Recording artist Sarah Fimm and friends are going to hang thousands of tiny mirrors and place hundreds of solar hummingbirds in the trees and shrubs behind the Bearsville Theatre next month and illuminate them to reflect light in all directions. The installation, to be called Sparkle Park and be on view from June 10-July 1, mimics the diverse ways in which she and numerous other artists have come together to use their creative talents to shine a light on issues of human rights, of the abusive and sometimes legal practice of human trafficking and – perhaps most importantly – of the very healing factor of artmaking itself.
Fimm’s recent initiative, Inspire Art, was created as “a global call to all artists, thinkers, talkers, dreamers and anyone who wants to use their talents to fight for human rights.” The effort takes advantage of online social media to bring visibility to important issues. “We are all inundated with the everyday aspects of life that are already challenging, so to look at another sad topic is almost unbearable,” she writes. Combining music and art, helping artists get visibility for their work and addressing topics that need desperate attention: These are the foci of Inspire Art.
“I’m a musician, and I work with a lot of artists and musicians who are really struggling these days. They want to use their talents. If they don’t, there are consequences: sadness, lack of fulfillment.” Putting it out on the Internet to get connected, share artwork, be inspired by each other was the first step. In a very short time, hundreds of artists had submitted work to Fimm’s project via Pinterest, and now have people all over the world following them, seeing their work.
“A massive contingent of people are taking part, watching, commenting on and interacting. I now have over 800 pieces of artwork from kids from all over the world. In Sparkle Park, Inspire artists will be represented by 100 pieces of art, and several local Inspire artists are going to be involved in the installation.”
Upon becoming aware of the preponderance of human slavery in parts of the world where no injunctions against the practice hold sway, Fimm heard about an incident of 512 individuals who were imprisoned in a brick kiln in India just last July. She created 512 individual eight-by-ten-inchpaintings, each symbolizing one person who was rescued from a life of forced labor and prostitution, and has offered them for sale to support the ongoing work. “This movement is about giving, inspiring and allowing yourself to realize that we are not only unique individuals, but we are an interdependent live experiment that is in dire need of color, music and benevolence. Change happens because people make it happen, and everyone deserves a chance at life. Be Inspired.”
Join Fimm and friends at the Bearsville Theatre on June 30 to celebrate art and life itself. “Sarah Fimm’s Summer of Inspiration” celebrates the release of her upcoming EP The Barn Sessions, a collection of work recorded live in Woodstock. In the meantime, visit https://www.sarahfimm.comfor more information and view Inspire artist’s work at https://pinterest.com/sarahfimm.
Join the family! 
