Welcome to Friday Feature! Every Friday we will feature someone involved with ARC, including Board members, Junior Board members, field partner staff on the ground in Tanzania, and our volunteers and interns. We hope that this new feature will help you to get to know the many faces behind ARC and connect with our mission on a deeper level. This week we are featuring Board member (and Contributing Artist!) Beth O’Donnell. You can read past Friday Features here and here.  Beth O’Donnell is an acclaimed photographer and painter, exhibiting in galleries throughout the U.S. Her photojournalistic work in Africa, for which she spent two months in 2000 working in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, was published in The London Daily Telegraph and Marie Claire magazines. She has also been published in The Financial Times and has appeared twice as a guest on Oprah Winfrey’s Oxygen Network, for “Angels in the Slums” and “AIDS and Orphans.” In 2006, Beth’s book Angels in Africa was published. This book introduces seven visionary women hailing from seven different countries (including Tanzania), who each have taken powerful action to rectify the devastating societal conditions in Africa. Beth has served on ARC’s Board of Directors for the past twelve years and is a regular contributor to the annual Artists for Africa benefit. Getting to Know You… Of all the places you have traveled, which resonates most with you? East Africa, of course! What do feel is the biggest challenge facing Africa today? There are so many challenges in Africa today…everything from changes in tribal culture, ecological and environmental changes…the need for conservation of animals…the need for women to be given a hand up, especially in the slums of Africa. The need to educate the children of Africa, especially the girls. It often feels like one person can’t make a difference supporting the many environmental causes there are today. What small steps can people make to help conservation/preservation efforts in Africa or globally? There are many causes to support and one person can make a difference. Supporting ARC is one of the many ways to help save the environment! What themes or personal experiences are most commonly evoked in your art? I’ve done many different series of art . Sometimes just photography while other works are mixed media…photography and oil paint. It seems whatever I’m working on has to do with finding the balance. The male and female energies in balance is what I strive for in my work. I seem to be always working on things that are or might be disappearing. How do you continue to stay inspired?  Travel and NYC keep me inspired. What was the last book you read? Lunch in Paris (a love story with recipes) What is playing on your iPod lately? Everything…African Cuban mixes to Ceasaria Elvora to Cold Play to Sting to Jay Z to Rhihana to Aloe Black Visit Beth’s website Angels in Africa on Facbeook Beth O’Donnell Photography on Facebook