Congratulations to Chris C. and his partner, Beau Smith on their second place award for their amazing dog house!

Beau and Chris’s Barkman House will be on display around town:

August - Largo Library
September - Clearwater Main Library
October - Countryside Mall (not confirmed)
November - Grand Finale event – TBA

BOWser Abode includes nine must-see artistically designed doghouses that will be exhibited throughout Pinellas County from May to October, ending with the Bark-itecture Bash in November where the doghouses will be auctioned off. Proceeds from the doghouses will benefit the Pinellas Animal Foundation’s humane education Safe House Service Program: Kind Kids - working with children at risk of anti-social behavior due to trauma in their lives.

“I am so proud to be supporting this unique event with the Pinellas Animal Foundation,” said Susie Kupfer, Pet Food Warehouse Owner. “The animal foundation does such amazing work with children; using pets as a catalyst to communication – teaching the common need for kindness, compassion and self sufficient behavior.”

Uncle Charlie captivated the newest member of the Creative Clay family with his soothing lullabies.

Donna “Janie” Waters, a Wal-Mart employee, earned $250 for Creative Clay through her volunteer services. Thank you, Janie! Holding the check from left to right are member artist Chris F. and volunteer Janie Waters. Back row: Executive Director and Creative Clay founder, Grace-Anne Alfiero and Development Coordinator Betsy Pearson.

Volunteer Rachael Kratz purchased member artist John V.’s painting, “House of Pancakes” today.

Creative Clay’s Beau Smith and member artist Chris C. have spent the past month working on their collaborative piece titled, The Barkman House. The traveling art project is a fund-raiser for the non-profit organization, Pinellas Animal Foundation. 12 doghouses made by local businesses will travel throughout the community beginning at TradeWinds Resort in April 2008. People may bid on their favorite abode as well as vote for their favorite. A percentage of the winning bid for The Barkman House will go to Creative Clay.

“Chris and I had a great time creating The Barkman House. We searched his sketchbook for a winning idea,” Beau said. “Once we found a good idea, we revised the drawing and figured out the final dimensions for the doghouse. Chris was eager to learn building skills.”

“I worked on one design every day for about a week,” said Chris. “I loved doing work on it. I loved working with Beau. He did a great job and he’s a great partner. Beau is a nice man to help me make this dog house.”

When asked what was the most challenging aspect of the work, Chris said it was the sanding. “The sanding was very hard work,” he said. “It took me four days to finish.”

Chris said he dedicates his work to his family. “I did it for my brother Garry who is very sick,” he said. “I did good work. I’m a good worker and I’m proud of myself.”

The Grand Finale event will take place in the fall of 2008 at a venue to be announced.

ATTENTION FAMILIES & LOVED ONES OF CREATIVE CLAY MEMBER ARTISTS!
There will be a Bake Sale benefiting Creative Clay during Folkfest weekend! If you would like to contribute baked goods, time, or both, please contact the studio by calling 727-825-0515 or e-mail Grace - grace@creativeclay.org. Let us know what you’d like to bring and/or how much time you can devote to the sale.

8/27/07 - Jane Johnson, Director of APD, has proposed to eliminate independent support coordination in favor of state-run support coordination. This could be a devastating change on top of the proposed service cuts proposed earlier. We have provided a few sample letters to send to elected officials HERE.

8/24/07 - Jenny and Sommer just returned from the APSE Conference! Read about their experiences and what they learned in our blog.

5/14/07 - The State of Florida budget has passed with significant cuts to Medicaid Waiver funding, which provides services to persons with disabilities. We have created a letter that you can send to our elected officials and it can be found HERE.

The Weekend section of the St. Petersburg Times features a story about the Artlink Japan exhibit at Florida Craftsman. Artwork from the Lawrence J. and Alicia Loomis team is featured on the cover. This work captures the unique painting style of Lawrence J. Other’s stories and artwork can be found inside the article. To read the story, follow the link!

Artlink Japan was featured in Poynter Online! Read the article here, or watch a time-lapse video of the opening night here! Music provided by Beau Smith, with lyrics by Meego Nagomi.

Photos from Artlink Japan’s opening night can be found at TBO.com, and feel free to add your own photos!

and some older items…

4/30/07 - Creative Clay featured on Fox Channel 13 news.

4/4/07 - Creative Clay featured on Channel 10 news.

The “Learning from Japan” blog can still be found on tbo.com.