VOA常速英语:ArtLifting：帮助流浪艺术家重返家园

“When I’m painting, I’m totally in.I don’t think about anything else - bills, what I’m gonna have for dinner . . . I’m just all in.”
“我在画画的时候是全身心投入的，在这段时间里面，窗外的一切纷扰都与我无关——不管是那些待付的账单，还是未决的晚餐，都不能打扰到我……反正我就是把自己投入到里面去了。”

And the results speak for themselves.
当然了，这种状态下工作的威廉姆斯取得的成果也是不言自明的。

“Her pieces are so bright and full of life, and really inspiring to not just me, but also customers.”
“她的作品总是那么色彩鲜亮，生机勃勃的，而它们不止激励了我，还鼓舞了我们的客户。”

Perhaps even more inspiring than the artwork is the artist herself——Williams is homeless.A former Air Force veteran, she worked for 10 years at Harvard University before being laid off in 2009.
但或许比作品更激励人心的，是画出这些作品的艺术家——因为威廉姆斯是个无家可归的人。作为前空军老兵，威廉姆斯曾在哈佛大学工作了十年，直到2009年，她被辞退了。

“The recession was extremely hard.There was no work anywhere——temporary or contract work——there was nothing.”
“当时的经济真的太不景气了。去哪里都找不到工作——不管是临时工作还是合约工作——统统都找不到。”

Williams says financial obligations included medical bills for a hip condition that ultimately became so painful,it prevented her from working altogether.
威廉姆斯说，她的经济预算中还要包括医药费，因为当时自己的臀部出现了一点问题，发展到最后已经疼痛难忍了，总之，她还要继续失业。

“One of my biggest frustrations is when someone says . . . you know,the stereotype of ‘Well, homeless equals lazy,’ and that’s completely untrue.The vast majority of the time, being homeless is something that someone experiences because of extremely bad luck.”
“我最难过的就是有人说……你也知道，就是人们一直以来的成见，‘无家可归说白了还不就是因为懒吗，’可事实完全不是这样的。大部分时候，人们之所以无家可归，是因为运气实在是太差了。”

Liz Powers is the co-founder of ArtLifting, a startup that helps homeless and disabled artists sell their artwork.
莉斯·鲍尔斯是ArtLifting的联合创始人，而这家新成立的公司旨在帮助无家可归和身体有残疾的艺术家们出售他们的作品。

“There are thousands of existing art groups in homeless shelters and social service agencies.So we work with those existing art groups and then curate the top artwork, and then sell it.”
“如今有成千上万个艺术团体都分布在游民庇护所和各种社会服务机构当中。我们就是与这些现存的艺术团体合作，收集上乘的作品，然后卖给客户。”

Besides original artwork, ArtLifting sells printed art products such as tote bags and smartphone cases.More than 100 artists are represented across 19 U.S. cities, each receiving 55 percent of profits from purchases.
除了原创的艺术品，ArtLifting还出售以下印染类艺术产品，例如手提包和手机套等等。来自美国19个城市的100多名艺术家都参与其中，他们每人都可以从自己卖出的作品当中抽出55%的利润。

Williams remembers her very first sale.
威廉姆斯至今还记得自己做成的第一笔生意。

“It was my first check.And I was just, I think I had tears in the back of my eyes, like, for a check for $35.”
“那是我第一次靠自己的作品挣到钱。我真的，我觉得眼泪都要流出来了，当时好像就是为了一张35美元的支票。”

Painting was her therapy, she never imagined it could also be her living.
威廉姆斯曾经把画画当做是疗伤的方法。那时的她可从来没有想过，自己以后居然会以此维生。

“Our artists know that they are not charity cases.They are professional artists and their work was curated for a reason.”
“我们的艺术家心里都清楚，他们不是一直靠慈善过活的人。他们都是专业的美术家，而自己的作品之所以能被征集，不是没有原因的。”

Despite everything that has happened to her, Williams’ creative spirit is still intact,“I read a quote that has stayed with me, and it said, “A broken crayon can still color.”
尽管威廉姆斯曾经饱受风雨，但却始终保持着创造精神，“我曾看到过一句话，它一路走来一直激励着我，这句话是这样的，‘蜡笔虽断，却依然可以让世界充满色彩。’”

No doubt, Williams has more coloring to do.
无疑，威廉姆斯未来还要继续为这个世界增涂美丽的色彩。

Tina Trinh, VOA news, Boston.
VOA新闻，蒂娜·郑于波士顿为您播报。