Visionary: Creative force Shane W. Evans - visual artist, award wining illustrator, author, musician, songwriter, and founder of Dream Studio, a community art space in Kansas City, MO. With 30 books to his credit as illustrator, Shane has upcoming book projects debuting in 2010 with actor Taye Diggs, actor Holly Robinson Peete, and former NBA player Charles Smith. He has exhibited, lectured, and developed art programs for youth in Burkina Faso, Botswana, Brazil, China, France, Japan, Lesotho, and across the U.S. Shane's current mulit-media project - Olu's Dream - continues his tradition of striving to serve up increased opportunity, understanding, and accessibility to children and adults around the world.

Mission: To Inspire the Dreams Of Young People Around The World

Power Move: Harper Collins released Olu's Dream - the first of a seven book series chronicling the "Dreamventures" of Olu, which has expanded into "A Campaign for Dreams," launched in Washington, DC in Fall 2009 with book signings and school visits by author/illustrator Shane Evans. This "dream journey" has brought Olu's Dream to schools, museums, libraries, concert halls, cafes, and bookstores across the country.

Reach: Olu's Dream stretches nationwide and transcends U.S. borders to extend this positive message to countries such as Mali, West Africa through the Africa Dream project. Additionally, this project reaches across all cultures with a universal message.

Impact: Olu's Dream provides a tangible way for parents and children to unlock the development and pursuit of dreams. It encourages them to create (or recall) their dreams, face their fears, take control, and, in turn, live their dreams. OluÕs Dream also promotes diversity through a multi-cultural conscious superhero, who represents the merging of cultures in an evolving global society, further emphasized by President elect Barack Obama.

Opportunity: How can you support this thriving community initiative? Buy a book, encourage your library, school, bookstore, or community center to host a reading and book signing; advocate dreaming in your family and broader community.

Links:

Olu's Dream EPK and Animation
http://vimeo.com/4521500

Shane Performs the Olu's Dream Theme Song
http://vimeo.com/6783376

Shane Evans Article:
http://www.blackplanetrising/documents/Shane-KCSTAR11-15.pdf

Olu's Dream In Washington (Sidwell Friends)
http://vimeo.com/7906550

School Adapt Olu's Dream to School
http://vimeo.com/7599323