A Truly Fine Kettle of Fish!

When artist, teacher and GSGC supporter Russell Ford, spent five weeks as part of the vibrant art community that swirls around Wayi Wayi Art Gallery in Livingstone, Zambia, he ate fish from the Zambezi River daily and easily drew parallels between his hometown of Vancouver, WA, on the banks of the Columbia River, and Livingstone, on the banks of the Zambezi.

So when Russell wanted to raise money this fall for GSGC-supported clubs, fish took center stage. He dubbed the project, “Casting A Wider Net.”

In a month, the retired art teacher created 55 ceramic fish to sell at the annual countywide Open Studios event, where 50 artists welcome visitors to their home studios over a November weekend. Russell likes how the event takes art out of pricey galleries and makes it, and the creative process, more accessible and understandable to the public.

“My mission was to explore the arts and connectedness I saw in Africa with the art community here,” he explained. “Art is really about celebrating the act of creativity. To turn people on to your artwork and do it for a bigger cause takes the ego out of it and allows everyone to participate. They see the process, someone buys the fish, and the money serves others.”

That’s what Ford saw at Wayi Wayi Gallery, where the art community is a rich amalgamation of traditions and styles. African and international artists frequent the gallery, but owners Agness Buya Yombwe and Lawrence Yombwe also weave art into the lives of the wider community; she runs the GSGC-supported girls art club at Wayi Wayi, and he recently started a similar club for boys. The couple’s adult children, Yande, Sunga and Kangwa, all take part.

Open Studios visitors embraced Ford’s ceramic fish. He raised twice the money other artists earned that weekend. The fish now hang in people’s beach houses, kitchens and bathrooms. Each is unique; some are smiling. “The creative process,” he said, “demands that you’re innovative and learn from what you just did and take the next one to a higher level.”

The handful that were left over now hang in local galleries, right next to information about GSGC. A local businessman and GSGC supporter wants to feature them for sale in his office.

“The project’s name — Casting A wider net — has unlimited implications,” said Russell’s wife, Barbara. “It enfolds the teens in Global Sojourns Giving Circle-supported clubs and the organization itself. Maybe it encourages us all to reach a little further.”