Crowd funding is becoming increasingly popular among creatives. With more sites springing up and more artists asking for funds, Don’t Take Pictures spotlights projects that benefit the arts community.

This month’s crowdfunding roundup presents a Alec Soth's free, traveling workshop for teens.

Alec Soth’s Winnebago Workshop

Acclaimed photographer Alec Soth is revered for his documentary photographs and portraits. To make the kind of truthful photographs he is known for—photographs that tell the stories of other people’s lives—Soth believes that photographers must venture outside of their studios to engage with the real world. With the funds from this Kickstarter project, Soth hopes to bring teen artists in search of outside of the classroom to, “creatively engage with the people and places around them.”

To find workshop participants, Soth and his team will work with local teachers, community organizers, and artists to put together a group of aspiring teenaged artists. Once the workshop students have been selected, Alec Soth and the Little Brown Mushroom team will take learning on the road. Inspired by the photo walks that his high school photographer teacher would lead, Soth plans to convert an old RV which will serve as an “art school on wheels” to bring students out into the world where stories can be found and told through photography. While traveling, artists and mentors will be brought in to work closely with the students. Taking the workshop outside the classroom is one thing, but Soth and his team intend to further their engagement by hosting pop-up events featuring slideshows of the students’ work projected onto the side of the RV. These events will be open to the public.

Supporters of this initiative will help cover the costs of the RV’s conversion, related travel expenses, and will allow talented young artists to participate free of charge, regardless of financial circumstances.

Read more about the workshop on the Kickstarter page.

There are 8 days left to fund this project.

Do you know of a crowd funding project that benefits the art community? Let us know at info@donttakepictures.com.