Project Mchopa

On Wednesday we met a local artist named Gregory Mchopa. His striking art was not only bold and aggressive, but it was aesthetically appealing and telling of the Masai tribe. We happened upon his art on the Msasani Peninsula north of Dar es Salaam, adjacent to our office building. I purchased two of his paintings before we met someone who introduced us to the actual guy. Upon meeting him, we were inspired to help him realize his dream of promoting his art internationally. Though we did not mention it on site, after leaving Mr. Mchopa, Josh and I agreed to work to promote his art pro bono.

As of today, we’ve bought a domain name, www.mchopa.com. We’ve also laid out a website design that we hope to be modular for other local artists. The website will feature his art in various themes that we will design and promote. We will feature his art using Google applications so that Gregory will have 2G of free webmail storage, and a host of other awesome associated features. Imagine painting in a shack and getting the email address gregory@mchopa.com the next day.

Pretty cool for 24 hours later…

We’re going ot design and promote Mchopa art in the United States using Google products. Google applications such as Documents and Spreadsheets will enable us to remotely and locally track inventory. Gmail will enable communication. AdWords will allow us to effectively target ads for Mchopa, and AdSense will monetize his site. Analytics will tell us who is visiting, when, and for how long, and Google Checkout will enable on-site transactions for art purchases.

Wednesday we had a meeting with Gregory Mchopa in which he did live painting. The photographs and stories he told will serve as the content for his website. YouTube will even host videos of his live painting style. We’ll cover the costs of materials, but Gregory will provide us with a few dozen initial paintings that we’ll market in the US, and return all profits to Dar es Salaam.