***

In his essay Relationships are Coevolutionary Loops ⁰¹, the poet Henrik Karlsson reminds us that “it is rare for people to come into themselves if no one is excited and curious about their core, their potential. We need someone who gives us space to unfold.” As I wrote in the last installment, Problem Children is a program where these relationships – defined by curiosity, witnessing, and mutual care – are planted and nurtured. Equally important is the ecosystem the program lives within.

Responding to the needs and aspirations of students after they have “graduated” from Problem Children is central to our vision for the future of Problem Library. This is fundamentally a question about the ecosystem (community) we are creating. How do we grow by continuing to foster opportunities for everyone to coevolve, to be of service, to unfold? In other words: what is the shape of our community?

While we are still building the foundation of this community, one student who has made the most of what Problem Library makes available is Giovana – Gio to those who know her best.

Gio first joined Problem Children in 2022 and has continued to engage with us in a growing variety of roles. Most recently she stepped up as an assistant/youth mentor for the Problem Children 2024 cohort. Through these engagements Gio has pushed herself in many dimensions: as a designer, an architect, a writer, a leader, a friend.

In thinking about the question central to this installment, I invited Gio to once again push herself and write about why she keeps returning to work with us. Her reflection below sheds light on the value that even a budding ecosystem like ours can provide when structured around the coevolution Karlsson speaks of.

Thank you Gio for taking on this challenge to share your experience with us.

As always, if you are so called please reply to this email or contact me directly: daniel@problemlibrary.org

***

And before we get into it: Please save the date to join us on Saturday August 24 at 5pm for the Problem Children 2024 closing exhibition! A full invitation is coming next week.

— bell hooks

One Saturday afternoon Daniel asked me, “Gio, why do you keep coming back?” It is a question I was immediately excited to explore and answer. In thinking about it, I started by reflecting on the steps of my journey with Problem Children and Problem Library.

My first memory of Problem Children is when Thea, a fellow 2022 Problem Child, told me about the program. At the time I was certain it was something like a summer camp. When I first spoke to Daniel and Blake for my application interview, I vividly remember telling them I wanted to come out of the program “being able to draw more realistically.” Though I can draw realistically now, I am proud to say that wasn’t the primary purpose of the program.

The program transformed me from a student into an artist with a clear end goal. This goal is driven by passion, not grades. The (not so) simple act of commuting to the Inner Sunset from Marin (via ferry and MUNI) gave my 16-year-old self a new sense of maturity and independence. Interacting with six bright individuals during our sessions and studio time made the experience even more exciting. We weren’t competing: we were cooperating and pushing each other.

Being surrounded by experienced artists, whom we had the honor to call mentors, sealed the deal for me. My sense of maturity grew as I worked with my mentor, Jess, who inspired me to stop saying “like” every two seconds and made me realize that every step of the process mattered. Knowing someone cared about my goals – and was eager to help me achieve them – was incredibly encouraging, especially when I panicked and wanted to start over after nearly completing my project. I would have been lost without his care and willingness to share so many words of wisdom – thank you Jess.

The next spring, I was lucky enough to continue with Problem Children under the mentorship of Daniel and Jeff. They let the architect in me run free for five months while I developed a design for a Problem Children school – which I named Solis Ardor ⁰². In this longer program, I was introduced to new ways of thinking about structures, and left every meeting feeling like a real architect. I believed that in a few years we would actually take over Golden Gate Park and build a new home for Problem Children.

Later that year I was invited to speak with Blake about Solis Ardor at the first-ever Too Much Information. We delved into the process of designing the structure by exploring what it takes to design for educational experiences and touching on future architectural goals for Problem Children.

Most recently, this summer, as Daniel mentioned above, I returned to Problem Children as an intern and youth mentor – lending my voice and experience to the newest group of young artists going through this program. I also go pick up lunch, aka critically important work!

These experiences have helped me gain confidence, further develop my design/architectural skills, and introduced me to a fantastic community.

***

So, why do I keep coming back? Well, to say it simply: Problem Library provides an environment that most educational institutions cannot.

I can never shake the feeling of joy as I commute to Problem Library. I always laugh when I’m there, overflowing with happiness. My creativity is sparked through in-depth conversations, which then materialize through effort and passion into creation. I’m always energized there and inspired when I leave, eagerly awaiting my next visit.

This energy, and how I can always return to it, is what is so special about my experience with Problem Library. No matter what I’m doing in life, no matter what challenges I face, it is an artistic solid ground. It is a place where I can take what life has taught me and give it meaning and context alongside others who are also exploring life through creation.

I also enjoy (re)connecting with people. Sometimes I even find myself getting emotional during conversations, moved by the passion of those around me who are working toward their goals. This passion inspires me as it aligns with my own purpose. It’s a place where passions can be unraveled with the necessary mentorship to achieve the best possible outcomes—not just for a final creative piece, but for more general artistic and personal growth.

As I head off to CalPoly Pomona to study my one true love – architecture – I feel blessed to be a part of this place, this community, and I look forward to coming back to work, grow, and learn alongside everyone.

— Giovana

— Wendell Berry

When we started Problem Children we sought to create “what we wish had existed when we were younger”. At first we understood that to mean a “summer art mentorship program”, but over the years we have come to see that “what we wish had existed” is not a singular experience – it is not one summer with new friends and mentors making art. No, what we wish we had is a community of relationships, learning spaces and contexts that resonate with us, a part of the world we could touch and be touched by, an ecosystem where we could set down roots and grow within, against, alongside.

As this vision has come into sharper focus we have responded by building new ways to interact with, and provide for, the ever-changing needs of those we work with. This was the impetus for both Problem Children Winter (the longer program Gio mentioned) and Too Much Information, and it is the driving force of where Problem Library is going. This is about fulfilling our responsibility to those around us – but especially the youth who are in dire need of an alternative to the futility of our stupefying, digital-first, relationship-starved age.

Going forward, Problem Library will continue to create opportunities and space to support and respond to our local youth to show them that they are welcome and needed here. And, importantly, we will give them the tools to get to work and strive to reach their full potential, to the benefit of all. Making this space is a way to respond to the imperative Simone Weil identifies in The Need for Roots when, speaking about education and youth, she says “They must be made to feel at home, too, in the world of thought.” ⁰³

Thank you Gio for the time, energy, and joy you have brought to Problem Library and for sharing your thoughts. Thank you also to all the other Problem Children ⁰⁴ who keep coming back to help shape the community and direction of the program, and of Problem Library as a whole.

You all have shown us that responding to your ever-changing needs is the most powerful and purposeful way for us (as people, as an organization) to grow and evolve.

—

In the next, and final, installment in this series I will speak more on how we are making this space and how it is shaping where Problem Library is headed.

In the meantime, if you are inspired to learn more and join us, please reply to this email or go ahead and contact me directly: daniel@problemlibrary.org

Daniel Lucas
Education Director

Footnotes

01 — Read the essay here: https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/p/making-a-home-together

02 — In Gio’s notes on the name Solis Ardor, she writes: “Solis is Latin for sun and Ardor is an English word that means a great feeling of warmth, excitement or passion. Because Problem Library is located in the Sunset, I wanted to include the idea of “sunset” in the name somehow. And I ultimately decided to go with solis because it is Latin which is a root for many languages much as the Sunset is a root to Problem Library. Ardor came as I started to think about the act of going to the PL on the weekends over the first summer and how excited I was to be surrounded by young artists like myself. This excitement ultimately guided me towards creating my passion project. With this in mind, the word Ardor fit perfectly.”

03 — Simone Weil was asked by Charles de Gaulle to write a report on how to effect a regeneration in France once World War II ended. The result is The Need For Roots – a masterclass in understanding what drives humans and how we might fully re-think what it is we need. This quote comes from a section where Weil is discussing the differing places where education happens. In the paragraph preceding this quote, she argues that education should “not be done in the schools, where it is always badly done, but should be bathed right away in an atmosphere of production itself”. She goes on to clarify that this does not mean she thinks schooling should be done in factories, but rather that something else is needed, something that “combines the advantages of training-school, those of apprenticeship in a factory, those of a chantier de jeunesse [a type of instructional center], and many more besides”. Weil is making an argument we wholeheartedly agree with: education must happen in various places, through various methodologies, and always embedded in a local culture – not cloistered away from it.

04 — In order of program seniority: Ella, Avery, Nadine, Monica, Samuel, Bryan, Airis, Sofi, Chelsie, Lea, Ava, Toto, Carter, Kaiya, Alex, Sarah. Each of you has helped in ways large and small, and we cannot overstate the honor it has been to be by your side as you grow. For those who have yet to come back: we hope to see you soon.