Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Lindsey Matheson.
Dr. Matheson, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a British physician who worked in the pharmaceutical industry and set up a consulting business (with a colleague), which we later sold. I came to the USA for business reasons in 1996 and stayed because I love it here! I was introduced to the Center for Great Apes by a friend and fell in love with this unique sanctuary because it offers lifetime care to orangutans and chimpanzees who have been abused in the movie industry (some of our apes are stars!) and the exotic pet trade.
Since they have been around humans for all their lives, they don’t have the survival skills to be released into the wild and need skilled and stimulating care for life. I started to volunteer at the Center about ten years ago and was thrilled to be invited to sit on the board six years ago and I now chair the Fundraising Committee. Our apes usually have sad and touching backstories, but the Center gives each of them the happy ending they deserve. It is a wonderful and inspiring place with a dedicated staff and I am proud to be a small part of it.
Has it been a smooth road?
I’m a typical Brit, hate asking for money so I wanted to use my business skills to help raise much-needed funds for veterinary care, food and the staff needed to keep the apes safe and in good health. I noticed that many of our apes enjoyed painting as part of their mental enrichment program and because Miami is all about the arts, particularly with Art Basel being such a major feature on the calendar, it seemed to me that there was an opportunity to work with art to raise money for the apes.
So, with the help of my family and friends (sometimes I think it is dangerous to get too close to me!) I set up ENDANGERED: Art4Apes, which raises funds for CGA through an annual art contest and exhibition. The ENDANGERED Fine Art & Photography Contest and Exhibition. We started nine years ago with our first exhibition in Miami and I was so thrilled to sell a painting by Bubbles, the chimpanzee who used to belong to Michael Jackson, to the fantastic and generous artist and Miami legend, Romero Britto. This is the 8th year we have run both the contest and the exhibition and every year it changes and develops. It’s so exciting!
Please tell us about ENDANGERED: Art4Apes.
The contest is to interpret “ENDANGERED.” We get entries from all over the world (USA, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australasia), they are judged online by three well-recognized and expert judges and we award cash prizes and exhibition places in three categories: Fine Art, Photography and Young Artists (under 19 years). Our exhibitions have always been during Art Basel week and have been in different parts of Miami. We have found a permanent home for the exhibition in the delightful Pinecrest Gardens, south of Miami https://www.pinecrestgardens.org, where Patti Ragan had the idea to start CGA. Looking after such intelligent and emotionally sentient beings as orangutans and chimpanzees involves a lot of care and, consequently, a significant expense. We are proud that our venture supports the care for one ape for a year.
We try to run everything as economically as we can because we want to give the maximum amount to the Center, so I am always begging and pleading for help, support and sponsorship to promote the contest and exhibition. I have been so grateful and impressed that South Florida has such a strong commitment to and fascination with the arts and nature and a real commitment by successful folk to give back. It makes Miami a great place to live and work.
I believe that for a venture to be successful, you have to make sure that there is something to benefit all parties. We try and do a good job of not just raising money, but also raising awareness of the challenges that face endangered species and habitats across the world and we try and help to promote the work of the talented artists and photographers who choose to use their considerable talent and imagination to highlight all we stand to lose in the natural world if we are not careful. We are particularly keen to involve young people who often enter the most stimulating pieces of work.
This year, in common with all the other exhibitions, we face the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic and have had to cancel plans for our live exhibition in Pinecrest Gardens. Whilst we are really disappointed, as we have had great fun with our talks, seminars and evening receptions, we are planning an exciting online exhibition which will run for two months, November – December, and will feature EVERY entry to our contest.
We will be running a series of talks to run alongside the exhibition. We are planning to feature artists discussing their inspiration and techniques, how photographers get some of their amazing shots and aspects of the business of making money from your art and of course some inspirational scenes and news from CGA. If anyone has any ideas for subjects they would like to hear discussed in our online program of talks, I’d love to hear them.
The ENDANGERED Fine Art & Photography Contest 2020 closes on October 7th this year but the 2021 contest will open in December 2020, so please keep an eye on our website https://www.art4apes.com for the latest details and to see all the wonderful work on display in our exhibition opening December 1st, 2020. We would be so grateful for sponsors and volunteers to help us spread the word. Take a look at the wonderful sanctuary that our work benefits https://www.centerforgreatapes.org.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
South Florida, and Miami in particular, is a wonderful and inspiring place with a magical combination of natural beauty, artistic talent and multicultural joie de vivre. The pandemic has put a hold on so many of our plans but we are not daunted. We have all learned that we can be creative and function in different ways. ENDANGERED: Art4Apes has become more outward-looking and we have learned to do much more online. We are seeking to link other environmentally and artistically focused communities around the USA and the world with Florida and hope to steadily bring about a greater and wider appreciation for all that nature offers us and that we should strive to preserve. Miami has a huge role to play in this. Could someone please fix the traffic?
Contact Info:
- Website: art4apes.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/art4apes
- Facebook: facebook.com/art4apes
- Twitter: @art4apes
- Website: art4apes.com
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