An Open Letter To The World (in sizes small, medium and large)

Dear Chicago, Dear World,

We recently entered the running to win a $250,000 grant from Chase and Living Social to extend our programming, specifically the capability to offer Crafter-School for the additional families and schools that have requested access to our program. We don't usually enter these types of contests but this time were moved to do it and want you to know why. If it resonates with you and your experience, would you vote for us?  Would you ask a friend to do the same?  We wish you would.

If you're really busy, here's the Cliff's Notes version-- Creativity. Wishcraft grows artists. Artists are free with their creativity. Creative people solve problems. Big and small problems. Worldwide and local problems.

If you're really organized, here are the bullet points--

We believe an after-school program should...

• value the creative process over the product
• empower students to curate their environment and shape their days
• actively recognize that one size doesn't fit all or even most
• operate in way that demonstrates that the planet deserves better
• understand allergies and other special needs and deliver consistent and sensitive oversight
• model positive conflict-resolution
• encourage literacy and fluency in a fun and individualized way
• be an inclusive environment in every way possible
• offer activities that ignite imagination
• grow kind people and active citizens
• hire, and keep, dedicated staff that treat each student like extended family
• be priced such that it provides families a choice
• listen, share, iterate and continually improve
• celebrate spontaneous act of silliness, dance, song, make-believe or any other form of creative expression

And if you're really sentimental, read on for more...

Deciding who will care for your child in your absence is one of the single most important decisions that a parent makes. Working parents rely on programs such as ours to remove doubt from their day, allowing them to focus on what needs to be done to keep turning our economy around. We don't just pick-up students from school or show them how to make something fun with their hands and hearts. We have their back. We have Mom's back. We have Dad's back. We have the school's back.

Students that routinely engage in the arts do better in school. Period. We'd like to make more of that available to anyone that asks. Our program is different. It is special. People know that and they want to be a part of it. Our Crafter-School after-school program has been at capacity for the 2011/12 school-year and has a waiting list for schools we already serve and a deep list of schools and families that want to be added. It is not a job for us. Working with the Wishcraft community is something that we get to do, not have to do. We are honored to be chosen by any single family and it shows.

It is a time of enormous change in Chicago. Being a source of stability and personal growth for both students and their families brings calm to the storm. And to wrap all of that in a container of creativity, color and joy...lucky for us.

MyLife after iLife, or coming out on the other side of the Apple orchard.

(Have you seen our new site, wishcraftworkshop.com?)

At first I was afraid. I was petrified. Kept thinking iCould never like without iWeb by my side. And I’ve spent so many nights thinking how Apple did me wrong, but I grew strong and I learned how to get along and now I’m back, with new hosting space….

Read the entire story here on our new site.

D-I-Why? I'll Tell You Why

Our workshop was founded in 2008 with the simple purpose of creating a comfortable, inspiring, inclusive and welcoming space in which kids could develop confidence and celebrate their creativity by offering open-ended projects that we've designed for ready-success, that scale with the artist's capabilities and that are fun and relevant. And do we do it in a way that was respectful of our planet? Yes, we do! Using the Founder's creative expertise honed in the fashion and entertainment industries and the skills, smiles and creative genius of a fantastic team, we've created a special-little-local place in which kids seem to relax, settle in and often complain about having to leave. (One family recently called us their "community center"-- aw.) It's the work-place, the hang-out-place, the fun-place of our dreams. Or wishes. Granted.

(Want to read more about our philosophy and a recipe for a "wow" project....?)

We Grow Artists (or Why I Dance in Pajamas)

It's been a busy 24 hours with Summer Camp registration opening yesterday. I'm a little bleary-eyed and we're only getting started (I get up way too early, and too often), and yet I feel like dancing and singing in pajamas. Why does this entrepreneur get so excited when "starving artist" is still a label that resonates for most of us here? How much fun is it to sort through the mounds of email and phone messages that this kick-off brings? A lot of fun, and here's why:

• I get to help a camper find their voice and express it confidently through a garment of their own design. (Project Wishcraft)
• I get to help kids build a catapult to launch a hand-made action-figure and laugh hysterically at its arc. And then do it again. And again. (CrafTNT)
• I get to help a girl build with a hammer and play with dolls in the same day. (Me, My Doll and I)
• I get to help make pretend play extra-real-fun play. (Craft Picnic)
• I get to help a camper learn the thrill of turning something used into something amazing and new and exciting and totally unique. (Do Over!, Ecosew)
• I get to help the eyes behind a lens to see the world and themselves in new ways. (Face-simile)
• I get to help a camper envision a space in which to dream (literally, figuratively) and make it real. (It's a Rad Rad Room)
• I get to help little kids feel like they're being big kids while still being allowed to be little kids. (Sew Fabulous, Do Over! Jr.)
• I get to help campers commemorate their incredible summer and all of its adventures as they prepare for another amazing school-year. (Goodbye Summer, Sew Long Summer)
• I get to help kids discover the creative power in their heads and hands.

I don't have to. I get to. (It's all about me anyway, right?) It's pretty neat to watch kids grow, and to grow in so many ways. Summer seems to be a particularly powerful season for this, like it is for sunflowers and tomatoes. We grow artists. Lucky me.

1 Boy + 2 Dogs = A Love Story

There once was a boy named Jack.  He had parents that loved him unconditionally and immensely, an incredible older sister always watching out for him, grandparents all over the country that doted as expected, and a really great dog. He had always had this dog. The dog had been a part of the family almost twice as long as Jack had been. The dog was the best dog in the whole world, which was nice, because Jack was also the best little guy in the whole world--sweet, loving, sometimes too rambunctious....like his dog, Gretsch.

Walk Now for Autism Speaks, 2011

As Jack got older his parents noticed that his development seemed to become significantly and noticeably different than that of his peers. As a toddler he had taught himself to read, but he wouldn't look very many people in the eye. He made witty and hilarious jokes to entertain his family, but would curl up like a turtle when outside his cocoon. He could create elaborate, multi-faceted stories and characters that could arc in a hundred directions without Jack losing sight of one detail, but he couldn't write* down his ideas or draw them. Jack's family learned just before his 7th birthday that he had been born with Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

Gretsch, 12 years-old

As Jack got older, what had always looked like standard tantrums were becoming more frequent instead of waning. His family came to realize that these were not decisions that Jack was making, but that his body was overwhelmed and had no other way to release the energy (frustration, stimulation....) that had been accumulating throughout the day. But as Jack got older and less comfortable, so did Gretsch. His very sweet, loving and no longer so rambunctious dog. Jack of the wide-ears and big-eyes noticed that when he became a little too loud, his dog looked sad. So Jack would stop and redirect himself, make a compromise, take-ten (whatever it took to bring the volume down to a place in which everyone could be comfortable again) and pet his dog. The symbiosis was a beautiful thing to behold. What an incredible therapeutic upside to loving our family pet.

But then the dog got very sick and within 4 months of being diagnosed, passed away.  Of course this was a tremendous loss for the entire family, and for the community of friends and family that knew this Buddha of a dog, but oh, for Jack.... The pain, the loss, the confusion, the sadness. And Jack's behavior changed. His dog would never be replaced. No dog could ever be as amazing. This was a disaster. (But wait, there is a happy ending, or so the title of this post suggested...)

Trixie, 7 Months

Three months later, after the deliberation and false-starts of the previous months, Jack's family decided it was time to trade the mourning for mornings. All four of them bundled up and rushed over to the shelter. The decision had been made and there was no time to lose. They met another sweet, loving and (very) rambunctious dog, fell in love, adopted her and named her Trixie. They took her home that night and she bonded quickly with the family....except not with Jack. Jack wanted to love her, but she had even more energy than he did. Jack wanted to say sweet things to her, but he didn't want to offend the memory of Gretsch** (who lovingly watches down on us from his.....let's just go ahead and call it a shrine.) 

A few days went by and the happiness that the sort-of-puppy brought the rest of the family just wasn't catching up to Jack. Then, one morning, Trixie jumped up into Jack's bed while he was still sleeping. Jack was a happy boy once he is awake, and not so happy while someone is trying to make him be awake. Trixie licked his arm. She licked his ear and his cheek. Jack put his face in his pillow to avoid the wet slap of love headed his way....and put his arm out to hug the new love of his life. And this is definitely not The End.

*Technology is wonderful.  Jack "writes" a lot, and some of his stories can be found on his blog, The Amazing Adventure Boy.

**Jack now does tell Trixie that she's "the best dog"....but every compliment must end with one little modifier-- "alive".  Trixie is now the best dog alive.