Art Works Studio School in Mt. Rainier, MD

As part of our team has recently moved to the Washington D.C. area to prepare for the installation in June, we've spent the last few weeks meeting with many like-minded organizations, leaders of faith, and local youth to find a base of support over the next several months. It's been so energizing to meet with such enthusiastic and passionate people!

We were lucky enough to be invited to attend an open studio event last Sunday, February 10, at Art Works Studio School just outside of the District of Columbia. Art Works is a community art space that is committed to offering affordable arts education and an opportunity for emerging artists to showcase their talent. Our D.C. Coordinators Kate and Rochelle have been working with Art Works for some time and we were so excited to finally meet everyone there!

The event on Sunday was truly more than we could have ever imagined. Around 100 community members and neighbors stopped by to make bones and learn more about the project, and our total bone count was 1,023 at the day's end!  Art Works Studio School founder Barabara Johnson graciously hosted the event and shared with us the history and mission of the organization and was certainly our biggest cheerleader! Also in attendence was Margaret Boozer of nearby Red Dirt Studio, who generously agreed to fire the bones made. oAbout mid-day, we were surprised by a visit from the Northwestern High School Choir, who graced us with some beautiful a cappella songs. The group of students are working to fundraise for a trip to the Ihlombe South Africa Choral Festival in July and we are sure that they would knock the socks off anyone who gets the chance to take a listen! The students were so supportive of the project and they all stuck around after their performance to contribute to Art Works' goal of 10,000 bones.

We can't wait to continue working with Art Works and Red Dirt during our time in D.C. It's relationships like these that become some of our favorite memories along the way...small, but passionate communities coming together to champion the project and create their own unique experience in the process.

Many thanks to Barbara Johnson and Art Works Studio School for sharing these photos of the event: