blues babe: an education in giving.

As January pushes on, I know we are all thinking about resolutions and goals we’d like to either add to our lives as well as habits or ideals we might need to let go of. My good friend muther said she wanted to volunteer more this year which I thought was an attainable and wonderful resolution to aim for. She was going to start simply by volunteering to cook for some of the people in her neighborhood and see where that led her. I think this is a great way to go about any kind of change. Just start where you are, look around and see what you can do to make it better. And most times, the easiest way to do this is to start with what you know.

Blues Babe Foundation is a perfect example of someone wanting to give back and deciding to do it where she knew best, her old neighborhood. Blues Babe was founded by singer songwriter Jill Scott with the hope of assisting students in under served communities with aspirations for getting and staying in college. She started the foundation because she wanted to give back to the community that took care of her. The foundation provides scholarships, leadership training, summer camps and financial support to give kids more opportunities to make lives for themselves.

This past December, I got to be a part of a new program that is being implemented to help fund this foundation. Indigo, is a new line of products by local artists and designers being made in order to fund the Foundation. I was one of three artists (Stacey Wilson and Rah Crawford are the other artists affiliated) asked to make products for this new line.

Below are the journals, a series of alphabet books that, when together, spell out the word BLUE. B is for brilliant, L is for luminous, U is for unison and E, well e is for elevate. The organization was wonderful to work with, allowing us to do what we do best, make things. So far we have had a good response from the public which will ultimately turn into more funds to help the foundation reach their goals. I am always so pleasantly surprised when my personal interests collide with my actual work. Thanks to Blues Babe for the opportunity to make art for an amazing reason.

If you love books, or just want to help support you can buy them here. You are doing your part to ensure one more person gets an education they deserve, all thanks to Jill and the awesome folks over at the Blues Babe Foundation.