I had driven past the storefront for months. When I would walk past, I’d admire the quirky art inside, the fabulous chandelier… and one day I noticed there was a schedule of events posted to the window.
It was Valentine’s Day of 2009 that finally got me, my boyfriend and my daughter into Happen, Inc. We had a dinner date that evening with BF’s parents, and per the posted schedule, the session that day at Happen had something to do with flowers.
I filled out a little information at the front desk: our names, my daughter’s age; I asked if there was any cost for the “session,” and there wasn’t – not even a donation basket. We sat at a table with another parent-child pair; suddenly a friendly fellow came out from behind a curtain exuding amazingly contagious positive bombastic fervor and taught all of us the “Happen Cheer,” which goes a little something like this:
{all}
“One, Two, Three –“
{Kids}
“You can make it happen!”
*clap*, *clap*, *clap*
{Adults}
“Just make it through college!”
That last line wrought howls from most of the adults and thoroughly engaged all of the kids. The friendly fellow then walked everyone through some famous works of art that featured floral arrangements (like Van Gogh’s Sunflowers), and explained that we had a very important job to do: a local florist (another Happen employee, dressed as a 50’s-era florist, complete with a south-Bronx accent) was way behind on her orders for the day, and she needed our collective help to fill them.
We were all given several paper flower patterns to decorate, and pipe cleaners to use for stems. Looking around the room, it was difficult to tell who was having more fun – the kids or the adults.
Since then, we have made: pottery- mugs, bowls and a plate thrown on a wheel, pinch pots and flying pigs, even some “Pop Arf” – from a dog-friendly session where our pooch got to immortalize her paw prints in clay; a photo-collage using old Polaroid cameras; made a decorative flower pot, then planted flower seeds in them (growing beautifully on a windowsill); carved pumpkins for Halloween time; decorated Easter eggs; made a kite that could actually FLY… all for free. Every session starts with the Happen Cheer, there’s a micro art lesson, and then an engaging creative project. The characters the staff portrays are always energetic, creatively costumed and the dialogue is always chock full o’puns, to keep the adults giggling and groaning.
At the last Northside Community Council meeting, Happen’s director, Tommy Rueff, made an announcement that Happen, Inc. Northside is to expand: another of their successful projects, the Toy Lab , will be moving in. I wept with joy. I cannot express how important I think it is to have such a magnificent art outreach resource within walking distance of my house. I wish every neighborhood in Cincinnati… heck, the WORLD, could have a Happen, Inc. to call their very own. At Happen, I have made art next to all colors and demographics of people, their positive energy fuels the rest of my week. Stereotypes are smushed like chunks of spinning clay, class fences dissolve like paint in so much water. Someone told me once that a community needs to be wealthy to afford the arts, but I think it is the other way around – it is the arts that lifts people from poverty and inspires them to do greater things. Happen is making it happen in a big, joyful way– if you haven’t attended a session yet, even if you don’t have kids, you need to go, because this kind of creative bombast is good for your soul.
Cheers!
Dark Martha
http://www.consciousurbanliving.com
Images courtesy of Happen, Inc.
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“Someone told me once that a community needs to be wealthy to afford the arts, but I think it is the other way around – it is the arts that lifts people from poverty and inspires them to do greater things.”
So dead on! The snobby stereotype of art falls short, as most stereotypes do, in the face of reality. Art is about creation and passion, and Happen Inc seems to be vibrantly alive with both of these qualities.
When my wife and I returned home to NOLA after Katrina and the Levee Failure one of the first things we saw was people putting up folk art street signs to replace the ones that had been blown away. In the midst of the destruction seeing a handpainted two by four nailed up on a post with the street name colorfully painted on it ad surrounded by flower designs raised our spirits in a way that the Red Cross could not. It is all about celebrating the vitality of existence in my opinion.
Art is the truest expression of the human soul that I can think of.