Making a Difference, and Jewelry
 Debra Carr-Elsing
| | With a life that reads like a "Casablanca" script, Rebecca Peragine is using her myriad connections to help a grass-roots women's group - Mujeres Con La Tierra - sell baskets made from recycled newspapers by women in the Bahia de Banderas area in Mexico. |
Her life reads like a "Casablanca" script. She was an American running a coffee shop on a tropical island when she met the man of her dreams and fell in love.
She married Luca Peragine, a handsome Italian who owned a pizzeria on Isla Mujeres, a small island off the Yucatan peninsula, before returning to her Wisconsin roots.
Rebecca Peragine's passion for the people of Mexico and their culture, however, came with her.
That's why Peragine, who lives in Lodi, is launching Art and Philanthropy, a new business that raises funds for international charities.
"It's important for me to maintain a connection with Mexico and to find what it is that I was meant to do here," she says.
The answer came when she learned that a close friend, Molly Fisher, had opened a community center and an after-school program in Punta Mita, Mexico, which is on the Pacific Coast near Puerto Vallarta.
The project also involves Kate Hollenbach, who teaches at the American School of Puerto Vallarta and is formerly of Neenah, Wis.
"To raise funds for the community center - 'Casa Comunidad' - we decided to open a gallery in Punta Mita to sell the jewelry that I design, along with work from other artists," Peragine says.
The gallery opened last week, and 25 percent of the net proceeds go toward funding the community center, which teaches local women skills that help them earn an income.
Peragine is using her connections to also help a grass-roots women's group - Mujeres Con La Tierra - sell baskets made from recycled newspapers by women in the Bahia de Banderas area in Mexico.
A portion of the proceeds from these basket sales fund a women's safe house in Mexico and educational outreach programs.
"From a line of folk art called 'Reciclaje Artesanal,' these baskets are a symbol for women's human rights, helping to end silence, ignorance and domestic violence," says Vivian Joy Hemphill, a leader in this project of empowerment in Mexico.
In her home town, Peragine also uses her jewelry collection, which features natural shells, wood and semi-precious stones, to help nonprofits in the Madison area with their fundraising efforts.
"People like to get something back when they make a charitable donation," Peragine says, "and a piece of quality jewelry can be an added incentive for giving."
She, and other artists associated with Art and Philanthropy, receive set prices for their work at school fundraisers, women's clubs, trunk shows and black-tie events with a portion of the proceeds going to designated charities.
"We're just getting started, and I'm in the process of lining up boutiques to offer our work on consignment because it allows shop owners to also select a local charity and participate in giving," Peragine says.
"It's the appreciation of art and the passion for giving that makes Art and Philanthropy so meaningful."
Peragine's jewelry is available at the Bohemian Bauble, 404 W. Lakeside St., in Madison, WI. She's known for her custom work, as well as for a mother's line of pendants, which she creates from a variety of stones, pearls and sterling silver. Each necklace holds a photo in vintage glass.
Originally from Lodi, Peragine has worked extensively in Hispanic communities across the country. She graduated with degrees in human services and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and coordinated a bilingual after-school program in San Diego, before moving to Mexico in 2000.
Proceeds from her online shop support three international charities: Amigo de los Animales, an Isla Mujeres nonprofit dedicated to proper animal care; Pueblo a Pueblo, a volunteer organization that brings health care to poor, rural areas in Guatemala; and Casa Comunidad, the community-building program in Punta Mita, Mexico.
"My greatest fear when I moved back to the States was getting stuck in the rut of working 40 hours a week and forgetting the joy of helping others," Peragine says.
Peragine's brother, Chris Lane, still lives on Isla Mujeres, which is off the coast of Cancun, Mexico. He runs an Internet phone service on the island. His Web site is www.islamujeres.info.
To help his sister's entrepreneurial efforts, as well as to help islanders recover from recent hurricane damage, Lane has attached an Art and Philanthropy gallery to his business, and 50 percent of the proceeds go toward ongoing hurricane relief.
In fact, on a recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, Peragine got caught up in relief efforts and helped raise $5,500 for Isla Mujeres.
She and Fisher also arranged to have Aeromexico fly 800 pounds of donated food, water and clothing to islanders.
"We were getting our gallery in Punta Mita ready to open when Hurricane Wilma hit on the other side Mexico," Peragine recalls, "and we wanted to help all of our former neighbors and everyone we knew and loved on the island."
After all, the concept for Art and Philanthropy was born on Isla Mujeres when Peragine and Fisher were business owners and organized sidewalk fairs for local artisans to sell their work and contribute to island charities.
Los Angeles photographer Lisa Candela is among the artists now associated with Art and Philanthropy.
"My interests are photographing and documenting women, children, nature, and recently surfers and fathers," Candela writes in an e-mail from Mexico.
"I am especially drawn to areas and people who have struggles, poverty or pain."
Candela enjoys being a part of the Art and Philanthropy team, which is helping to make the world a better place, "and the more artists who join, the more power we have for the common good," she says.
The online shop of Art and Philanthropy also features pottery by Madison artist Lori Henthorne and photography by local artist Joseph Leute and New York artist Jess Izak Zimmerman.
"When we decided to open a gallery in Punta Mita, Mexico, we also decided it'd be important to have an online gallery so others could access the work that we have," Peragine says.
"Helping others is how I measure success," Peragine says, "and this is a win-win situation for everyone. Artists are getting their work out there, and we're helping nonprofits to raise funds."
The next step is to expand programs at the community center in Mexico, where she plans to teach women jewelry-making and how to make their own line of body products. |
Vallarta Weddings
Vallarta Living | December 2005 
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