I met with the folks from SCORE this morning to discuss what I would need to do to make the Art Garage and Community Houses a non-profit. They were very helpful. I appreciated their willingness to give me tips and leads, and their assurance of continuing support throughout this process. Their first suggestion was to create a business model. So I brought my neighbors to the grocery store and while they were inside shopping for cat food and macaroni salad I got to work. One of the clear goals is to support an entrepreneurial mindset in the members of the community, especially the youth. Being an entrepreneur, means coming up with creative, independent solutions. You can have an entrepreneurial mindset even if you take a more traditional path in your career. The entrepreneur is the out of the box thinker, who is willing to take risks and looks at the problem with a fresh set of eyes, employing novel solutions rather than trying to use the latest fad or off-the-shelf approach. The other component of the model is that it should be emergent. Coming from the ideas and needs of the community members themselves. I had gotten home and cleaned up and was about to sit down and relax when my neighbor Melody knocked on the door and then walked in. She has a key and since I already treat my house a bit like a community center, I don't mind, but I was a bit tired and wanted to rest so I was a little testy. She started talking about how she wanted to make a store in the upstairs of the corner house. I thought to myself, that would be cute to do once or twice to get the kids excited about going there, and I started to tell her we could do it maybe a couple times. She insisted. She thought it would be a great idea to have a store there, just to sell sodas and candy at a low price for the kids. I was starting to get irritated. This was not the plan. I started to speak aloud that the goal of the house was to support small business and entrepreneurialism. She didn't understand, and so I started to expound on the idea. I said, if we were to make the store an opportunity for the kids to learn about keeping books, inventory, and the like, then it could work. I asked her if she knew what inventory meant. She didn't. I told her I had to meditate, and it would all work out, and sent her away. I did go to meditate, and when I was there trying to find some inner peace, I thought of a beautiful idea that a friend of my once had to open a healing center. She took all of her savings and found the perfect spot. She had many devoted people who were anxious to help in any way they could. But she couldn't let go of control. Eventually, she drove all of her supporters away, and the center failed. It was quite sad. I realized that Melody had a good idea, it was just making it fit the vision for the house that would need some adjusting. But it could be done, and it would be just as intended in drawing on the ideas of the community. Melody would even have the chance to learn about inventory!
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Abigail LarrisonEducator, Scientist and Art Maker. The purpose of all life is to spread joy. What brings more joy than making art? Archives
November 2023
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