CHAIRity

Annual Benefit Raises Violence Awareness

by Julie Russ

These words are heard all too often by the city of Phoenix's Family Advocacy Center (FAC). Often referred by members of the Phoenix Fire or Police departments or identified through the caring eyes of teachers and friends, victims of domestic or sexual abuse have trouble seeing a way out of the turmoil and pain they live through each day. The Family Advocacy Center shows them the way out.

Today, FAC services are available not just to "traditional" victims of marital, spousal or family abuse, but also for educating and advocating for teens, college-age young adults and elder groups who may be subject to physical, mental or emotional abuse.

One way this outreach to younger audiences has grown in the past several years is through a partnership with Arizona State University's Interior Design program. Born out of an idea to auction chairs adorned and decorated by local artists, CHAIRity is an annual benefit event for the FAC that auctions one-of-a-kind, custom-built chairs, designed and constructed by ASU students.

A WORTHY ASSIGNMENT

Through their first task of the semester-designing a chair-seniors in the School of Design Innovation's Interior Design program learn about victims of domestic abuse. In one of the first class meetings, the Family Advocacy Center brings caseworkers' information and victims' stories to the students to help them understand the issues.

Armed with this knowledge, the students seek inspiration from an artist or artistic movement, and the idea for a chair emerges. This year's inspirations range from tattoo artist Kat Von D to photographer Ansel Adams. The students' challenge is to raise funds for materials, and design and build the chairs in only five weeks. Approximately 30 students are teamed up in groups of three or four to collaborate on eight different chairs.

Because of tough economic times, the usual material and construction donations to build the chairs were not available. Faculty Associate Marci Lange, an interior designer with FM Solutions who has taught this segment of the course for the last several years, says, "The students were challenged to reach into new areas of their community. For example, the 'Unzipped' team set up a Facebook page about their chair project and connected it to a PayPal account where donations could be made. The page detailed the design project and its goals of educating fellow students, friends and family about reaching out to get help for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse."

Another team went to professors in other courses asking if they could talk to their classes about their project along with issues of domestic and sexual abuse, and to ask for donations from their fellow students to fund the construction of their chair. Through this outreach to their peers, the students became the educators and advocates for issues of domestic violence. In fact, several teams collected more than enough to fund their chairs, donating the balance directly to the FAC.

UNZIPPED

With a design influenced by Claes Oldenburg and a crisp, poetry-slam style for their presentation, the "Unzipped" team was judged and awarded a scholarship for the top design by the International Interior Design Association Southwest Chapter.

Part of their presentation reads:

So seal your battered mouth, and| Play dumb to all who see.| Once you return, keep those terrors zipped inside ...

There is hope just yet,| But it is not without fear.| You must muster all your strength and| Unzip to reveal.

Jessica Denton, Ivet Gesheva and Alicia Rampe, members of the "Unzipped" team, acknowledge that they learned about more than design through this process. "This project forces you to go out and make new connections," says Gesheva. "You are searching for help but also for solutions."

For its 10-year anniversary of the CHAIRity event, the Fundraising Board of the Family Advocacy Center is planning a new and improved auction program for early 2010. "This year's students and their amazing chair designs have inspired the CHAIRity planning committee to pursue a new venue for reaching and educating the community about the reality of domestic and sexual violence," says JoAnn Del-Colle, FAC director.

To see more photos of the chairs, visit www.facebook.com and search for "chairity." To learn more about the ASU Interior Design program, go to design.asu.edu/interior.

Julie Russ is a principal and co-owner of Studio J Communications, a graphic design and communications firm, and a member of the Fundraising Board of the Family Advocacy Center.

[www.chairity.info|www.chairity.info]