk. To bring awareness to the correlation between walking and creativity I’ll be leading a 425 kilometer Vision One Walk along the rugged Bruce Trail and I’m going barefoot. I invite other artists to join me along the walk or at the end on the last day when we walk into Collingwood for Culture Days event/ We plan to walk from September 9-29, 2012. This is my first venture on the Bruce Trail and I look forward to the company of artist Amanda Stillemunkes, who will also walk the entire route as well. We encourage you to walk at home while we walk the trail. Write in and tell your stories. Details of the walk schedule will be updated here. We invite you to have a look at the IndieGoGo fundraising campaign that starts September 1 to October 15, 2012. Donations as low as $10 are welcome. Why Donate? You are an artist. You believe in and realize the importance of creativity. You value the extensive time, talent and love artists put into their work, often for little or no compensation. You know the value of walking. You are passionate about the arts. You believe that through creativity we can make a dramatic difference in the quality of life. You want to make a contribution to the greater good of the world. We value your contribution and by donating you can feel good knowing that you have taken one step towards fostering creativity and more importantly, contributing to the development of this unique foundation to support artists who walk. Every penny counts. One step. One artist. One idea. One world. Vision One Walk. http://www.indiegogo.com/visiononewalk
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