RALEIGH -- In Haiti, the tap-tap cabs are everywhere.

The colorful and elaborately decorated buses, pickups and vans provide public transportation between cities and villages - often a pleasing contrast with the urban blight of some urban neighborhoods, says Raleigh artist Sean Kernick.

Kernick is using that hopeful image as an idea to raise money for earthquake relief in Haiti. Kernick made a dozen wooden replicas of the tap-taps - named for the sharp taps passengers make on metal panels when they want to be let off - and shipped the models to 12 artists from this area and outside the state to customize.