The possibilities being offered by micro-philanthropy sites like Kickstarter, ProjectSite et al to artists, writers and others of compelling vision is one of the certain bright spots in an otherwise depressing terrain of arts-related budget cuts. By providing a carefully vetted platform for individuals to make their pitch, show what work they've done so far, and offer up a carefully devised plan of attack, crowd-sourcing funds for artists' projects has become a very successful strategy to realize the fulfillment of otherwise hard-to-reach goals.

One of our earliest Hot Shots, Erin Siegal, has been working tirelessly on a project for the past two years that she has recently put up on the Kickstarter site for a final push of funding to complete her research and turn her work into a book.

In a recent interview with Jasmine DeFoore, Siegal explains how her latest research project came to be:

I fell into the world of adoption corruption entirely by accident, and as a result of being a photographer.

My sister and I went to Guatemala on vacation in December 2007. While waiting for our plane in the Guatemala City airport, we were surrounded by Americans leaving with newly adopted children. On a visual level, it was a very striking scene because of the trans-racial element as well as the sheer number of children leaving. I was immediately curious to learn about what was happening.

Taking on a project like this requires more than a few leaps of faith. Finding Fernanda is a book both necessary and overdue. It's traditional investigative journalism done in the service of the public good, exposing wrongdoing and holding those in power accountable. The broader appeal lies in the compelling experience of two very different women, one Guatemalan and one American, whose lives accidentally intersect because of one little girl: Fernanda.

Siegal has been working on this documentary project of investigative journalism since 2008. After she came to the realization that she had been moving towards creating work that was, "more multifaceted, human-rights based [work] that couldn't be told [only with] pictures," she applied and was accepted into the Columbia University's Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, where she was given the tools, resources and the time to begin a year-long thesis into the world of international adoption fraud. Since graduating from the program, she has secured a publisher for the project, Cathexis Press.

Scheduled for release in the fall of 2011, her publisher writes about Finding Fernanda:

Cathexis Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of a book that will tackle the controversial and painful topic of international adoption corruption. Over the past five years, 20% of the 100,000 children adopted into the United States came from Guatemala. Journalist Erin Siegal relates the chilling tale of a Guatemalan mother whose two-year-old daughter and infant child were stolen from her, interwoven with the story of an adoptive mother from Tennessee who began to question the practices of the agency that was handling these two girls. Siegal's book will shed light on an alarming problem that, unchecked, will only continue to grow.

While Siegal's Kickstarter project reached its initial funding goal, there are 30 days left in the donation cycle and her target goal of $5,000 still has a ways to go to be met. If you are interested or invested in the issues that she is trying to bring to light, even a small donation (over half of her supporters fall into into the $15 or more category) will help her do what remains to be done in bringing this book to fruition. Here's a quick breakdown of where the Kickstarter funds will go:

• Two months of living, reporting, and writing in Guatemala City
• Legal costs affiliated with getting the US State Department to respond to the thirty Freedom of Information Act requests I have in-process (some of which are almost two years old!)
• Costs associated with database access, and phone/internet access (international calls, etc)
• On-the-ground transportation support (read: gas!) for my dear friend J.L, my Guatemalan reporting sidekick/ driver/ buddy (Yup, the kind of door-knocking I've been doing requires the buddy system)

In a time where institutions, city, state and federal funding for the arts is in decline, it seems impossible to think that a $5 online donation will really make a dent or impact in the arts at large. But for several recent artists we've featured with similar projects here it already has.

Visit Erin Siegal's Kickstarter project site here.