Crossing the River

This auction is for the prizes that were collected for the Beef and Beer that was scheduled for July 26th. The Beef and Beer was cancelled, however the raffle prizes are still available.

First off I would like to thank you for taking a moment to learn more about my fundraiser. For those that do not know me personally, my name is Melissa Fague and I am a visual artist (Photography) living and working in Wilmington, DE. I received my associate’s degree for Digital Photography from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 2013. I am a 38 year old single mom of two and I went back to school in 2009 after a traumatic car accident which caused severe damage to my spine and left me on bed rest for a good part of 19 months. I watched my life crumble to pieces as I waited for surgery and pushed to maintain as mush as I could. I have been faced with numerous challenges, such as losing our home and a lot of my physical abilities; none of which I gave up on. Almost 6 years has past and I am still pushing to restore and succeed.

My love for photography was not apparent until the accident; it all came about because of a little book on how to improve your photographs. It was one of many books that were given to me to read while I was on bed rest and going through the surgeries. The book was small and very basis but it captured my attention and sparked a desire to learn more about the craft.

Since that time, I never once thought of myself as a victim. In fact, in a way the accident felt like a blessing; I received a second chance to build my life and I used that rehabilitation time as wisely as I could. I have been working non-stop at rebuilding my physical abilities, my life, learning the craft, the techniques, and the business of photography.

I love all types of photography but I found that I am most passionate about nature and landscape photography. My goal as a photographer is to inspire people through the art in nature. Hopefully I will be traveling with-in the next 2 years and with-in 10 years have a brick and mortar art gallery of my own so that I can continuously inspire people.

Why The Fundraiser
A few weeks ago I was approached by a representative from the Agora Gallery in New York City, they found my website and were fond of my work. The representative contacted me and asked if I worked with galleries and if I would submit my portfolio for review; so I did and I was accepted with-in two weeks.

Agora Gallery is in the center of the Chelsea art district of New York City. The gallery was established in 1984 and promotes artists of all types of media nationally and internationally through a variety of marketing options, from exhibitions to magazines. The gallery is renowned for its high standards of representation, work sold, and only a few artists are ever invited and accepted into the gallery each year. This is an amazing opportunity for any artist and I am so pleased to be accepted into Agora gallery.

However, because of the extensive PR work that the Agora Gallery does for their artists and the framed prints to fill the area of the gallery there is a cost that is a little too steep for me to handle on my own. The final clincher of it is the time frame, I must sign the agreement by July 31th or I lose the spot to another artist. So I am humbly asking for help... please help me cross the Hudson River and take the next step in my journey of being a world renowned photographer.

How will I use the funds?
The funds will be used for the following items:
Archival prints
Matting and framing
Entrance fees
Shipping
Insurance