​In this season of overwhelming natural disasters we here at Pennywise, like so many others, have been working to make a difference in some small way. On September 6th the tiny Caribbean island of Anguilla  was devastated by Hurricane Irma.  Pennywise director, Liz Subin, has a special connection to the island having lived and worked there as founding director of the Anguilla National Trust. Through long standing connections and creative collaborations with multiple partners, Pennywise announces the Anguilla Heritage Assessment Project.

Recognizing that creativity and beauty are powerful agents for healing and change, Barefoot Artists works with poor communities around the globe using art to bring healing, self-empowerment and social change.

Among many others, Barefoot Artists’ projects have included: Creating a memorial park for genocide survivors in Rwanda, partnering with the community on a remarkable mural celebrating life in a refugee camp in Palestine; transforming  the campus of a school serving low income, migrant families in Beijing, China; and a decade long beautification and education program in the Korogocho settlement in Kenya- a community subsisting primarily on the income they can generate from recycling what they can find in one of Nairobi’s major dump sites.