Dear Community –
What a whirlwind the past few months have been – and not necessarily in a good way, unfortunately. As a group, we have really been learning about what it is to lead community work that gets people excited but it is hard to find folks offering a real commitment to joining the mission. We have been eager to get things rolling and really had assumed we would have so much to share by this time, so here’s what has been going on:
- We had a group who was super excited about the plan and willing to build our art closets free of charge, which was thrilling! We could then use the allotted funding for strictly art supplies. Because it was such a promising lead, we really hung on for probably longer than we should have… passions seem to have shifted a bit for those folks, and we don’t blame them.
- We then had another passionate “YES” to being involved and building some closets for us. Similar to the first group, it seems that more important work took precedent.
SO – we have regrouped. If you attended the Big Event last year, you would be familiar with the Art Closet we had on wheels. We have tapped that builder for ONE MORE closet for us, this one being the biggest of the ones we have planned to be installed outside of J. Wallace James Elementary. Speaking of JWJ, they have a new Principal, Ms. Tassin, who has voiced her excitement over the project, too. More info is coming once we get this one going.
We were gifted a closet by School Board Member, Dr. Joshua Edmond, and plan to get this one set up to be partially mobile and housed at the Fightingville Fresh Market, which we are pumped about.
We also have another very talented carpenter interested in helping out with the last few boxes…but you can imagine how we are holding on to this excitement with some hesitancy…!
We are still as excited and determined as ever to bring art to the art deserts, so don’t think this slow slow pace has us down. 2024 is STILL going to be the year of the Acadiana Art Closet!
Love,
Acadiana Art Closet Team