My kids go to public school. It’s a healthy, diverse urban school a block away from our house. I love that we walk there, that it’s full of dedicated, energetic staff, and that the teachers innovate in ways to bring life to their curriculum while still adhering to state standards. In order to attain all of the state required “instructional minutes,” though, the school day is pretty heavy on the academics. My kids have one hour-long art class once a week. We are lucky compared to some schools across the country to still have a full time art teacher on staff.

It is amazing to me as an artist, mother, and business woman how little regard arts education is given in the public school system at large. Especially in times of economic difficulty, when hard budget choices need to be made, art and music programs often are first on the chopping block, seen as nonessential. These are the times we need creativity the most!

Our world continues to become increasingly complex as the global community interconnect in all sorts of ways. There is much more stimulus and information to wade through than ever before. To prepare our children to thrive as adults in this challenging future, we need to teach them how to innovate, how to think for themselves, how to express themselves and their unique ideas. Logical academic skills are useful. They are tools to use when solving problems. But generating innovative solutions to complex problems requires creativity. Kids need more art in their lives to give them opportunities to practice and develop these critical skills. Art class is not a frivolous extra, it helps kids use their academic skills in unique and holistic ways.

Part of the motivation in creating Artterro was the realization that modern kids and families are lacking these creative experiences. Even in stores, our products are unique compared to typical craft kits for kids because of their open-ended nature, the educational instructions, and most of all the high quality of the materials. This generation of parents wants to have these kinds of experiences with their kids. Many feel the need to supplement what is lacking in our schools as well as develop a more hands-on relationship with our children.  We want to help re-invigorate the love of creativity in children and families. For people to experience the satisfaction you get from making something beautiful with your own hands, to participate in the often meditative process of composing an original piece of art.

Our public schools and the dedicated teachers and administrators who nurture our children do a lot of things right. Sometimes the behemoth bureaucracies get in the way, though, and we need to use our creativity to find ways to inject more innovation and value of arts education into the system.

]]> http://blog.artterro.com/?feed=rss2&p=93 8 http://blog.artterro.com/?p=69 http://blog.artterro.com/?p=69#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:13:21 +0000 Jen http://blog.artterro.com/?p=69

Our beautiful natural materials on the Artterro project table (made of recycled doors!) We love having stacks of art supplies around our office to inspire us!

At Artterro, we love Earth Day. Gathering the world community to pay tribute to the planet and recognize our impact on it is significant! The fulfillment of sustainability and environmental stewardship, though, takes regular commitment and as a sustainable business, we feel empowered as we strive to make responsible choices everyday.

Our minimal packaging allows us to spend more on the amazing materials AND you get to see what you're buying!

Artterro kits are very intentionally packaged. We use sturdy reusable bags, print all inserts on 100% PCW recycled  paper with vegetable based inks at Green Solutions Printing in Eugene, OR. They are a terrific small business committed exclusively to environmentally responsible printing and use renewable energy to power their presses. When packed in shipping boxes, our kits take up a fraction of the space conventionally over-packaged craft kits do, reducing transportation resources.  Our kits are assembled in the US at Goodwill Industries in Milwaukee, WI to provide social services and job skills to those in need and to avoid the intense resource suck of overseas production. And best of all, customers are not left with a pile of wasteful boxes and molded plastic inserts that ultimately end up in the trash.

And then, there’s the materials… Who could thow these away?

We have a lot of goals but one is to teach children and families to value quality materials. In our fast food culture, we have gotten so used to cheap, easy and disposable. We want kids not only growing up exploring their creativity but doing it with art supplies that inspire them. We want them to learn to take care of them, to care about what they’re made of, to reuse them when tired of an old project, and to add recycled items from around the house to personalize their artwork.

While at the recent NAMTA art materials trade show we heard a few buyers comment, “I love the concept. The materials and projects are great. I get the idea of the packaging but I just wish it had a box… my customers are used to thinking they get more if they buy a big box.” We have heard this before and learned educating our customers is key. It’s a huge cultural mind shift to believe you can actually get more value from a smaller package! And it’s exciting to see that more and more people get it. In fact, we’re thrilled to announce we were just named a “Top Green Toy for Earth Day 2010″ on the education.com website!

So we continue on, trying our best to make sustainable choices, not because it’s a savvy marketing strategy or even because it’s good for the environment. When we focus on the big picture instead of just the bottom line, we become better people, better role models for our children, and lead more balanced lives. To truly make a difference on Earth Day and beyond, striving to create balance within ourselves and our workplaces translates into a healthier environment all around.

So happy Earth Day, and enjoy making lots of sustainable art with the people you love!

]]> http://blog.artterro.com/?feed=rss2&p=69 6 http://blog.artterro.com/?p=56 http://blog.artterro.com/?p=56#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:43:30 +0000 Jen http://blog.artterro.com/?p=56

The table at our booth displaying our "Best New Kid's Product "awards, 3 years in a row!

We’re here in Indianapolis for the International Art Materials Trade show (NAMTA) for the third time. It’s been a great show! We’ve met a lot of new potential customers and reconnected with friends from previous years. It’s always satisfying to share our products and sustainable concept of our company with new people, especially in the art community. We’ve gotten a warm reception, many appreciate the focus of providing quality art materials to children. They, like us have been frustrated by cookie-cutter kits overwhelmingly given to kids made of plastic beads, foam shapes, dried out paint pots and pipe cleaners!

And, we’re excited to announce for the third year in a row, we’ve been awarded the “Best New Kid’s Product” title for our new Wool Felt Bug kit! Check out the pics below. It includes an assortment of colorful wool felt shapes, fun ribbon, wire, beads, craft thread and needles. You can make 7 one-of -a-kind art bugs with one great kit!

Our new Wool Felt Bug Kit

Bug kit samples

We also introduced a few other new products, all of these will be available in stores this fall. For a couple of years now we have heard over and over again requests for a class-sized kit. So we’ve listened and delivered! The new Artterro Creativity Party Pack is a collection of decorative 100% recycled handmade paper, wool felt shapes, wire, beads, craft thread and needles. Enough materials for 12 people to make 2 projects each. This kit is perfect for birthday parties, classes, after school groups, camps, and family gatherings!

Our new class sized Creativity Party Pack has enough materials for 12 people to do 2 projects each!

And we’ve created a group of four Artterro Extras for all of you that want a little more beads, paper or felt to go with a project.

Over the past couple of days, we’ve talked to a lot of other exhibitors wanting to know where they can buy our products for themselves and their families. Our list of stores is always growing but we could use all of your help to spread the word about our products and company. If you have an art, craft, toy, gift, or natural food store in your area you think should carry our kits, please feel free to let them know about us!

Check out our new office! We worked hard on the paint job.

So It’s been awhile since the last post… It’s been on our to-do list, we swear! One of our core goals for the company is to expand the conversation about making art, sustainable business, mom/work life balance, so keeping up on the blog is an important part of that. It’s hard to get to it all, isn’t it? But that’s ok. It’s part of the journey to figure out what needs to be paid attention to at any given time. Trade show follow up? New office set up? Design new kit packaging? Dishes?

Did I mention we moved into our first office? This has been not only a very busy time for us but also a very exciting time too. Both Forrest and I feel similarly about Artterro (our third child) as we do our own kids. We both have 5 and 8 year olds who continue to need lots of love and attention but can hold their own for periods of time. The company also still needs a lot of care but it’s exciting to see it emerge from infancy, and even toddlerhood. I think we’ve just entered kindergarten! And we’re proud (very involved) parents.

We exhibited at Toy Fair in New York last month and it was a fantastic trip. Not only did we get to spend a week in NEW YORK without the daily routines of house and family responsibility but we had a chance to share our story and enthusiasm for Artterro with people from all over the world. We weren’t sure what to expect but prepared well and are proud of our beautiful booth and the overwhelmingly positive response we received to our products. This is the kind of feedback that keeps us going, hearing there’s a true need for accessible, authentic, open-ended art experiences.

Forrest in the Toy Fair booth

It is especially satisfying to watch intent trade show attendees do a double take as they are about to pass by our booth. We ask, “Are you familiar with our company? We’ve created a line of eco-friendly mixed-media art projects with beautiful materials. Made in the USA. At Goodwill Industries.” Their eyes widen and they step into the booth.

We got to talk to store owners, toy buyers, mom bloggers, some very cool company owners like our new friends at Makedo and Sprig. We were able to have real conversations about what sustainability means to us and how important it is to help spread the word. There’s a long way to go on that front. I think the idea of “green” has seeped into mainstream culture but embracing a holistic concept of sustainable corporate structure is still a “luxury” for most companies or not on their radar. As consumers, it’s important we ask more of the companies we buy products from. The goal isn’t perfection but when the guest speaker on the Toy Fair presentation about green children’s products is a marketing executive from Walmart, you know there’s more work to be done.

Jen in the Toy Fair booth

Here's another view of a version of our booth at a different show (NAMTA 2009)

On the home front this month, we reached a huge milestone by officially moving headquarters out of our home offices into a space in the Madison Enterprise Center business incubator! We are fortunate to have a beautiful new home and to be neighbors with some inspiring local small businesses.

We’ve also just hired our terrific office/PR marketing assistant Jessica, who from day one has made our lives easier. It is a pleasure to feel like we are accomplishing twice as much each day because we have help and a central headquarters. We eagerly look forward to being able to further expand our staff and nurture our Artterro family as it grows.

We are never in short supply of big ideas. It’s cultivating the patience needed to achieve those goals that’s challenging. I was recently watching a PBS pledge drive special where Wayne Dyer quoted Byron Katie saying, “Wanting things to be different than they are is the definition of insanity.” (I’m a sucker for new-agey self-help gurus by the way). This simple idea, though, perfectly describes why the mantra of patience Forrest and I have been trying to practice is so important. Things always seem to work out the way they are supposed to because when we focus on what needs our attention at any given moment, that’s the best we can do. Wishing for circumstances to be different just makes it harder.

So, we dream big, move towards those goals slowly, and feel incredibly grateful we’ve come so far already. Now that the new office is (mostly) set up, and we’ve got some help, we’ve arrived at this new place where there’s time to do things like regularly write blog posts! We hope you come back and visit Spark again soon. We have a lot more we want to talk about! Please feel free to comment below, we’d love you to join our conversation.

Jen, co-owner of Artterro

The Artterro area at Goodwill

On our recent trip to Milwaukee to exhibit at the Wisconsin Art
Educators Association Conference, we visited the James O. Wright
Center of Goodwill Industries of South East Wisconsin to meet with the
amazing people who assemble and ship Artterro kits.

We were blown away by the great job they are doing! Forrest had
visited before, it was Jen’s first time. Most of our communication
with them is via email and phone conferences, though, so neither of us
had seen them in the full swing of production.

Wow! What an impressive operation. The facility itself employs between
250-300 participants with disabilities or those in need of job
training skills, 20-30 work on our project. They handle all sorts of
jobs from assembling and packaging automotive parts to large scale
commercial laundry services. They also provide social and recreational
programming for participants, including art instruction!  We were able
to tour their art room where we saw all sorts of examples of great
projects including colorfully painted rain barrels, and paintings used
for their annual holiday card fundraiser.

Art room for participants at Goodwill

Assembling Artterro kits is a unique project for Goodwill and we are
thrilled to give participants an opportunity to learn job skills while
working with our colorful, fun materials. When Forrest moved
production out of her kitchen to Goodwill, we were a small side
project for them. All our kits and materials fit into a closet! Within
the last year, we’ve grown enough to have a dedicated work area
designated for us and a large storage area was created to house our
materials and finished inventory. There’s plenty of room to grow too,
the beauty of working with Goodwill is they can accommodate whatever
capacity we need. We now have an amazing production manager, Theresa,
who works full time our project, coordinating all the participants
with various assembly tasks.

Participant assembling kits

All in all, we were really impressed, it truly feels like a perfect
partnership. When we started the company, having a sustainable mission
at our core was essential.  We wanted to create products we could
believe in and build a workplace that supports our co-workers beyond
just a paycheck. It makes it all worthwhile when we see our ideals and
goals become reality!

Paint with Wool kits in production!

Wire and Bead Kit assembly

All the hard work pays off each time we get a call from a toy store
owner or a comment from a customer saying, “we love your kits!” and
just a couple of weeks ago, we received word fron the online specialty
toy magazine TD Monthly that we won one of their 2009 Top Toy awards
for our Creativity Kit.

We’ve been very impressed by the online magazine’s dedication to promoting quality products for children. They have helped us reach out to customers and spread the word about Artterro kits.

So, it’s probably appropriate to start with how we chose the name. As artists ourselves, we have experienced the thrill of immersing ourselves in a project, the satisfaction of creating something beautiful, inspired from within ourselves. We’ve also felt the frustration of facing the blank page, putting high expectations upon ourselves to make something “good,” a piece of art others can admire and compliment us on.

Part of exploring our creativity is that element of letting go, forgetting about how others see us and tapping into the abundant inspiration beneath. We’ve heard many people claim they are not creative. They compare themselves to others and say they could never do what an “artist” does. We believe they’re wrong. Everybody possesses the ability to create. Art is often too narrowly defined and taking time to explore our creative side has been too often put on the backburner in our culture.

All people seek beauty and crave experiences that give birth to something meaningful and authentic. Artterro was born from that need and we design our projects to help others fulfill it. Creating a “spark” is an integral theme for our company. We provide beautiful open-ended inspiration to encourage creativity, even for those who claim they can’t. We include ample materials for friends and families to work side by side because sharing a creative experience with others often stokes the flame. When you begin with beautiful, natural materials and good company, it’s that much easier to ignite the Spark!