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This June Dezjuan graduated from High School. He has been accepted into Purchase College’s School Of Arts + Design. While he has received some scholarship funding, it is far from the amount he needs to make college and arts training a reality. 

Dezjuan's GoFundMe campaign:

https://gofund.me/5fc992c1

Please take your time learning about the amazingly talented Dezjuan and please also consider donating to our fundraiser for Dezjuan. 

So much has happened since Kasuri hosted Dezjuan’s first photography exhibition on May 29, 2021. Held during COVID and in the year following the George Floyd Uprisings, it was a rare moment, when our community could come together and share space together. The event was a fever dream of youthful energy and Dezjuan’s portraits were a welcome and precious opportunity to see art during a time of isolation and malaise.

It has always been our practice and dream to support Black artists, and I can't think of a more radical act of love than to support a young Black, queer artist like Dezjuan Smith. Though born in Florida, Dezjuan came to Hudson as a small child and grew up here. As a teen he bacame involved in a host of creative pursuits as well as social justice work and community organizing. 

I met Dezjuan when he was 14, while he gave a speech during one of the many rallies held here in Hudson in response to the epidemic of deaths of black people at the hands of police. I invited him to come vistt us across the street at KASURI. Everyone quickly fell in love with him and KASURI became his second home. Over the ensuing years we have all watched him grow, and see his engagement with Photography evolve and flourish. Lots of people take pictures and call themselves photographers. Dezjuan is the real deal.

-Jonathan Ofsofsky (Creative Director and GM at Kasuri)

This June Dezjuan graduated from High School. He has been accepted into Purchase College’s School Of Arts + Design. While he has received some scholarship funding, it is far from the amount he needs to make college and arts training a reality. 

 

Please consider donating to our fundraiser for Dezjuan. There are various ways you can donate:

 

Dezjuan's GoFundMe campaign:

https://gofund.me/5fc992c1

 

 

Contribute to Dezjuan’s 529 College Savings Plan.
A 529 College Savings Plan allows Dezjuan (and others) to put aside money to pay for all the allowable expenses for his education. To contribute directly to the College Saving Plan now, Go to:
http://ugift529.com/ and then enter V4M-F7G in the Give A Gift field. Here you will be able to contribute to his plan.
(*For more information on the basics of the 529, click the link at the bottom of the page.)
 
Donate directly to Dezjuan on Venmo.
If you are more comfortable with direct donations and would like to allow Dezjuan to manage part of the fundraiser himself, please feel free to make a donation via Venmo to: @lucinda-segar
Lucy Segar, with whom Dezjaun currently lives, has been helping Dezjuan navigate the college application process, applying for financial aid etc. will receive the funds in her Venmo and pass them on to Dezjuan. Every donation via Venmo will be applied to the total money raised in the GoFundMe so we can all keep track of the campaign's progress.
 
Replace Dezjuan's professional camera.
Dezjuan’s professional camera was STOLEN, rather frustratingly, on his first stay at Purchase during an orientation program. This has caused him distress and has seriously hampered his ability to create. He will need $2K to replace it, or you can purchase it directly here:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1548396-REG/fujifilm_16652908_x_t4_mirrorless_digital_camera.html
 
Please feel free to share any suggestions or leads for grants, scholarships or patronage for photography students, queer, Black artists, children of single mothers, low-income students, etc. We want to fund Dezjuan for the costs of the first two years, but he will still need to obtain an additional $25-30K of funding for the full four years.
 
SPARK of HUDSON has generously committed $6000 towards his expenses. We hope you can join them, and everyone who has donated to his fundraiser so far, to make his dream become a reality.
 
Thank you all!
KASURI LOVES YOU!

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Join Kasuri and Dream Brother every 2nd and 4th Thursday in celebrating seminal moments in queer cinema.