Bethesda, Maryland – April 25, 2016 – The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) is pleased to announce a partnership with The Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts (VDFA) for NCCF’s 13th Annual Art and Soul Charity Auction. The event will take place on Friday, June 3, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. at the Silver Spring Civic Center.
This year’s theme, Art and Soul: “Life as Art”, embraces the philosophy that art heals, and when children and families participate in creating beauty, they feel valuable. Highlighting the event is recently signed Redskin Vernon Davis, an avid artist, philanthropist, and athlete. The event will serve as a welcome home celebration for the Dunbar High School graduate and University of Maryland Terrapins football player, while celebrating a new peer-to-peer arts mentorship with Duke Ellington School of the Arts students and NCCF youth.
“Mr. Davis and his successful journey from humble beginnings, with his reliance on his love for art, is the absolutely perfect partner for Art and Soul: “Life as Art”. Our youth will be thrilled as we welcome him home,” says Dr. Sheryl Brissett Chapman, Executive Director of NCCF.
A Super Bowl Champion and champion for the arts, Davis founded VDFA, promoting art education and art appreciation among youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Growing up in my community in Washington, D.C., it was tough to pursue your dreams, and the dream in my heart was always to pursue the arts,” Davis said. “I want to help young people find new ways to express themselves, to lift their spirits, and fulfill their dreams through an arts education.”
Art and Soul will feature a video project created by a youth that captures the voice of Davis’s D.C. hometown supporters, family, and teachers, which will kick-off the event. The evening also includes a silent auction of local artist’s work and football memorabilia from Davis’s career, and food catered by NCCF’s own Heart & Soul Catering.
Tickets are $75 for Art and Soul: “Life as Art”, and can be purchased by vising www.nccf-cares.com/attend-our-events/.
About The National Center for Children and Families
Founded in 1915 as an orphanage in the District of Columbia, NCCF is a private, nonprofit child and family welfare agency with a commitment to serving poor, disadvantaged, abused, neglected, and/or abandoned children, youth, and their families. Current program services include emergency shelters and transitional housing for homeless families and youth, a high-intensity therapeutic group home for adolescents, therapeutic and traditional foster care and adoption, independent living for youth transitioning to adulthood, teen parent services, and community-based prevention services that promote academic achievement, parental involvement, economic and vocational stability, and healthy families. Its programs have become social service models, redefining both NCCF’s reputation and the agency’s position in the human service continuum in the Washington Metropolitan Region. https://www.nccf-cares.org
About The Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts
The Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts was created by artist, athlete, and philanthropist Vernon Davis to promote art education and art appreciation among youth. The foundation was formed in 2010 to fulfill its mission of providing scholarships to dedicated art students and grants to deserving nonprofit programs who share in our ideals. Art programs, seminars, and workshops are also a part of the VDFA’s operations annually and continue to grow year over year.
The Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts envisions communities where the arts are vital to social development and represent a positive alternative for youth dealing with stress and peer pressure. Through the arts, youth can find new ways to express themselves, to lift their spirits, and fulfill their dreams.
Contact:
Annie Wilson
301-365-4480 x135
awilson@nccf-cares.org
