Pete Mason's (@PhanArt) "PhanArt" has grown from a book to a website and had a truly stellar year in 2012, featuring more art than ever before and raising more than 2011 for The Mockingbird Foundation by mid-July. Since first conceived in 2004, the growth of PhanArt has led to the need for some help moving forward, so as to continue PhanArt’s mission: To compile and preserve art created by Phish fans for the Phish community and, in the course of such work, to also benefit The Mockingbird Foundation, which raises funds for music education for children and operates this website, Phish.net. PhanArt was an incredible labor of love from 2004 to 2008 while Pete compiled the book "PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish"; later in 2009, the website that grew from the book has become a whole new labor and while being enjoyable, Pete can’t keep up with the site, as it has become more than a one-person job. Pete's looking for a few fans of Phish and our vibrant art community who love the fan made art as much as I do, to help out with the site. Among others, he's looking for fans with a little spare time, college students with an interest or major in design and those familiar with/fast learners using WordPress.

The primary assistance needed is updating the site and managing posts, while archiving and artist contact would be split among us. This would be a volunteer gig, just as it has been since it started. It’s a small time investment but it goes a long way, helping to archive the art of Phish fans, facilitate the growth of the site and create publications showcasing that art to fans, all for the benefit of music education. Pete's not leaving the site or handing it over 100%, just in need of a few people to help out and keep the site updated. Pete's also looking for assistance in organizing and laying out the yearly editions of PhanArt in an e-book format. College students and professionals with graphic design experience and knowledge of InDesign would collaborate to layout pages and sections of the yearly edition of PhanArt. An ebook looks great on a resume and due credit will be noted in each edition. This is an awesome opportunity to combine your design skills and love of Phish. Yearly editions will be shorter and as a team, easier to produce by working as a group. If you are interested, email [email protected] or PM @PhanArt through this site and simply share a little about yourself, as a Phish fan, as someone interested in helping out, your education, your experience, etc… Just a little short ‘get to know me’. You have to be reliable and solid communicator and able to keep up to pace with posts as the content is submitted by artists. This shouldn’t be looked upon as a job but a fun experience and way to give back to the community. PhanArt is on track to raise $10,000 by the four year anniversary of Hampton 09, a number that will grow even more as the site expands and branches out and thus, help to raise even more for the Mockingbird Foundation through continuing to be a resource for fans to sell their goods.

UPDATE (October 5, 4 p.m.): Pete has been overwhelmed by offers from volunteers, many more than he expected, which is very gratifying. Thanks to everyone who has stepped up. If you're interested in being on a "stand by" list if in the future if there are more hands needed, drop Pete a (very) short email note with the subject "PhanArt standby list" and your permanent contact information.

If you liked this blog post, one way you could "like" it is to make a donation to The Mockingbird Foundation, the sponsor of Phish.net. Support music education for children, and you just might change the world.