Today we’d like to introduce you to Elke McGuire.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Born and raised in Germany, I have lived in Spain, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong and New York. I began my career as a fabric designer in Germany and Spain and moved to Hong Kong where I lived for many years and worked as a designer and sales manager for a major European import company and later as merchandise manager for May Department stores.
I then moved to New York to marry my husband and settle down however we moved to Denver and have made it home or the last 24 years. Both of our children grew up here and it is where I decided to finally become an artist again. I found my mentor in Sandra Kaplan and became a monitor at the Art Students League of Denver while working on exhibiting mine and other artist’s works. Realizing that my passion was in helping other artists show their work, I started curating art exhibitions first for a local gallery. When we began to run out of space, I decided to form Art D’Elke with marketing expert Denise Robert, where we produced pop up art exhibition at museums, galleries, and other venues throughout Colorado. Following this, I have spent the last five years working as a curator and developing the Art Gym, a shared workspace for artists with two galleries.
My experiences and passions came together when I discovered Friends of Gueoul, a nonprofit organization out of Denver that helps young girls and women to gain an education in Gueoul, Senegal. As an empty nester I realized that I could travel again and wanted to see more of this world. I also wanted to give back and help those that need our support the most while finding inspiration in Gueoul’s history and textiles. While traveling in Senegal with the co-founder Judy Beggs, I was overwhelmed by how beautiful the colors of the fabrics and the hospitality and joy of the people of Senegal are while not having more than the bare necessities to live. As you can gather by now, I have
traveled, lived and connected with people in five continents but nothing could have prepared me for my trip to Africa and my new adventure working for Friends of Gueoul.
Has it been a smooth road?
I am a true believer that life is always a roller coaster and the struggles are only arising when you do not go with the flow. Well, that actually took me a lifetime to understand, but here we are.
Please tell us about Friends of Gueoul.
Since November 2019, I have taken on the role as Executive Director of Friends of Gueoul, which was co-founded by Judy Beggs and John Montaña over 15 years ago and has since supported almost 200 girls and young women in the city of Gueoul, Senegal. Judy single-handedly started this organization, while working as a lawyer, and never received a salary as she managed to get together a consistent group of generous donors over the years to support and educate the young women in Senegal. With the help of our board and our donors, I am working to start a new chapter with this organization through the building of a Learning Center in Gueoul while also expanding our fundraising efforts to educate more girls.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I would like to answer this with an African proverb: “If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a nation”.
Pricing:
- $ 100 keeps a girl in school for one year
- $ 1,500 keeps an entire class in school for a year
- $ 9,500 keeps all classes in school for one year
Contact Info:
- Address: Friends of Gueoul
3120 south Race Street
Englewood CO 80113 - Website: gueoul.org
- Phone: 7202544049
- Email: elke@gueoul.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendsofgueoul
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendsofgueoul
- Twitter: @FriendsofGueoul
Image Credit:
erynn mcconnell
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