December is a time for myriad emotions. We’re thankful for our families during the holidays, we’re joyous from new gadgets and presents, we take stock of what we have, we’re hopeful of the new year looming ahead, and we’re generally introspective and away of the “have-nots” of others. Donations to charities surge in the final month; not just due to the tax benefits, but also because now is the time to be generous and be aware of the inequities in the world.
Ryan McGinley Mug, $20 // José Parlá moleskin notebook, $25.95
Cue my sudden fascination with RxArt, based on the Lower East Side of New York City. RxArt is a non-profit organization that transforms pediatric hospital facilities into comforting and engaging spaces through site-specific installations by contemporary artists. The therapeutic potential of visual art to stimulate healing is well known, and the organization provides children and their families with creative respite from the anxiety and the pain of illness, offering hope.
Nate Lowman Christmas ornaments – Pizza, American Flag, Whatever, $12.95 // Andrew Kuo Tee-Shirt, $24.95 // Will Cotton Insatiable Wrapping Paper, $15.00
This holiday season, RxArt and Nordstrom teamed up to bring an artful eye to your gift-giving experience! Decorate your apartment from your kitchen to your closet with pieces by Ryan McGinley, José Parlá, Andrew Kuo and Nate Lowman. Who says art is just for your walls? 100% of the sales proceeds benefit RxArt.
Imagine a jazzed up hospital bed on New Year’s Eve, or a more festive Christmas in the children’s ward! The organization mends the broken spirit of patients caught in that dull system or taupe colored walls. RxArt combines my love of do-goodness and contemporary art. They’re my no-brainer charity of the year.
Julia Chiang lollipops, $3.95
A combed-cotton T-shirt performs a timely public service with a perturbed-feline graphic that serves as a reminder to us all: Behave, or Santa will leave a pile of coal on your head. Or choose to adorn the Christmas tree with your mother’s least favorite rejoinder. Hang a withering ‘WHATEVER!’ warning-sign ornament from your evergreen branches and you’ll have a ready-made retort every time someone asks why you aren’t married, when you’re going to get a real job or whether you are, in fact, aware of your declining fertility.
2013 might have been the year of the #selfie (another new entry into the Oxford Dictionary) but, make 2014 the year of the #unselfie. Give back.
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