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Pound Ridge Library Art Show Will Highlight Human-Trafficking Issue

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. -- The Pound Ridge Library announced that it will host an art show on Saturday, Jan. 31, to promote awareness of human trafficking.

The Pound Ridge Library

The Pound Ridge Library

Photo Credit: File Photo

The art show, which will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., will include participation from several Pound Ridge artists and a group called International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA).

Pound Ridge Councilwoman Ali Boak, who is also IOFA's president and co-founder, is scheduled to join the show, as is Police Chief David Ryan.

In a statement provided by the library, Boak mentions that human trafficking has happened locally.

“Human trafficking has even occurred right here in idyllic Pound Ridge,” Boak said. “Our community is not immune to human trafficking. In the past five years, hundreds of people have been trafficked in Westchester County, many of them children."

“As a community resource center, it is exceptionally appropriate for the Library to be actively involved in the endeavor to raise public awareness," Pound Ridge Library Director Marilyn Tinter said in a statement accompanying the announcement. "I consider it a privilege to work together in partnership with Ali Boak and IOFA in hosting this important and vital community event.”

The library has hosted similar events, Tinter explained in response to a a follow up from Daily Voice. As an example, she cited a recent event including both the Pound Ridge Art Guild (PRAG) and the Pound Ridge Authors Society (PRAS), which involved a local books signing and local art exhibit.

A statement from Susan Grissom, who is one of the local artists in the show, also accompanied the announcement.

“Human trafficking is a horrific crime,” said Grissom, who is also the Lionheart Gallery's director. “When Ali Boak asked me to participate in the show, I called a friend who had created a painting for an exhibit in Singapore to benefit trafficking victims. She agreed to let us use her image, entitled “Hope is What Lies Ahead”, as the symbol for this show as it artfully expresses a victims prayer for hope”. 

Participating artists listed also include Geoffrey Stein, Carolee Rainey, Kimberly Petts, Curtis Lew, Gail Jankus, Sally Green, Johnny Dauer and John Whitton Bria.

Gabriel Rainey, a Fox Lane High School junior who lives in Pound Ridge, is scheduled to do a cello performance at the show. 

People looking to RSVP for the art show are asked to contact Boak at her email address, which is aliboak@me.com. More information about IOFA is available on its website.

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