LEXINGTON, Ky. - Big Ass Fans®, a leading designer and manufacturer of large-diameter, low-speed ceiling and vertical fans, has partnered with Art Start, a New York City-based nonprofit organization that provides at-risk kids with opportunities in life via art and music. To coincide with the Big Ass Fans residential product launch of Isis®, an energy-efficient, luxury ceiling fan, the company will donate 5 percent of Isis sales during May and June 2010 to Art Start, in an effort to support a remodel of their art rooms in a lower Manhattan homeless shelter.

“Art Start provides at-risk youth with opportunity and hope through art,” said Carey Smith, president and CEO, Big Ass Fans. “Big Ass Fans is pleased to donate a portion of the sales proceeds of our new residential fan, Isis, to support Art Start’s mission.”

Art Start volunteer artists work with kids in homeless shelters, group homes, and alternative-to-incarceration programs. Through painting, dancing, hip hop, piano, poetry, and various other art forms, Art Start uses the arts to enable their youth participants to rise above hardship by replacing frustration and instability with a sense of accomplishment, confidence, and direction, says the organization.

For the past 18 years, one of Art Start’s programs has conducted weekly workshops in three rooms in the lower Manhattan shelter. The spaces have been maintained, but are poorly lit, unwelcoming, and outdated. With the help of a SoHo design firm, Art Start seeks to transform these spaces within the shelter to a new home for the Art Start kids. A space that is bright, clean, modern, eco-friendly, and welcoming.

“We’re seeking to turn Art Start into a ‘place’ of pride, possibility, and inspiration for all children and volunteers who come together each week to create, dream, and achieve,” said Johanna De Los Santos, executive director, Art Start. “It’s companies like Big Ass Fans that help us make this happen. We are grateful for their support!”

To learn more about Art Start, visit www.art-start.org. To donate materials or funds to Art Start, contact Johanna De Los Santos at 917-653-8659 or johanna@art-start.org.

To learn more about Isis from Big Ass Fans, visit www.bigassfans.com/residential/.

Publication date: 05/24/2010