The Cradle Project: Art Auction to Benefit African HIV-AIDS Orphans

Local photographer Naomi Natale is the driving force behind The Cradle Project, an innovative art exhibition and auction that opened this weekend in downtown Albuquerque to benefit children in sub-Saharan Africa who have been affected by the HIV-AIDS epidemic. Many are orphans because their parents died from the virus. Natale was inspired to organize the project after visiting Kenya and witnessing the devastation caused by HIV-AIDS. The Albuquerque Journal reports:

Called “The Cradle Project,” her idea was to recruit as many artists as she could to make cradles that would each be sponsored for $100, and then each of the cradles would be sold at an online auction.

... After more than two years of work, “The Cradle Project” is opening to the public. Space for the show has been donated in the Sunrise Bank building Downtown on the seventh and eighth floors, which are in a rough state of remodel.

Cradle of Civilization, Barbara Grothus, #110

The project features 550 cradles by an international slate of artists. Proceeds will go to the Firelight Foundation, which supports and advocates for the needs and rights of children who are orphaned or affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

Details:

• WHAT: “The Cradle Project”
• WHEN: 1-5 PM, Thursdays-Sundays through June 28
• WHERE: Sunrise Bank building, 210 Central NW, on the seventh and eighth floors
• HOW MUCH: Free.
• INFO: Visit www.thecradleproject.org for more information. You can also view the cradles online at the webite, submit bids or donate to the cause. Larger images of the cradles are available on Flickr. The photos are numbered to match items on the auction page.

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