Arin - I will be doing a range of visual art: whittling, painting, drawing and photography. These are all things that interest me. I will send out my work once a week by email. I'm a kid who likes visual arts and the outdoors. Sponsor Arin

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Betsy Evans - My work will draw on my professional background in early childhood and elementary education which includes a special focus on conflict resolution, as well as my personal experience as a parent and grandparent. My twice weekly emails will include strategies that I have found effective in addressing typical family problems such as chores, bedtime, and other transition issues for children, as well as strategies for escalated emotions and conflicts. Some of the strategy sharing will be done via cartoon attachments that illustrate how to respond differently than a traditional disciplinary approach. www.kidsandconflict.com Sponsor Betsy

 

Carol Blakely - Emotional Support Chicken - I will knit a soft stuffed animal chicken. Using email, I will send weekly updates as I knit, assemble, and stuff the chicken. Sponsor Carol

 

Elizabeth Cleary - I plan to create a piece or pieces based on my favorite quote (one that seems relevant for those seeking asylum): "They tried to bury us; they didn't know we were seeds." I paint in acrylic and mixed media. My vision is a painting or multiple paintings on canvas that include text and flowers. I live in Fletcher, Vermont with my husband and two children. I have been an artist ever since I can remember, and have been selling my work since I was 18 years old. However, I recently took the leap to make art my full-time job. I was inspired to join this project to be a source of love, light and hope, in a country and world that can feel like it is being overtaken with hate, darkness and despair. This is a way to merge my creative talents with a way to provide some help to those who need it. Website: http://elizabethcleary.com; Instagram: @elizabethclearyart Sponsor Elizabeth

 

Ella Schneider - I'm going to write a serial comic, and share its "chapters" once a week with patrons via email! Sponsor Ella 

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Emma - I want to create multi-layered prints that express joy and the strength in our communities. I will share my work through weekly emails and Instagram posts. Art is a powerful way for us all to process the state of the world. It is most desperately needed in times like these to spread hope and provoke insightful thoughts. I am driven to speak out through my art against injustice and hopefully inspire others to act. We must protect our communities and neighbors. No one is illegal on stolen land! Instagram: @we_are_one_tattoos_n_stuff; https://www.instagram.com/p/C7mXZ5tACig/?img_index=1; https://www.instagram.com/p/DVWRW3xDbtK/?img_index=1 Sponsor Emma

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Hannah Martin - I will be creating four handmade books and sharing photos and description of the process with my sponsors. For this project I will be trying out four book construction methods that are new to me. I will post updates on a blog once a week, or will send them directly to sponsors' email if they prefer. I'm a librarian who enjoys bookbinding as a hobby. Sponsor Hannah

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Julie Carr - I enjoy playing around with watercolors. Watching the colors move, mix and flow together is relaxing to create. I am learning how to master this medium and always learning more. The subjects I paint are usually landscapes around Vermont or things around our home. My watercolor paintings will arrive to you in emails about 3 times a week. I’d love any feedback from you of which projects you like or suggestions. Thank you for your support to Chittenden Asylum Seekers Assistance Network. Now more than ever, your support is welcomed. Sponsor Julie

 

Kait Armstrong - I plan to carve and print a 4"x6" woodblock print every week. I often make protest postcards inspired by creative protest posters, and will share the finished prints with anyone who wants a postcard. I will share the digital version of my work via email. My interest in art began at a young age and was encouraged by my family of creative thinkers. I draw inspiration from beauty in the natural world, and utilize printmaking to confront social and environmental issues. I carve my original designs out of Shina plywood and print them using oil based inks on archival printmaking paper. I use a handheld barren to press my images from wood block to paper, making my printing process completely by hand. www.armstrongartisans.com Sponsor Kait

 

Lynette Reep - I will do a photography/nature blog and post one to two times a week via email. Sponsor Lynette 

 

Meagan De Clerck - Stories in Paint - Immigration as Human Rights will be a weekly painting project created that centers immigration and asylum as human rights. Each week, I create one painting focused on a specific right, such as safety, family unity, or the right to seek asylum. I will share the painting process and the meaning behind each piece on the Patchwork Planet YouTube channel as the work unfolds: https://www.youtube.com/@Patchwork-Planet. Patchwork Planet is dedicated to teaching about human rights through art. Sponsors will receive a brief weekly email with an image of the work, a short reflection on the right being explored, and a link to the video update. I am an artist and a human rights advocate and the co-founder of Patchwork Planet, a multidisciplinary arts and advocacy initiative rooted in human rights and community care. My work is shaped by years of engagement with refugee resettlement, asylum advocacy, and creative education, as well as by a belief in art as a form of witness and education. Stories in Paint — Immigration as Human Rights is inspired by the lived realities of people seeking safety and dignity, and by the conviction that these experiences must be seen and named as human rights rather than political abstractions. Through painting and shared process, I am to make immigration and human rights visible and better understood. https://www.patchworkplanet.org/, https://www.youtube.com/@Patchwork-Planet, https://www.darlaluz.com/ Sponsor Meagen

 

Pamela Powell - Every week I lead several writing groups on zoom in which participants write together from prompts that I suggest. The groups are for people with cancer, women, and the newest group -- Jewish women in Vermont. We go deep and it's a wonderful way to connect. Some of the groups started in person and have morphed onto zoom but our closeness has not been compromised. I will share one writing per week generated in one of my weekly groups. I'll share it by email. www.mermaidpamela.com Sponsor Pamela

 

Tom Connors - Every day I wake up and I'm afraid to look at my phone or watch the news, because it's very depressing to see what our country has become. But there is good news out there and I plan to find it and share it, much like I have the past couple of years. I'm calling this year's project Pay It Forward. I'd like to inject some positivity into people's lives. My plan is to share, approximately 3 times a week, through e-mail, a message of positivity, either something original or something other than my own with my own relevant commentary. This is my 3rd year participating as a "Creative" in this campaign. I have been volunteering for CASAN for 5 years and have had the pleasure of working with some amazing families who have come here seeking asylum. I think about my own grandfather coming here from Ireland alone at the age of 16 and starting a new life that led to generations of college graduates, successful business professionals, skilled workers, and entrepreneurs. All because he took the risk to come to America and start a new life. Sponsor Tom 

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Tony Kay - Currently things are looking dark for both asylum seekers and all the rest of us. That said, I see a lot of positive energy going out to push back against oppression of those less fortunate. SEEING LIGHT in the darkness will be the focus of this year's project. For the month of April, it will include one e-mailing per day of a photograph of light to remind us to stay aware of what each of us can do to brighten the future. While form, texture and color are the basic elements of composition, light has the potential to evoke feelings like nothing else. As such, it is often the subject of my photography. No matter where I am, light inspires my soul. https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ed27f242-6e05-49c6-b419-918a55143c52/a02bdc4a-cd51-4a0c-82de-eac4200a863c_rw_1920.jpg?h=6ad84d332d8436082880db60071f9259; https://cdn.myportfolio.com/ed27f242-6e05-49c6-b419-918a55143c52/0818a59f-b293-44f9-a683-d1ebb282baba_rw_1920.jpg?h=bed80e8bba8fdcc8ef83afaf56cbf631 Sponsor Tony

 

Wes Carr - Experience quiet moments of Vermont through my watercolor sketches. Empty parking lots, rusted downspouts, golden hour hitting a weathered building. I'll share new work weekly via email, along with thoughts on what I'm learning as I develop this practice. I returned to art in early 2024 after a 20-year break, and it's become essential. I'm a UX designer and father in Underhill Center, learning to see beauty in overlooked places and trying to model to my kids that creative work matters. Your support helps me take this practice to the next level—thank you for being part of the journey. https://wescarr.com/blog/art/simons-mobile/; https://wescarr.com/blog/friends-homestead/ Sponsor Wes

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