+PRESS RELEASE

Kuala Lumpur, 15 December 2022

ART ROCKS US

BUILDING FUTURE-PROOF BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS TO ACHIEVE REAL SOCIAL CHANGE AND EMPOWERMENT THROUGH ART 

A one-month collaborative showcase between profit-making and not-for profit organisations 

Event Launch 5 January 2023 

Event Runs until 2 February 2023 

@ Menara Ken TTDI 

Media Contact:  

Marina Kramer 017-647 7311 

Mash Juzar  019-754 0917  

Kuala Lumpur, 15 Dec 2022- An innovative collaboration between educational non-profit organisations Fugee, Angsanacare and profit-making agency  Brand Me Happy and Tea Bird Tea, ART ROCKS US is running from 05 January to 02 February 2023 at Menara Ken TTDI. The immersive art experience features scintillating artworks by career artists, product designers and talented Fugee School students. 

What if non-profit organisations were empowered to earn their own funds?  

Brand Me Happy and Tea bird Tea have been working with Fugee for 6 months to help them reinvent their business model to make them self-reliant and future-proof. Together, they are bridging the gap between profit-making and non-for-profit organisations by restructuring Fugee’s operations, changing their communication focus to become more transparent and building new commercial platforms making it easier to connect with donors and businesses alike. ART ROCKS US is the best example of how this works: it offers Fugee a professional platform and the mileage to engage with corporates in a new setting while showcasing students’ talent in front of a larger audience. Fugee does not have the capacity to organise an art event of this scale independently, but through this collaboration it can draw on the expertise of the branding and art specialists. 

Entrepreneurs always look outside the box to find sustainable business solutions and there is no reason why non-profit organisations should not do the same.  

“This will be an art showcase like no other- we want to share our vision of how important art is, how it makes people feel special, art as a therapy, how it lifts your day, how it questions your direction and how it supports self-reliant and future-proof business.”

WHAT WILL YOU EXPERIENCE AT THE SHOWCASE? 

• Inspiring art from Fugee School students and refugee artists as they tap into their artistic potential 
• Thought-provoking exhibits by Sharon Abdullah and Ashleigh Cotterill of Brand Me Happy and Angsanacare. 
• Fugee Dream School campaign and new website launch. Fugee is introducing its new Giving Catalogue and fundraising to build the Fugee Dream School. Art- based commercial product ranges by Tea Bird Tea,  Fugee School and Fugeelah. 

Focus on mental health. Angsanacare, the other non-profit this exhibition supports, provides art and music therapies to terminally ill children in the hospitals. Also,  art is therapy for kids and adults with ADHD and other mental health issues. ART ROCKS US displays some of their work and explores how differences can be bridged. 

Focus on environmental sustainability. About half of our showcase has been reused or recycled.  

Entrance is free of charge. However,  profits from any art or products sold will go directly to the seller with 10% of all sales being pooled to cover the running costs of the exhibition. Fugee student artists get 20% for each art piece they sell and the balance goes towards funding the Dream School.  

WHAT DO THE CREATORS SAY? 

“Working on tight or non-existent budgets loads stress onto teams and workloads can become unmanageable. Grants and funding are welcome, however  non-profit organisations need to target the day-to-day cashflow problem which many charities experience when their main donors are also under pressure. They can’t spend money on advertising, they can’t get enough staff to get out there to hit the streets fundraising and the costs keep rolling in every month. This is where we come in with our innovative art-based business solution.” 

“For many non profits like Fugee School, our focus and priority is on the community and our students' needs and often don't have the time, resources and manpower to plan sustainable fundraising and awareness campaigns. Collabs like these are great because we get to partner with like minded companies where we can pool our expertise, expand our network and ultimately raise more funds and awareness so we can focus on and grow our mission.”   

ABOUT THE CREATORS

Born out of the premise that no child gets left behind, Fugee began as a tuition centre for 4 Somali siblings. Over the last 14 years, the Fugee School became a leading refugee education non-profit developing end to end, future-focused learning opportunities for refugee children and youth based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Founder Deborah Henry also started Fugeelah, a mission driven social enterprise created for refugee children and youth.  

Brand Me Happy agency was founded during the pandemic to service small businesses by Sharon Abdullah of Angsanacare and Ashleigh Cotterill of Tea Bird Tea.  

Angsanacare has two main programmes of activity, psychological intervention and music and art therapy for paediatric patients. Professional play, art and music therapy. Angsanacare’s services extend to the entire family, where possible and offer holistic therapy for their families.   

The collaboration of the organisations  resulted in the creation of the Fugee Dream School, an expansion of the well-regarded Fugee School. Why? Because there are many refugee children still out of school and with this expansion we can offer existing students an improved learning experience and increase our intake. We want to think 

big and ensure that every child at Fugee School has the right to the best education possible- and the Fugee Dream School will be an awesome new and improved safe environment for our students to reach their full potential.