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• Art of Community event supports homeless CU residents

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The photo gallery of Indi go Art Gallery, downtown Champaign. Photo by Lu Huang

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Since its conception in summer 2009, Safe Haven, a self-governing group of 40 homeless residents of Champaign seeking to establish a lasting housing community, has struggled for local support.

But UIUC students working with the East St. Louis Action Research Project, a program run by the College of Fine and Applied Arts that serves distressed urban areas, are asking the community to get involved in an event to benefit Safe Haven. With Art of Community, a silent art auction at Indi Go Artist Co-Op in downtown Champaign, the students aim to raise approximately $2,000 to cover Safe Haven’s utility costs.

“With the auction at Indi Go, we’re hoping to raise awareness, because Safe Haven is still trying to find a permanent place to stay and live,” said FAA junior Emily Denis, one of the students organizing the event.

Last fall, the city forced the group, which then consisted of only around 15 members, to dismantle the tent community it had assembled behind the Catholic Worker House in Champaign, citing a zoning regulation. Since November, Safe Haven has found a temporary home in a building owned by Restoration Urban Ministries. It has its sights set, however, on establishing their own community, which will be available for homeless people.

Fifteen artists have already committed to donate their work to the auction. Pieces include photographs, paintings, jewelry and pottery.

The silent auction will run from Saturday, May 8, at 6 p.m. through Friday, May 14, at 9 p.m. The opening and closing events on May 8 and May 14, respectively, will start at 6 p.m. and will feature performances by musicians and artists. The exhibit will also be open to the public from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. from May 10 to May 13.

On Thursday, May 13, a local artist will host a creative workshop during the exhibit’s open hours.

According to the group’s mission statement, Safe Haven aims to create “a safe, clean, self-governed community environment for economically distressed residents ... where people living on the streets can have their basic needs met in a stable, sanitary environment.”

If allowed to operate, such a community would provide citizens without means to claim their basic rights to sleep, dignity, health and attain a measure of self-sufficiency.