Reflections—A special message from Executive Director Dr. Kimberly Keith

Make your year end donation to support our students!

Dear friends,

As 2021 comes to a close this is the perfect time for reflection, to take stock of where we’ve come from and where we’re going.

For almost two years Hilltop Artists has done our best to weather the storms of the ongoing pandemic.

Daytime Electives and After School courses went from being hands-on glass making classes with sequential skill building, to virtual glass history lessons introducing students to the material.

Greg works with instructors and students during the 2021 Winter Sale

When in-person learning resumed in September the students who started with us online had never touched glass before; it often feels like we’ve started over from scratch.

Matriculating students who progress from Daytime and After School to Team Production don’t exist this year. We lament “we don’t have any minnows!”, knowing it will take years for our little fish to grow into mighty orcas.

Rebuilding this learning pipeline is critical to our survival in the months and years to come.

In October we tried a new approach to our annual fundraiser by turning the luncheon into the Better Futures Festival, a weekend event at the Hilltop Heritage Middle School hot shop.

An alum and new student work together at Arts Night Out, August 2021

We celebrated Greg Piercy, who retired after teaching with us for 26 years, and invited many of his former and current students to collaborate with him.

The demos, reunions, and speeches showed us the effectiveness of our mentorship over three decades, with many Hilltop Artists living their best lives.

We could see our mission in action, and many guests told us this was their favorite fundraiser ever. However, we only had space for 150 guests, rather than the 550 we usually host, which meant we received fewer individual contributions and were $26,000 short of our goal.

This summer four Alumni Team students received paid internships at Pilchuck Glass School, six students and two teaching artists attended a week-long residency at Pilchuck, three students and one teaching artist received scholarships from Crafting the Future to study at American craft schools, a student assisted Antoine Pierini in Biot, France, and we formed the first (but certainly not the last!) Hilltop Artists’ softball team.

Strong relationships with organizational partners enabled these opportunities, which were greatly appreciated by staff and students.

Alum John works with artist Cedric Mitchell at Pilchuck Glass School, summer 2021

These experiences were a welcome respite during this time when we continue to live in fear of our most natural and necessary activity: breathing.

Every day, we consider how our and others’ breath can harm us or our loved ones. This knowledge is constantly traumatizing, whether we recognize that or not.

This year we said goodbye to a staff member who had been with us since day one, and we welcomed new artists to our team.

We have weathered the storms and traumas of the last two years, and have become a stronger organization with a more resilient staff because of the challenges we faced.

It is more important than ever to have a creative and healing outlet, to have space to express ourselves, and to be surrounded with caring people.

Hilltop Artists is that creative outlet for many youth, and our staff are the caring adults they rely on for guidance and support.

Hilltop Artists daytime instructor Samantha, works at Pilchuck Glass School, summer 2021

This is serious work but there’s also lots of fun to be had while we create together.

Teambuilding happens with a lot of laughs and a healthy dose of resiliency; when something breaks, it’s sad at first, then our artists turn to how it can be made better and stronger the next time.

That’s how we learn, through trial and error, through examples of best practices and positive attitudes, and through pizza. Lots of pizza.

But life and work are complex, and joy and fun happen alongside seismic, organizational change. I sometimes forget to share the full picture.

At Hilltop Artists, we have managed to keep everyone employed, but are operating on a deficit from the annual fundraiser, and now we’re working toward a year-end goal to raise $25,000.

All told, that means we need to raise $50,000 by the end of 2021.

I usually share inspiring stories as we head into a new year, but this time I wanted to share both the successes and the struggles. I love my job and I see the glass as perennially half full.

Donna, James, Williams, Kim, Louise, Mary, Luis, Sam, Katy, Trenton, Monique, Jessica and baby Quentin from our staff retreat.

This letter is me telling you that Hilltop Artists can use your support now more than ever.

Please give today to ensure our continued success, and if you can, become a monthly donor by joining our Murrini Club.

Thank you for your consideration, and thank you for all the support you have given us over the years.

I appreciate you and wish you all the best!

Cheers,

Dr. Kimberly F. Keith