A friend sent this to me last night, and I immediately thought it was a damn cool idea for a charity gig.

They’re looking up to 150 people to register to be involved, each will paint a vinyl bear which will then be sold off with the proceeds going towards – it’s Section 8, so all the cool things that go along with that mad ass container bar apply – tunes, beverages, art and cool company.

“PencilNeck Productions presents Toy to the World. A two part event, part design workshop, part exhibition, the event will be a collaboration of Melbourne’s many graphic artists, street/graffiti artist, designers and illustrators working to each transform a vinyl toy bear into a piece of unique art exploring many themes especially those surrounding World AIDS Day 2010 and its theme “Make Change, Not Discrimination”.

Kicking off from 11am on Saturday 20^th November 2010 the first part of the event, “Toy to the World: Design Day”, is set to bring Melbourne’s creative community together at Section 8 container bar in Tattersalls Lane, just off Lonsdale Street in the heart of the CBD. Eckersley’s arts and crafts proudly supply an array of spray paint; paint markers and glue for artists to get imaginative with and vinyl toy manufacturer Popobe have provided 150 blank bears as canvases for the artists to play with. Section 8’s bar open for a bevvy or two and the S8 crew will present some huge RnB and HipHop tunes from their resident DJs, so those less artistically inclined can still come along kick back with a drink, some hot tunes and watch the magic happen.

Artists should pre-register for the event by sending an email with their name and contact number to pencilneck@live.com.au, they’ll be sent a template of the Popobe bear so they can get the creative juices flowing and plan out their design, they’ll also be asked to choose a preferred time slot: 10 artists per hour, every hour, 11am-7pm, first in best dressed. The designs will be judged by a panel of special guest artists and designers, the top three walking away with an assortment of awesome prizes. Registration is free.

The goods keep coming; the designs will be collected through the day for part two of the event, Toy to the World: Exhibition, giving the artists a chance to have their works exhibited. Part of the Midsumma 2011 festival, the exhibition will open the 17^th January and close 6^th February at 45downstairs the premier art space in Midsumma’s Queer City. A silent auction will run the length of the exhibition to raise funds the Victorian AIDS Council. All funds raised from the sale of works go to the VAC. Artists will be offered the opportunity to pre-purchase their design so they can hang onto it if they’d like it not to be auctioned.”

Who: up to 150 artists from all over …
What: Toys To The World Charity event
Where: Section 8, 29 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne
When: Saturday 20th November, 11am til 7pm

Check out the Facebook event page for more details on the event, and contact them to register.