Art With Heart: Artists Get Creative for Good Causes

Let’s face it, the past few months have been a boon for Mayan 2012 doomsayers. Floods in Australia, Christchurch flattened by an earthquake, and most recently Japan suffering the triple blow of quake, tsunami, and nuclear catastrophe. The scenes of devastation have led people to donate cash and their own time to help with relief efforts. But what do you do if the tyranny of distance and the fact you’re a struggling artist make it impossible to help out? Well, why not donate your art?

Proving that the internet can actually be used for good, BuzzFeed has collated a gallery of art works inspired by the disaster in Japan, with the artists donating proceeds to relief efforts. A number of the works are from the Threadless Japan and Pacific Relief T-shirt Challenge, which called for designs reacting to the events in Japan — the most popular design will soon go into production and be sold to raise money for the Red Cross. Others come from the Poster Cause Project, which gets artists to design posters for a new cause each month and donates 50% of all profits to charity. Others still, like the charitable storm troopers are the artists’ own initiative.

Browse the Art for Japan gallery and, if something grabs your attention, don’t be afraid to purchase – after all, it’s going to a good cause. Or, if you’re feeling arty, why not donate your creative juices to something meaningful? Threadless are now calling for submissions on the theme ‘Acts of Green’ to support Earth Day.