Students at Langley High School prepare an art show Saturday, June 9 to raise money for the Gandhi Brigade, a Maryland-based charity. Photo by Alex McVeigh.
McLean — Langley High School senior Gabriella Jacobsen has always been interested in art. Art runs in her family, through her grandmother and mother, and while Jacobsen enjoys creating art as well, she’s also interested in the practical side. She used this side Saturday, June 9 to hold a charity art sale at Langley to benefit the Gandhi Brigade, a Maryland-based nonprofit.
"I wanted to keep everything local, within the community, so I contacted local artists and students for the art," she said. "I knew I wanted to help out a local cause, and I was looking through the Catalogue for Philanthropy and contacted a few groups to see if they were interested in benefiting from a show, and the Gandhi Brigade got back to me."
The Gandhi Brigade is based in Silver Spring, Md. and works with young people to develop a commitment to the principles Mahatma Gandhi taught: nonviolence, awareness and common effort.
"Our goal is to work on human development, a lot of our group is made up of immigrants or the children of immigrants," said Richard Jaegi, executive director of the Gandhi Brigade. "Gandhi had the notion that just as you wouldn’t send a soldier to war without being trained, you don’t send peacekeepers into the world without being trained. We’re working on building a new generation of world-minded individuals who will serve as peacekeepers for the world."
The show featured more than 100 pieces of art in Langley’s auxiliary gym. The works were in a variety of media, mostly from students. Jacobsen and a few volunteers spent Saturday morning setting the show up, which she said was helpful when thinking about her future plans.
"I’ll be going to Virginia Tech In the fall to study industrial design, and I’m also thinking about studying curating, so this was definitely a good learning experience for me," she said. "I learned a lot about what it takes to put together a show, mostly that it’s not just something that’s easy and can be done in your spare time. It takes a lot of work."
More information about the Gandhi Brigade can be found at www.gandhibrigade.org.