Jesse Beam, Founder of Love Works Productions
Day Job:
I make signs for a living at OSU.
Favorite Food:
I love fruit leather, strawberry fruit leather especially
Things that bring you joy:
in no particular order: being part of something big, Family, my wife, especially my daughter, projects, knowing I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, art, taking pictures, helping people....helping people with the gifts and talents I've been given, networking not on facebook :) skateboarding, trips/traveling, creating/making/building, sun, a glass of red wine a bowl of pasta and my whole family eating together, bicycling, music of all kinds, making mix cd's, wedding dance parties, a hammock on a front porch, a warm summer night in a rocking chair listening to good music with friends....i could go on.
Who is God to you:
God is love, God is just, God is mysterious
What is your purpose for going on this trip?
I've been listening to Tony Campolo a lot, a good ol' east coast Italian Baptist speaker. One thing he said has really stuck in my head. He started an orphanage in Haiti and opened a wing specific to medical needs of the children in the area. On opeing day they were planning on approximately 50 kids showing up that were in desperate need of medical attention, if they didnt get it they would most likely die in about 6 months...not only did 50 kids show up...but 300 kids showed up and they had to turn away 250. It made him angry at God, "you are not a good God!! and you dont care!" he thought. And these words were put in his head, "I care and I am good....but people who call themselves by my name are not good and they dont care..."
What do you hope to accomplish:
I've organized a couple of art/music benefits here in Corvallis and am going to start doing more of them and other art/music/photography projects under the name 'Love Works Productions". I definitely would want to use some of the photos I would take in a show, paste them on walls HUGE! Grab peoples attention, not to give credit to me for my photographs, but to inspire and motivate, help a cause, this being the orphans in the world...its a huge issue! I want to bring a little art flavor to Corvallis thats meaningful, something that people will talk about. I want to be a do-er. Idealism partnered with action is an exciting thing.
Art Vision:
I was very inspired by a french photographer named JR ( http://jr-art.net/ ) . He travels to socially conflicted areas, talks with the people in the community and finds a compelling or touching story and photographs the people that are part of it. He then prints their photos out very large....like really big and pastes them on the sides of whole buildings bringing awareness of the issue to the surrounding community. I thought I could do this same thing but with sex trafficking survivors here in Oregon. So I met up with an awesome woman who is a survivor and took her photograph...just a photo of her eyes. I am in the process of working out a wall to paste this on. The one I'm hoping for is approx. 20' x 60'. The woman's blog would be an attached to the large print and people will see it, and be able to read her story and see that this kind of thing happens right here in Oregon. I'm hoping if this all works out we can combine a couple of outdoor art/music benefits at the wall involving local artists and High school students' art. The money would benefit future projects like this one and help fund Recycle Loves visions for creating a safe house for trafficked girls and pregnant teens and also their work with orphanages in Haiti where human trafficking and orphanages work hand in hand.
So in Kenya I would like to take some more eye photographs of the orphans there and paste them here in our community...set up a blog so people can here their story and hopefully inspire some people to take some action, whatever it might be. Here in our community or there in Kenya...wherever they feel strongest about. I made a phone call to another survivor yesterday and we're currently trying to work out a time to meet up and take her photograph as well. It's all happening I just need some wall space!
That's my vision...community, art, music, love others.
That's all I got for now....LIVE life, Love your neighbor....Love works.
