March 2009 NEWSLETTER
March 5th, 2009 
Hello friends of studio e &/or St. Elizabeth Arts Foundation!
Here’s our first formal newsletter of 2009. We begin with the important stuff. We end with the blah blah blah. Thanks for reading!
ARTS OPPORTUNITIES + EVENTS
High School students should be preparing their submissions for ‘The Way I See it’ – a juried art show happening at studio e in a few weeks. Details and application available here on the website. This is open to any high school student in our region who has the motivation to get their materials to us before the March 20th deadline.
Local artists and art-enthusiasts should keep an eye on our evolving film series. What began as a series of discussions about contemporary art using the PBS Art:21 series is quickly evolving into a series to also include broader art histories, graphic design, and more. Our first three discussions were stimulating and challenging and fun. If you haven’t joined us for this yet, consider joining this Monday to watch and discuss a few TED Talks selected by Elizabeth.
Anyone and Everyone should put Open Studio back on their calendar. We were put out of commission for awhile because of the cold, but will be resuming our regular Monday/Thursday schedule beginning on March 12th! This is a great way to get to know us – Open Studio is free, casual, and cozy. Come and make stuff!
If you use google calendar, consider staying up to date by subscribing to our public calendar on the studio e page.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Woodworking/Building Project: we are constructing a cool, eye-catching, sturdy street-level sign for studio e. We already have the design, but we need a good-with-hammers-nails-saws-and-such type to create it. Please contact laura if you’d like to contribute your time and expertise on this.
Student painters: want to put your skills to practical use? Come hang out with us on a Saturday (date TBD) to paint our studio e sign. Again, contact laura if you’d like to be involved.
Gardeners: we have an evolving brainstorm for a youth gardening project that we’d like to informally start this spring/summer in anticipation of a pilot program for 2010. If you have ideas, skills, or passion for this sort of thing then please contact douglas for more info.
GENERAL UPDATE
The last time we sent out a major announcement was in connection with the Our Daily Bread photo exhibition in November. The turnout for this event was astonishing and we’re grateful to all of you for joining us. The event was a real success. We loved the service element of this program model and are planning to replicate it in other mediums in 2009. Our Daily Bread received some top-notch photos at no charge, and they’ve already been incorporated into the group’s marketing materials. The time and effort invested by Michael Wilson and our four student photographers caused good things to happen in all sorts of wonderful ways.
With our studio space unusable in the cold (an issue that has now been remedied!) we turned our attention elsewhere for January/February. Our film lecture series has begun and we’re really excited to see where that will head. We’re grateful for the generosity of 1801 Mills in sharing their space for this event. Starting this week, Laura will begin spending more time in the art classes at Norwood High School – a great opportunity to build relationships and share our top-notch training on the student’s own turf. We’re indebted to the tremendously supportive art faculty at the high school for this opportunity. Additionally we’ve informally resurrected the successful Art Trippin program from this summer. Students with an open mind and some time to spare in the evenings and weekends should inform us of their interest in these field trips to art shows, museums, and cultural events in the region. These events often come together quite spontaneously, so please put yourself on the invite list or follow us on twitter if you’d like to be in the know!
After a year of pilot programs, we’re excited to be starting this year with a good idea of what works, and what doesn’t work. Look for spring and summer youth arts education programs that build on the best of what we accomplished in 2008. And as always, we are open to your ideas for how we can better train young artists, foster opportunities and collaborations for local artists, and generally make our community a better place to be.
Thanks for reading, thanks for being involved.
MONEY
Nothing lasts for ever, and the big glorious pile of good-hearted dollars that were dedicated to getting this project off the ground have begun to decline. We’re grateful for the buffer that they still provide, but are hard at work trying to find solutions for sustaining our organization and fill a rising budget gap with private and public support. For the past few months we’ve been clutching our chairs and drafting a survival plan for what we expect will be a few years of major challenge for non-profit groups like ours. The petrified economy does not bode well for organizations that depend on the financial surplus of others for their survival. But we’re optimistic, and with sufficient volunteer support, are confident that our programs will continue to grow. Your contributions, connections, or fundraising expertise are needed and most welcome. Send your tax-deductible contributions via USPS, or contact Douglas to learn more about opportunities for making your dollars do Good things.
