FIREBIRD COMMUNITY ARTS
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Mission Statement
We empower and connect people through the healing practice of glassblowing and ceramics. Firebird Community Arts serves those who have been impacted by structural or individual trauma, including violently-injured youth, veterans, formerly-incarcerated individuals, undocumented and immigrant populations and Chicago Public School students on the South and West sides.
About This Cause
Words from our participant, LA: “When I first started I ain’t really wanna do it. It was like I was really in the streets.. not really caring about what happened to me. The stuff that was normal to us like to see people in the streets like getting shot and seeing people die and seeing people dead...that’s where we were growing up and what we were seeing so much that it just became a normal thing and that’s not normal at all. That’s something that nobody should ever have to go through or see." “I never used to think before I did stuff. But now what this program taught me is to actually think before you do something. Like there’s more than one way you can handle yourself and conduct yourself...[B]eing here taught..me different ways to better myself. It's not just the program, it’s the people in it and the vibes they give me. They want you to push yourself, they want you to touch greatness, they want you to take trips and stuff, they wanna see you winning." "That’s what changed me and made me a more loving person and made me interact with people more. It just made me wanna see more and made me realize there’s more to life than just being in the streets. There’s more you can do with your life.” Watch to learn more at https://youtu.be/HHIgigW4on8 Firebird Community Arts offers highly personalized ceramics and glass blowing instruction from our warehouse-turned-art studio located in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood. We deliberately relocated here in an effort to be closer to, and of better service to, the Chicago communities most in need of affordable, high-quality arts instruction and a safe space within which to practice art as a tool for healing. Firebird Manifesto: - All people need creative outlets. This is especially true for communities that are traditionally under-served and under-resourced. - Art promotes empathy by helping us imagine ourselves in and as others. As such, art instruction involves attention to issues of social justice. We are committed to amplifying the creative voices of diverse populations with attention to differences related to poverty, age, ability, mental health, legal status, gender, racial and ethnic identity, language, and more. - Art endures over centuries as an artifact of our humanity and cultures. - Art-making is universal, but is not universally supported or recognized. Everyone should have access to high quality tools and resources to add to our creative history. - People are not defined by their challenges or limitations. Art-making equalizes us. - Art-making is valuable in its own right, although it can build confidence generally and improve other facets of life. - Art programming should focus on asking questions, or inquiry, rather than solely on the product or process. - Creating a physically, emotionally, and relationally safe space for collaborative art-making can build the confidence amongst its participants that leads to a sense of belonging, pride, and, eventually, ownership, leadership, and responsibility. - Art as a practice demonstrates that failure is one part of human growth and encourages creative problem solving. - Art-making expands our capacity for joy. - Teaching and learning are mutual and reciprocal processes. Teachers also learn from their students, and students also teach their instructors.