Affirmative Art was founded by Eirik Jarl Trondsen with a background in international aid and the belief in empowering individuals to drive their own development. Affirmative Art was born when the founder got disillusioned working with foreign aid and faced a personal crisis. In 2012 he realized Affirmative Art could be a powerful tool for individuals and communities to identify goals and visions in life as art is a universal language, which does not require literacy, and is cheap and available to all. Something the NGO's were not doing because development has to come from the inside and it all starts with a dream. If we visually define our purpose in life, we bring it closer and make it more real.

 

He painted his desired future time after time, and achieved it. Through his own successes, such as gaining custody of his daughter and visualizing a home, a family and a career as a full-time artist, Eirik was motivated to help shape visions and empower others fulfill their own dreams. As result over a thousand Affirmative Art workshops have been held globally in schools, universities, corporate settings and communities in various countries, including Norway, Sweden, Romania, Denmark, Ukraine, the USA, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iran.

 

Affirmative Art gives participants clarity of their their dream future and how to achieve it with a sense of focus, direction and confidence. This needs to be supported by concrete actions and a balanced correlation between the vision, as defined through Affirmative Art, and taking action. The initial process of identifying one's vision or purpose is an eye opener towards achieving their aspirations, as many people have not had the opportunity to think about what they want to

get out of life