Capital Campaign Donors Get a Sneak Peek!

A couple of weeks ago, Van Go held a very special event for some very special people. The event was a sneak peek at our new space and the exciting projects happening right now. The special people were all the generous donors to the capital campaign that funded our building project.

A temporary "Donor Wall" honors all the different levels of donor--from Rolls Royce donors to Cadillac donors! In the future there will be a more permanent installation to recognize all who contributed to this amazing feat. There's still time, however---would you like to see your name on the donor wall?



Of course, no Van Go soiree would be complete without a marvelous spread of food and drink. This food is a work of art all by itself!




The new front desk makes a wonderful impromptu bar.



Our new space leaves lots of room for people to mingle and chat. In the background, videos and slide shows played, showing off some of the fabulous Van Go JAMS students and their accomplishments while at Van Go.


Lynne Green, our founder and director, makes a wonderful hostess as she welcomes our guests to the wonderful new space.



Susan Tate, the capital campaign chairperson, took the floor for a while to speak to the crowd.



Not to be outdone by the ladies, our board president Brad Chindamo had his turn at the microphone.


Ah yes, a lovely evening in a beautiful facility. What a wonderful way to honor those who have given so much to Van Go!



A thankful Van Go JAMS student was happy to greet those who attended to show her appreciation!



Another great big THANKS to all of our capital campaign donors!

New Spaces, New Faces

Van Go has officially moved into the fresh, newly renovated space on the south side of our building. If you have been familiar with Van Go, we hope you will be just as delighted with the changes as we are. We will give you time to pick your jaw up the floor when you enter and see this before you:


With skylights, lofty ceilings, and walls of glass, we finally have the room to really let our creativity expand!

And of course, with a new school year our Van Go family expands as well. JAMS and Life JAMS are both welcoming new faces.

(Hello, Alex!)

We are jumping right in and doing some fun projects that will be available at our holiday Adornment show. Mark your calendars--the Saturday after Thanksgiving, or November 29, is our Adornment show and gallery opening. Come ready to find lots of beautiful, creative, unique holiday gifts to give away--or something you have to keep all to yourself!

Trash has never been classy until you put it in one of our fabulous, hand-painted galvanized steel trash cans. Look at Tony, Jesse, and Jessica hard at work!








Altogether, they make quite a collection.



And what kid WOULDN'T want to go home and tell Mom they got paid to play with broken glass?



Macio puts his creative juices to work, making a picture frame to be fused in the kiln.

Some items, like picture frames, go through the kiln once and are ready for sale.


Other items, like this bowl-in-progress, will be fused once, then put back in the kiln with a ceramic mold to be "slumped" into their final shape. (Trying to eat cereal out of a flat bowl would be pretty messy!)



Life at Van Go isn't all fun and games. Sometimes we really work up a sweat! A generous volunteer from Be Moved studio visits weekly to lead the Van Go and Life JAMS staff in an hour of yoga.



This is just another example of how Van Go works to improve the lives of its apprentice artists in all areas--by learning job skills, earning wages, and also by learning how to be healthy and to take care of their bodies.

For some of the apprentice artists, the work they do at Van Go isn't enough. They like to get creative outside of work, too! Check out this piece of art by Jordan, one of the new Life JAMS apprentice artists.



You can find Jordan downtown at Fatso's on Wednesday nights, doing his "live art" paintings for all to see.

At the end of the day, working at Van Go is a very rewarding experience, in more ways than one-- each week a JAMS artist is recognized as the "Employee of the Week." Congratulations, Joe!



Keep checking back to see more of what's going on at Van Go!

Congratulations Graduates!

On Thursday, June 11th Van Go celebrated the graduation of 3 of our LifeJAMS youth - Sadie Crumet, Andrew Padilla and Mia Brantley. All 3 passed their GED test to receive their high school diplomas!

Week Two - Eating, Exercising, and a little bit of Art

Week Two:

Apprentice artists are beginning to meet with bench clients where they will learn about the business that has purchased their bench and discuss ideas for the bench design. Many artists are already hard at work sketching blueprints and researching images.

In addition to art, today we also did a little yoga with 'Todd the Bod' Wyant and enjoyed a great locally made meal of homemade macaroni and cheese, ratatouille, green salad and strawberry shortcake. Local farms of note for today's meal include Iwig Dairy, Alma Creamery, HR Ranch and Hoyland Farm.

And....we're off! Summer JAMS 2008 Begins

Day One of Summer JAMS has begun!

21 artists ages 14-18 years old, new faces and very familiar faces as well, start off the summer with drawing and painting techniques ala Cathy Ledeker. In just a matter of days they will all get their bench assignments and begin meeting with bench clients. We don't waste any time!

Unveiled!

Check out the final result of all the hard work by JAMS apprentice artists over the spring session. The totem project, "Reduce, Reuse, Remember," was unveiled to great acclaim at the Lawrence Earth Day celebration on April 19. Some of the pieces will be auctioned at What Floats Your Boat, a Van Go fundraiser held at Clinton Lake Marina on June 21. Please call Van Go (842-3797) if you'd like to attend this event and get your hands on one of these beauties. By the way, the outdoor shots are by Van Go friend Tyler Lindquist of TJL Photography.

Day 32: Fabulous finish

On this last day of the the spring 2008 session of Jobs in the Arts Make Sense, we invite you to play a sappy instrumental tune in your head and view this montage of art projects reaching completion.
















As the day wrapped up, artists reflected on what they learned during the proess, and Midori took home the final Employee of the Week honor.



Thank you for following our journey! Remember, the project--"Reduce, Reuse, Remember"--will be unveiled April 19 during Lawrence's Earth Day celebrations. Also, Van Go is working on a showing at a new art gallery in Greensburg, Kansas. Check here or www.van-go.org for updates on where to view the art in person!