IGNITE Art Show

On 22 February 2023 Women for Change hosted an inaugural Art Show, the INGITE Art Event, at the Sibyl Centre, The Women’s College at The University of Sydney.  The event was a tremendous success with over 500 attendees and raised over $70,000 to support young women in India, Nepal and Kenya to achieve their dream of a tertiary education and a better life.

The balmy February evening, delightful wine and canapes and jazz played by James Valentine and friends all contributed to a successful evening but the artwork was the star of the show, along with the artists who so generously supported Women for Change.  A number of well known artists such as Wendy Sharpe, Euan MacLeod, Reg Mombassa, Lynda Draper, Suzanne Archer, Jo Bertini, Belinda Fox, Susan Norrie, David Fairbairn and David Horton donated works to IGNITE, along with many others including a number of emerging artists.

A special exhibition of artwork created by inmates in NSW Correctional Centres was also shown.  As in so many communities that the Women for Change charity supports, women in NSW gaols have suffered disadvantage. The Reform Programs in NSW Correctional Centres aim to support the women in their struggles to overcome the hardships they are often born into and to recognize the dire effects of a lack of opportunity. An art program created and led by Kim Spooner has helped a number of women to express themselves and to understand the value of education, both formal and informal.

When the women taking part in this program were asked if they’d like to help other women, possibly even less fortunate than them, they unhesitatingly agreed. They wanted to help disadvantaged women in Kenya, Nepal and India access education and become agents for change in their communities. Their teacher had been showing them the value of education with her art classes and they wanted to pay it forward. They unanimously offered to donate their artworks to the IGNITE art show raising money for Women for Change.  We are so grateful to Kim Spooner for her work with these women and also for her support in organising the IGNITE event.