NEW YORK, NY.- EarlyShares.com, a premiere crowdfunding portal, announces its partnership with International Artist Domingo Zapata and The Bowery Mission to launch Art4Crowd. This is the first ever crowdfunded outdoor mural project in New York City.

Zapata, a personal supporter of The Bowery Mission, will be restoring the organization’s HQ building façade on Madison Avenue as a part of the Art4Crowd campaign, which officially launched on August 22nd,, 2013. Net proceeds from the campaign will benefit The Bowery Mission and go towards their programs for homeless adults and at-risk children in New York City. Through the EarlyShares crowdfunding platform, participants will support the restoration project, as well as support The Bowery Mission’s work.

The Art4Crowd crowdfunding project will include incredible rewards for backers, ranging from limited edition merchandise to original Domingo Zapata paintings at reduced prices. Information on how to join Art4Crowd’s efforts and how to help fund this project can be found at www.earlyshares.com/domingo-zapata.

The Bowery Mission: A Community of Hope
In an effort to communicate the Mission’s goals and relay its history of providing New Yorkers in need with life changing opportunities for over a century, Zapata would render an image similar to his “La Danse,” attached. These figures, joined together in a circle, celebrate the gift of life and community. By coming together as one, those who seek out assistance garner strength and support from one another under the safety and guidance of the Bowery Mission. By adorning the physical structure of the headquarters with this moving image, those who seek help, or have lost hope, will be able to picture a life after loneliness and hopelessness. They will understand that by associating with the Mission and participating in its programs that they will have an opportunity to re-enter the realm of productive life with the support of their piers. The figures dancing in the circle would be amended to reflect the diverse population of New York City and the Mission’s patrons.

A circle is an essential and elemental shape. When we come together and hold hands, we connect with each other and become not only a circular shape, but furthermore, part of the necessary structure to withstand growth. There is no end and no beginning, the opportunity to join comes very simply with the extension of the hand, which is always out stretched for any New Yorker in need. Furthermore, we choose what is inside the circle, while we cannot control what lies on the outside. The center then becomes a beacon of hope, which Zapata intends to represent with the Mission’s signature red doors.

Zapata would like to highlight and respect the existing structure of the Mission’s headquarters by adorning remaining space with images of flowers. With these flowers Zapata seeks to represent the garden of opportunity available to those in need by coming to the Bowery Mission. He will use bright, vibrant colors, a promise of vitality and joie de vivre, which represent the futures of those who seek out the Bowery Mission. Zapata would paint the doors and columns red, further connecting with the Mission’s logo. The artist intends to work with the representatives of the Mission each day to ensure that all are happy with the result!