Honoring his late son Joseph "Junior" Almanza's wish to pay it forward, José "Fugie" Almanza and Leonor Gil, founders of the Joseph Jr. Scholarship Foundation and Pilsen Art with a Cause raised $10,000 to help aspiring Latinx artists thanks to a successful silent benefit auction at Chicago's National Museum of Mexican Art.
CHICAGO, June 13, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Honoring his late son Joseph "Junior" Almanza's wish to pay it forward, José "Fugie" Almanza and Leonor Gil, founders of the Joseph Jr. Scholarship Foundation and Pilsen Art with a Cause raised $10,000 to help aspiring Latinx artists thanks to a successful silent benefit auction at Chicago's National Museum of Mexican Art.
Guests generously bid on one-of-kind pieces created by 21 talented Chicago Latinx artists from the city's Pilsen neighborhood. They also had a chance to purchase "Pilsen Art With A Cause," a book containing the works of these participating artists and authored by the Joseph Jr. Paying It Forward Scholarship program. All proceeds from the artists and the book went to the Joseph Jr. Scholarship Foundation to award scholarships to aspiring college students majoring in the arts.
José Almanza, an established photographer known in Chicago's Pilsen community and a US Air Force veteran, had already created scholarships to help students but wanted to give more money. Last year, he thought of asking his artist colleagues to support his cause. The presence of COVID shelved the event. With restrictions lifted this year, the event went back into production.
Almanza was very grateful for the overwhelming response from the public and from the artists.
"This is a historic event because something like this has never been done before. We had 21 Pilsen artists come together to contribute to one cause. We have never had this many artists together in one place and WORKING together. The artists look forward to continuing to support The Joseph Jr. Scholarship foundation in future years, and to continue helping students in the Spanish-speaking communities." Almanza said, "It was also historic because there was a 4-year-old who donated his piece to be auctioned. The amazing thing was that it sold at $170."
Besides Almanza, the other participating artists were the following:
- Rene Arceo
- Carlos Barberena
- Nicolas de Jesus
- Alma Dominguez
- Hector Duarte
- Esperanza Gama
- Jeff Abbey Maldonado
- Arturo Miramontes
- Elsa Muñoz
- Alfonso "Piloto" Nieves Ruiz
- Alejandro Romero
- Ricardo Santos Hernandez
- Pablo Serrano
- Diana Solis
- Robert Valadez
- Salvador Vega
- Gabriel Villa
- Roman Villarreal
- Rebecca Wolfram
- Karla Wong
Gil also expressed how the event had received much positive feedback from guests.
"Many were taken aback by the organization, the attendants, the donors, and even the accommodations. It was such a beautiful event," she said. "We are blessed to be helped by many beautiful angels who contributed to the planning and promoting of the event on social media to make this evening more amazing."
Preparation for an event brought an intense swirl of emotions for Almanza as he honored Junior on that evening and continues to do so in his life.
"Helping out other young people was his dream," Almanza said. "I'm continuing to be part of his dream."
The auction is still open as there are some pieces available. For more information about the Joseph Jr. Scholarship Foundation and to make a donation, visit its Facebook Page.
About The Joseph Jr. Scholarship Foundation:
The Joseph Jr. Scholarship Foundation is dedicated to raising funds for underserved Latinx students in the community to support their continuing education. The foundation was created to honor the memory of 'Junior' who committed suicide at the age of 12. Junior's wish was to someday have enough money to help students whose parents were struggling financially. José "Fugie" Almanza continues to carry out his son's wishes paying it forward via the creation of scholarships. For more information, visit the foundation's Facebook page. ###
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SOURCE The Joseph Jr. Scholarship Foundation
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