To continue the conversation I will be providing periodic updates about Problem Children in the coming months.

Since our last email we have raised $3,085 through donations and sales during our pop-up with Sunset Workwear. This gets us a long way towards filling out Problem Library with worktables and other resources for artists. Still, we hope to raise an additional $1,415 so we can provide our artists with the best possible working space.

We are also looking for folks with woodworking experience or who have working equipment and artistic materials to donate.

You can give financially through the link below and should email me directly for donations of time and materials.

While we aspire to provide Problem Children tuition-free to all artists, the program has a $600 tuition to cover the costs of producing projects, materials for group activities, providing lunch during group sessions, and for ticketed field trips.

Last week one of our currently accepted artists wrote me to say that she wants to pay her tuition rather than having her parents do so. This show of self-investment is inspiring. To match her enthusiasm we have agreed to arrange for a 50% scholarship. We are looking for a donor to step up and donate the $300 needed to make this a reality.

(As an aside, she is looking for a summer job in Marin. If you have any leads for restaurant or babysitting work, please email me directly.)

Beyond this individual case, we are working to set aside a scholarship pool that can go directly to supporting talented artists from families who would struggle to shoulder the cost of tuition. If you’d like to support young artists directly, donating to provide scholarships is a great way to do that.

As Assistant Director Jeff Masamori and I put together this years curriculum and programming, we make decisions by listening closely to what applicants tell us in their interviews and through the opportunities that present themselves to us. If you’d like to get involved by providing a workshop, giving a tour, or something else, email me directly.

As we continue to develop Problem Children, we are learning new things all the time. One of the strongest findings is perhaps the most obvious: when you provide motivated people with the chance to push themselves, explore their creativity, and better understand how they fit into this world, they rise to the occasion and exceed even the wildest of expectations.

Seeing this fundamental human behavior play out first hand has been, to me, the single biggest motivator to continue this experiment. It challenges me to continually expand my vision of what Problem Children is and what it could become.

Above all, it has become clear that by providing the space, context, and community for individual growth, we are changing what is possible – and probable – in the future.