Aliso Viejo Artist Raising Cash for Ape Painting Safari

Charity Oetgen of Aliso Viejo wants to raise money for a three-month trip this summer to the Democratic Republic of Congo—that's in Africa—to pursue her passion project: painting and studying bonobo apes.

She's really inspired by these primates, too—so much so that she has bonobos tattoos on her arms. But a trip to the Congo ain't cheap, so Oetgen, a student at Laguna College of Art & Design in Laguna Beach, has turned to the crowdfunding site USA Projects to help get her there. 

"My goal is to raise $10,000 by April 18, and I am excited to say that I'm a third of the way there so far," Oetgen tells Patch.

USA Projects is one of those crowdfunding sites, though, where you need to raise your goal amount or you don't get a penny. To succeed, Oetgen has been trying to get the word out, posting fliers in places like the Laguna Beach Starbucks to round up generous benefactors.

If you click up her donation site right here, you'll find plenty of other information about Oetgen and bonobos, plus you'll see that she's offering some pretty cool original artwork and other items in exchange for different levels of donations.

Once in the Congo, Oetgen plans to study and paint the apes in their natural habitat. She'll use the artwork she produces there to help spread the word about bonobos and preserve the endangered species.

"Up to this point, my artwork pertaining to bonobos has been mostly depicted with individual poses and portraiture, but that is not who I believe bonobos are or how I, as an artist, want to portray them," Oetgen writes on the site. "Bonobos, like us, are social, endemic creatures that cannot survive alone. I want my work to be a conversation, a story—an invitation to an understanding of their world. That is something I cannot create by peering through the glass that separates us, or seeing them play at the zoo for our viewing pleasure."