Saturday, March 28, 2015

All Things NEW...

Wow, October, huh?  It has been a while...

First let me say ...We're sorry! If you don't follow us on Facebook (which you can right here: https://www.facebook.com/thestudiothatlovebuilt) you wouldn't know how busy we've been trying to launch The Studio and gettting ready for..... ONE SPARK 2015!

We're so excited to be one of the 555 Creators that will be showcasing their projects/ideas at this great Crowdfunding Festival!  We will showcasing a project near and dear to us: "The Bridge of Hope Project" and we're doubly honored to have The Wounded Warrior Project as our hosting venue.  Yay!

Our project is aimed at bringing attention to Suicide and Mental /Health issues in a unique and creative way.  As artists, involved with other artists, we hope to use art as a vehicle to bring attention these important issues.  How you ask?  Well, let us tell you:

According to the US Centers for Disease Control, suicide ranks 9th overall in the top causes of death in the US for individuals over the age of 10 (http://www.cdc.gov/)making it a leading cause of death in the US. It jumps to the second leading cause of death for individuals between the ages of 15 -34. It ranks higher than homicide, HIV and many other diseases.  These days it's hard to meet anyone that has not been affected in some way either by knowing someone that has some type of mental illness, like depression, or knowing someone that has committed suicide - even if it's a famous celebrity.  We personally know the impact of both, all too well.

Our goal is to create a unique and positive way to help people that may be feeling depressed or suicidal.  We will begin by creating and printing decorative mugs that will have encouraging impactful sayings on them to help brighten someone's day.  You will be able to purchase one yourself or, better yet, purchase one to give a friend.

We then want to take it one step further... Our secondary goal is to get other artists to join our efforts in asking the City of Jacksonville to allow us to create murals throughout areas of the city where there have been large numbers of suicide or attempted suicide.  It is our hope that if someone were to see the murals with positive,inspiring sayings and images, that they would be inclined to think twice and look forward to a new and better tomorrow.

We hope to follow in the footsteps of people like Don Ritchie (RIP) {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Ritchie}, a man in Australia who, over the course of 45 years officially prevented 160 suicides near his home in Australia. Or, maybe in a small way, we'd like to be like our amazing host venue The Wounded Warrior Project that does so much for our country's veterans.  However, even if we only just reach one person- it would all be worth it!

Hope to see you at One Spark!

Be Blessed


https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/projects/the-studio-that-love-built