Interview: Jennifer
Howell
On my recent trip to Los Angeles, I met Jennifer
Howell. Jen is a wonderful, down to
earth, and dynamic person. Jen is also a renowned philanthropist and amazing
human being. She is the founder of an interesting project. The Art of Elysium, a non-profit organization founded in 1997, encourages working actors, artists and
musicians to voluntarily dedicate their time and talent to children who are
battling serious medical conditions. They provide artistic workshops in the
following disciplines: acting, art, comedy, fashion, music, radio, songwriting
and creative writing.
What propelled you to create the charitable organization, The Art of
Elysium?
What is the overall mission of the Art of Elysium and the meaning behind
the name?
That seems like the most straightforward
question that you could ask but it is one of the hardest things to answer. In a simple sentence, the Art of Elysium
bridges the artistic community together with hospitalized children to provide a
creative outlet for them to express their experiences and serves as a form of
distractive therapy. However, that is
the very beginning of this mission. I
was fortunate enough to start taking artists into the hospitals from August
1997-December of 1997 before starting the Art of Elysium. I got to witness not only the impact the art
workshops had on the patients and their families, but the impact it had on the
artists. We would leave the hospital and
the artist would be inspired to write, paint, and perform because of their
experience. I believe the greater
mission of the Art of Elysium goes something like this: these amazing children are our spiritual
warriors and teachers; they are going through things that most of us will never
experience. Our gift is getting to be of
service to these children while they are facing these grave circumstances and
through our gift of art, music, writing, dance, fashion design, etc we can give
them a voice to express themselves during this time. Hopefully, this gift of expression will go
with them even after they are discharged from the hospital. It is my belief that artists are forever
changed through these experiences, and if we are creating an artistic community
that creates from a place of service then we can change the world at large
because artists are the true reflection of our society. We try to do all of our fundraisers through
an artistic endeavor and try to support the artists that volunteer and dedicate
their hearts and souls to working with our children. They are the role models that I would love
for people to look up to and be inspired by.
Although we have a standard mission statement, it is something that I
think about all the time because there is no way to describe the full circle of
the Art of Elysium to people unless they have gone in and experienced what we
do first hand. The charity is much more
a movement of artists trying to create ELYSIUM by being of service.
How do you find interested celebrities and artists for your
work?
We don’t look for celebrities to be
involved with the charity. The
celebrities that volunteer with us have all come from word of mouth and I do
not look at them as celebrities, but as artists just like all of our other
artist volunteers. The only thing that
our “celebrities” can do that our other artist volunteers cannot is bring
attention to our cause and help raise money through various endorsements,
etc. We are so greatly appreciative for
all of their support and what they do. However, the charity is in no way a
“celebrity charity,” and I feel that because we have so many artists who are
successful and in the media that people do not realize that our mission is to
bring artists at all levels into hospitals to share their talent and artistic
expression with children.
Can you share a bit about your friend who was the catalyst for
the project and his legacy?
Stephen Lane Hatten was one of the
greatest guys that anyone could ever know.
After relapsing with leukemia, he did not think about himself, but
thought about the children that he saw in the hospitals while he was in for his
treatments. His selflessness was the
call to action that changed my life. He
is with us every single day, in every workshop, every gallery exhibit, and
every artistic endeavor and by our side for every challenge that we face. His family is still in Hattiesburg,
Mississippi and I pray that the Art of Elysium forever honors Stephen and the
set of principles that his family gave him to live by. You never realize who the most important
people in your life really are. Tara
Williamson (Stephen’s girlfriend/my best friend from childhood) has been my
rock my entire life and I would not be who I am today without her and always
knew that she would help shape my identity.
I did not know that when she called me to come home and be with her and
visit Stephen that Stephen Hatten would become the single most important person
in my life. He is the one who has shaped
my destiny and the future of the Art of Elysium and every artist that gets to
participate in an art workshop and every child who is given the gift of
expression.
How do you keep the artistic and monetary momentum alive?
The artistic momentum is really
easy….we are an artist charity first and foremost and each artist that comes in
has their own creative ideas and art projects.
They come in and discuss how they can help raise money through art
exhibits, music showcases, film projects and ideas that have probably never
even been thought of by anyone. I feel
creatively inspired every day and fulfilled with the knowing that these artists
are putting work into the world for audiences to see that come from a
fundamental belief that philanthropy comes first and giving is giving of
yourself. The overall monetary model is
an on-going work in process. We are
currently trying to look at the sustainability of the Art of Elysium and make
certain that the charity and our mission will be around from here to
eternity. We are trying to begin
building an endowment fund and it is a new endeavor. I am actually meeting with someone this week
to start looking at a long term strategy.
What are the grassroots elements of the project and how do you
help the real life beneficiaries of the Art of Elysium in hospitals?
The grassroots elements with the Art
of Elysium happen after every workshop.
An artist goes in with their art project and shares it with one patient
or a group of patients. They leave the
hospital and let’s say they go to the recording studio to meet their band and
they tell them about the experience. The
next thing that happens is our phones start ringing at the Aof E offices with
new artists wanting to come in for volunteer orientations and when they can get
into the hospital for a workshop. That
is truly how this organization has grown.
Saint Francis said, “It is in giving that we receive.” I think that our volunteers understand this
better than most and when they talk about their experiences people see
something that inspires them to be of service too.
Where do you see the mission for the Art of Elysium in ten years?
I would love to have Elysium Centers
where our artists could have recording studios, art studios, design studios,
sound stages, etc for their use to create their art. The way the center would work is that you
could have access to it based on volunteer hours in the hospital with our
patients. When children are discharged
from the hospital, they could also come to the space and continue the art
workshops they started while in the hospital.
I see it as creating an entire community of artists that give by
directly sharing their own gift of creation with a child in need. I think that the possibilities are limitless
when you have artists willing to reach inside and find ways to share their
creativity. I just would like to know
that the mission is ever-changing, ever-growing, and ever-creating in a way that
can help heal our children, our artists and our world.
As the Art of Elysium evolves, do you see it going nationwide and to
other countries?
I would love to see the Art of Elysium
in any city, any country, anywhere where there is a child in a hospital and an
artist in their community that is willing to share their gift of art.
Can you share some current projects and artistic ideas that inspire you?
The Art of Elysium’s ELYSIUM INDUSTRY
program has just finished our first feature film called FOREVER. The director is Tatia Pilieva and she has
been a long time volunteer and is the first recipient of our TAHNEE AWARD. This film is the heart of our mission and
shows how all of our volunteers come together and create something
magical. Mark Mothersbaugh did the score
for the film, Shepard Fairey is currently working on the movie poster and marketing
materials and our cast was mainly our volunteers: Ioan Gruffudd, Shanola Hampton, Rain Phoenix
and more. It is a beautiful film and we
are currently getting ready to take it out and share it with the world. The back end of the film will come into the
Art of Elysium and hopefully help us start building our endowment fund. It is a project that I am super proud of and
a model that I think will truly help us become self-sufficient through our
artistic endeavors.
http://www.theartofelysium.org/
http://www.theartofelysium.org/
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