So, we had this idea...
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What started as a quirky idea from a group of passionate people has come to fruition in the form of On The Move Art Studio. In 2014, we bought a vintage trailer with the goal of refurbishing it into a mobile art room designed to go into underserved neighborhoods and host arts classes for kids.
After completing a successful Kickstarter campaign during which we raised our goal of $8,000, we went straight to work to transform our 1969 Streamliner trailer into a beautiful space for kids to explore the arts. We launched our first classes in 2015 and haven't looked back since! Where it all began...
Back in 2013, a group of us really wanted to do something positive for our community. We wanted to utilize the arts to empower at-risk youth and help them find alternative means to overcome any obstacles they may be facing.
We realized that sometimes transportation can be a barrier for some kids to get to the resources they can benefit from so we thought, why not bring the resources to them? And why not bring it to them in style, via a vintage trailer? We had this quirky idea to renovate a vintage trailer into a mobile art room to take into underserved neighborhoods to host free arts classes for kids. Sounds simple enough, right?! Let's launch a Kickstarter!The only problem was, we didn't have any money. One of the biggest obstacles with our 1969 vintage trailer was that it was a 1969 vintage trailer. Arthur (get it?? Art...Arthur..ba-dum-chh!) had been through 46 years of wear and tear and he really showed it.
So that is when we decided to lean on the community for support. Not only would this help fuel our dream, it would test whether or not people actually wanted this. Even though we were stoked about the idea, community work is exactly that--community work. It has to be about collaborations and creating programs that the community supports. And on November 1, 2014 we put our dream out there for the world to see with our Kickstarter campaign aimed at raising $8,000 to renovate Arthur. |
Spreadin' the dream...
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We spread our dream as far and wide as we could. We took to social media, emails, word-of-mouth, flyers, and even made it on the news! The scary part, however, is that Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing effort. Even if you raise 99% of your goal, you don't get a single dime. And when your goal is a whopping $8,000, that is very scary! However, we believed in our dream, believed in each other, and believed in the passion our community had. Lexington has a great reputation for caring about those in need and doing something for them. So after nearly 30 days of scrambling, clawing, wishing, and hoping.....
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Getting down to work...
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Somehow, someway, at the end of our campaign we had surpassed our goal 140 people decided they believed in our mission too and contributed financially to make it happen. We were in shock, we celebrated, and then we got right to work! |
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Many of Arthur's insides were gutted to make room for activities and then we added some shelves, patched holes, and painted like crazy. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun too!
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And before we knew it, Arthur was completely transformed!
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On September 10th, 2015 we cut the ribbon with so many of our supporters and haven't looked back since!
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