Cast Cause: Allies in Arts

In the Cast world, good jewelry and good works go hand in hand. So we are excited to introduce a limited-edition piece for Pride that helps support our friends over at Allies In Arts. The L.A.-based organization, helmed by filmmaker Drew Denny, champions artists who are women, BIPOC, and LGBTQQIA2S.

The Partnership

Cast and Allies in Arts instantly bonded over a shared aim to support artisans.
Our approach to jewelry design at Cast centers around collaborations with artists and designers, while celebrating females first. So it made sense to showcase the important mission of Allies in Arts to advocate for under-represented artists. Established in 2015, the nonprofit is dedicated to helping artists of all mediums access funding, equipment and opportunities to produce and distribute their work. That includes commissions for murals or fashion and lifestyle products, exhibitions, art walks and events, an annual Reel Her In screening of short films, and a push for more representation in museums and galleries.

The True Love Cuff

In collaboration with British jewelry designer Alice Cicolini, Cast has created a special-edition True Love Cuff to benefit Allies in Arts. The craftsmanship of hand-matching 352 colored sapphires in a colorful gradation and hand-painting the enamel requires a month of artistry to complete each limited bracelet. Ten percent of proceeds and a flat donation support the Pride initiatives of Allies in Arts.

Here, Denny speaks to the mission, talent, and more ways to help.

An Uplifting Mission 

"At Cast, you are working with all these women designers and elevating them, using your platform to give them visibility. That's exactly what we do, also with artists who identify as BIPOC or LGBTQ+. We're a charity, but we're not trying to teach artists that they need a handout. We're trying to teach them that they should be getting paid fairly to create sustainable careers."

Partners & Projects

"We recently unveiled a Pride mural in Chicago designed by artist Sam Kirk and her wife, Jenny Q, sponsored by Häagen-Dazs. How romantic is that! And we just launched our first shirt in a line of wearable art, a 'Sisters Not Cisters' T-Shirt (free with a $50 donation), designer by our creative director, Kyle Lasky."  

Call To Action  

"The simplest way to help is by donating. We want to hire a full-time curator for our Queer Black Futures program, because black artists are vastly underrepresented in museums and galleries.  We'd also love to hire our Transanta elves year-round, so we can give valentines, birthday presents, and school supplies to support trans youth who face unbelievable hardships. Another way people can contribute is by commissioning the incredible artists in our communities to paint a mural on a wall or a billboard, create a window display, or produce work to use on wearables like T-shirts and water bottles."

"My main hope right now is that we can build out the organization to provide benefits that would take care of healthcare and gender-affirming or fertility care. Because that's basically the difference between people becoming themselves or becoming a parent and not feeling like those things are out of reach." 

Drew Denny-Executive Director, Aden Hakimi-Treasurer, Board of Directors,
Jasmin Porter-Curator #QueerBlackFutures, Kyle Lasky-Creative Director of Allies in Arts, Director of @Transanta