*|MC:SUBJECT|*
View this email in your browser
We make art and careers in creative industries accessible to all through community engagement, inspiring programming, and experiential education.
Holding Space at Oakwood Arts

The following was written and posted on Tuesday, June 2, by Sam Page, Richmond artist, educator, and Oakwood Arts' Instructor-in-Residence, in response to what is happening in our country: 
"We are standing on the precipice of change and it’s scary. We all know the immense responsibility we have to stand beside and behind our friends, our neighbors, our community. Oakwood Arts is no different. In order to amplify our continued commitment to equity and show our support and solidarity, we are offering space for those who may not feel safe to protest (due to COVID-19, Childcare etc.) to be heard."

As part of our immediate response, every day last week, Oakwood Arts was outside our yellow building at 3511 P St., offering paper and markers to create signs "of love, of hope, of sorrow." We displayed these signs in the windows of our yellow building, and, as they filled, we hoped to capture just a piece of what we as a community are feeling. In the coming weeks, there will also be a call to artists for original work, prints, and poetry that evoke a spirit of hope and solidarity. These works will join the window signs.

Thank you to all those who joined us. If you would like to hear more from Sam, you can watch a short message from them here. 
Want to add to the conversation? Join Oakwood Arts staff and volunteers this Sunday, June 14 near the Lee statue on Monument Ave. We will be on hand with supplies to help you create a community quilt using handmade cyanotypes.  You can visit our East End Quilt Collective page to see a similar long term project we have been working on.  Families welcome! For more details on time and location, look for a post on our Instagram @oakwoodarts.
Looking Ahead: Summer Programming 
Oakwood Arts remains committed to our mission to make creative careers accessible to all. This summer, we are excited to offer four, week-long virtual programs for current Oakwood Arts students, adults, and any others who would like to participate.

Look for updates on our website in the next few days. In the meantime, check out this Google doc with more details.

Interested in participating or know of someone who would like to join us? Email jessica@oakwoodarts.org.

We want to hear from you! What kind of programs would you like to see? Fill out this short Google survey so we can best serve your needs! 
Updates and Highlights: Creativity Kit Project

This is the final week of our COVID-response Art Kit Project, which Oakwood Arts initiated in mid-March as a response to Richmond Public Schools (RPS) closing as a result of the pandemic. In late April, we were honored to have our friends at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond (VisArts) join us as a partner, and we have run this project--now called Creativity Kits-- with VisArts since, delivering over 4,500 kits and 52 unique activity lessons to families at RPS food distribution sites, as well as RPS families, experiencing or facing homelessness. We are immensely grateful to VisArts for the time, energy, and space they contributed to this project, to our friends at Wythken Printing for all their support, all those who donated funds or supplies, our dedicated volunteers, and everyone from the RPS Community Engagement team who all worked so hard to help us serve RPS students and families these last few months. 
SOLSTICE 2020: Virtual Summer Event

All of us at Oakwood Arts have been thinking deeply about whether or not to proceed with our plans for a virtual SOLSTICE this month. Given this moment in time, we want to make sure we are being intentional and sensitive to all that is happening around us. While we have decided to move forward with the event, we are making changes to reflect better the needs of our community. A week of free virtual programs and online bidding will begin on Monday, June 15, culminating with an interactive event on Saturday, June 20. Event details will be sent on Friday, June 12; you can check out our event page at OAsolstice.org. 
SOLSTICE 2020 logo designed by Gabrielle Stadulis. SOLSTICE 2020 website design by Jisoo Shin.
Interested in Volunteering with Oakwood Arts?

We are always in need of dedicated volunteers with experience in working with graphic design, web design, costume design, photography, animation, and film and video (editing and production). If interested, fill out our volunteer form. We would love to have you on our team to help teach classes and guide our students!
VOLUNTEER
Don't have time to volunteer but want to help?
DONATE
Every bit you give helps us bring inspiring
and experiential learning programs to our community.

Thank you!
Instagram
Facebook
Website
Copyright © 2019 OAKWOOD ARTS, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
2216 E Broad St, Richmond VA, 23223

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
 






This email was sent to *|EMAIL|*
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
*|LIST:ADDRESSLINE|*

*|REWARDS|*


Sign up to receive the latest news about our programs and events.

We respect your privacy.