A special thank you to the mentors, staff, and volunteers who made the day a success. And, of course, congratulations to the artists and their fantastic projects.

Stop by Problem Library this Saturday or Sunday from 12—5pm to view the work and learn more about the program.

As we reflect on what Problem Children is and can be, we feel confident that we need to give more young people the opportunities these students have had. The chance to work in this space, to build meaningful community, to choose the lives they lead.

To make the program resilient, we need the support of our community. We need our community to choose and invest in what exists for the next generation right here in San Francisco.

To continue running Problem Children in 2023, we need to raise a budget of $75,000. This will allow us to continue using 1288 as an education space year round and create new ways to expand the reach of Problem Children.

We are asking that you seriously consider what you can give – as a monthly or annual donor – to help support this work. We hope you will join the others who are committed to helping us reach our financial goal and continue this work.

We also hope you will take the opportunity to advocate for Problem Children by making introductions to those interested in supporting new educational contexts in the Bay Area.

If you’d like to learn more about supporting our work, please email myself or Blake (daniel@problemlibrary.org or blake@problemlibrary.org) or visit our donation page and start supporting us today.

As a recap, and for those who have yet to see the work, I wanted to take a moment to share a little about each project.

Airis created Harbor, a photo series which uses landscapes and models to explore our connection to nature. The collection of photos were captured in a space where they were able to find safe harbor during a time of overwhelm.

Ava built the set of a dystopian restaurant, Efficiency Eatery. Her project explores a future where dining options are chosen for their efficiency and speed. The work interrogates the idea of ghost kitchens and the future of AI-driven dining.

Chelsie used her project to ask the question Is It Really Okay? She installed a six-foot tall poster with the question on JFK Drive and invited passersby to confidentially answer. The project dives into her curiosity about the role vulnerability plays in our day-to-day lives.

Giovana designed and built a model for a home integrated with nature, Casa Tellus. She used the project to explore how we can use natural materials and building techniques to create homes that integrate with nature and reduce the impact building has on the environment.

Josie created a fairy tale gown out of used hospital gowns they have been collecting. Gown To Gown explores how we can transform emotionally charged materials into objects of beauty, stripping them of their negative power and imbuing them with new meaning.

Lea tells the story of a future AI-driven anomaly, AIBM-3092. She envisioned a scenario where AI has become indistinguishable from ‘nature’ and created a scene that explores how we might look back on these monumental shifts in the unification of nature and man-made technology.

Thea created the sculpture Of Clay And Bones. Working in a totally new medium, Thea created a sculpture that dives into the question of incompleteness and the (perceived) weight of the burdens of living.

The project led her to the conclusion that: “even artists, as glorious as they may seem, mess up and find things they can’t do.”