Andi Scull Cheatham {Inspirational Women}

The Hope Campaign 

Words by Jess Hagemann Photos by Eric Morales

At 17, Andi Scull Cheatham shared the exciting news with her immigrant mother that she wanted to become an art director. “In Chinese culture, you don’t go to college unless you’re planning on going to grad school, and only then to be a doctor or a lawyer,” Cheatham explains. It was “a big deal,” she says, to embrace her creative calling, especially in 1994, when post-graduation employment opportunities for artists were more limited than they are today.

At 22, Cheatham landed the job of her dreams, straight out of UT’s Creative Sequence by EnviroMedia (the nation’s first 100% ‘green’ ad agency, located in Austin). As the in-house graphic designer, she created logos for Don’t Mess with Texas, Hill Country Conservancy, and Keep Texas Beautiful, among other notable brands. A founding member of the agency, Cheatham was growing with the company when she decided to visit her aunt in Nairobi, Kenya.

Even at 24, the disparities between Austin and Nairobi, two capitol cities on opposite sides of the world, were evident to Cheatham, who spent a few weeks helping out at the children’s book publishing company where her aunt had started to employ African artists and writers and promote unity among Kenya’s 40+ tribes.Trying to build story layouts on old computers with outdated software, amid frequent power outages, inspired Cheatham to start focusing on “more global social issues,” though she wasn’t quite sure yet what that looked like.

Back in the States, Cheatham quit her job (“an even bigger deal” than pursuing an art director degree) and worked several temp jobs while she gained new skills and networked her way toward the next right thing: a position that could combine a charitable cause with her passion for art. She moved to Santa Monica in 2006, where she met Shepard Fairey, a contemporary street artist and founder of OBEY Clothing. Together, they launched the HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere) Campaign, an awareness project designed to spotlight, through the creative contributions of artists and musicians, the genocide then happening in Darfur, Sudan.

At age 31 Cheatham’s driving thought was: How can we use the power of marketing, creative talent, and consumer buying to bring attention to humanitarian issues that need support? Cheatham and Fairey invited all of their artist-friends to participate in the first-ever curated art show at L.A.’s City Hall. In conjunction with a documentary screening about Darfur, the duo hoped to raise funds for Global Grassroots, a social venture incubator for undereducated African women. Support poured in from corporate partners and celebs alike; HOPE had hit the ground running.

Now 43 (and once again calling Texas home!), Cheatham still asks herself every day: “Are we making a difference? Is there an impact?” Case studies on the local level suggest that hundreds of Austin creatives have used HOPE’s platforms to develop their careers as full-time artists, while at the same time contributing to something bigger than themselves. Cheatham says: “I’ve finally found what I quit my job for when I got back from Kenya.”

Read about our other featured inspirational women here.

Today, the HOPE Farmers Market (est. 2009) and the HOPE Outdoor Gallery (est. 2010) support Austin creatives while tackling issues of social justice.

Contact:
hopecampaign.org
@hopecampaign