Artists for Peace and Justice Announces the Receipt of an $800,000 Grant from Artists for Haiti

NEW YORK, NEW YORK--(Marketwire - May 15, 2012) -

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Artists for Peace and Justice has announced the receipt of $800,000 from Artists for Haiti, an organization co-founded by Ben Stiller and David Zwirner to raise much-needed funds for reconstruction in Haiti. With this funding, Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) will be able to construct a new wing of 24 classrooms at the Academy for Peace and Justice, the first free secondary school in Haiti, which opened in October 2010. This new wing will have the capacity to accommodate 800 students, who may not otherwise have had the opportunity of a secondary education, bringing the total number of children served by the Academy to 1,600 in 2012-2013. The two-story wing is engineered to be able to withstand earthquakes and other natural disasters.

On behalf of Artists for Haiti, Stiller says, "We are excited to support Artists for Peace and Justice in their efforts to improve and expand opportunities for education in Haiti." The funds for the Artists for Haiti grant were raised at an auction of donated works by leading contemporary artists - including Cecily Brown, Marlene Dumas, Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Raymond Pettibon, Neo Rauch, and Luc Tuymans - held in 2011. Zwirner added, "The generous donations by 26 great artists for this auction sent a vital message to Haiti that not only can it count on the support of this field, but that art remains a central part of its identity."

Paul Haggis, founder of Artists for Peace and Justice and chairman of the Board of Directors, says, "Before the earthquake, Haiti was already in desperate need of help. Today those needs are exponentially greater. Promises of massive foreign aid were never kept and some of the biggest charities still have most of the money they raised in the bank, while they wait for the perfect conditions for investment to somehow magically appear. Artists for Haiti stepped into this void and is acting quickly to make a real difference. Their generous grant to Artists for Peace and Justice will help thousands of children for years to come, kids who deserve a real chance. The Academy for Peace and Justice, which we opened just months after the quake, provides children from the poorest communities in Haiti with free middle and secondary school education and is this only free high school in the nation. It is designed, built, and run entirely by Haitians, and administered by our amazing partners at the St. Luc Foundation. We currently have over 800 students in grades seven and eight, and thanks to Artists for Haiti, the academy will soon have a brand new structure for 800 more in both grades nine and ten, so that's 1,600 kids, and on our way to around 3,000 students total. I am deeply grateful for the support, and very proud to know Ben and Christine and David and Monica." In addition to co-founding Artists for Haiti with Zwirner, Stiller also serves on the Board of Directors of Artists for Peace and Justice.

Artists for Haiti (www.artistsforhaiti.org) is the result of a collaboration between actor, director, and philanthropist Ben Stiller with gallerist and art dealer David Zwirner. The two traveled together to Haiti in January 2011 and subsequently founded the nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. In September 2011 Artists for Haiti organized a major, high profile art auction at Christie's in New York, which raised $13.7 million, a record for a charity sale at the auction house.

Founded in 2009, Artists for Peace and Justice (www.apjnow.org) is a non-profit organization that addresses issues of peace, social justice, and poverty around the world. APJ's immediate goal is to serve children and their families in the poorest communities in Haiti by supporting programs in education, health, and dignity. In October 2010, APJ opened the Academy for Peace and Justice, the first free secondary school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Each student at the Academy for Peace and Justice receives a full scholarship, which includes tuition, uniforms, nutritious meals, and access to free medical care. At full enrollment, the Academy for Peace and Justice will provide educational opportunities to approximately 3,000 students. APJ also supports the St. Luke Family Hospital, which provides free medical care to the poorest and most vulnerable people in Port-au-Prince, including all Academy students and their families. The services provided by the hospital include a surgery facility, a rehabilitation unit, and Cholera Center. With APJ's support, the Cholera Center was constructed just 36 hours after the epidemic hit and has treated 20,000 patients to date, 50% of whom would have died without immediate treatment - and construction is set to begin on a second center. APJ donates 100% of public donations directly to its programs in Haiti.

For more information, visit: www.apjnow.org.

Follow: @artistsforpeace

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