Safe Water for Mathare hosted at swanky event at Spring Place on Friday night in the heart Tribeca. What brought chicsters and tattoo and street artists together for a fundraiser? The answer is Trudy Lines aka Trudy Lines Tattoo, world-renowned artist. When we sat down to speak briefly before the festivities kicked off, she had a passionate take on her identity. “As an artist, I feel a deep responsibility to drive environmental change and take a stand against single-use plastic,” she told us.
It began with the successful launch of her brand #BottleNo30, the world’s first reusable water bottle making a dual attempt at carbon negativity and social responsibility. Poceeds from each purchase go directly to supporting reforestation projects, which led her to then seek out new partners that shared her passion. It’s in that search she found the organization Water is Life, a non-profit charity that works at the grassroots level focusing on providing safe water infrastructure and developing new economic identities, specifically targeting the role of women, for communities in Africa and Latin America. The events goal was to raise $60k to transform an entire village economy in Kenya. The type of small and personal charity that stands in stark contrast to larger, faceless organizations. Their success was evident with 50+ projects implemented, impacting hundreds of thousands.
The event itself was as downtown as it gets. Models in lingerie tops getting fresh ink, tattoo clad men with cut off sleeves sipping rose from fine stemware and party crashers from the nearby TriBeCa Film Festival finding themselves drawn to the conversation, drinks and music by DJs Eddie Sears and Bina Fronda. I stepped back and wondered at the juxtaposition I was witnessing and wished for a moment that the women of Mathare could be there to see this event unfold – all for them. To learn more and donate please go HERE.
Notable guests were Mr. K Tattoo and Kevin King. Artists who contributed to the silent auction included James Goldcrown, Bradley Theodore, Fernando Romero, Adrian Kondratowicz, Daquane Cherry (Flaco Waters) and Josh (zim_arts). Tattoo artists on hand included Keith Hernandez, Michelle Santana and Derrick Johnson. Bang Bang tattoo artist Michelle Santana was there and inked the words New York on my ribs. The perfect memory for a quintessential New York night. -Written by Kohler McKenzie
Photos: Anja Matthes and Getty Images
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