zerobird

I am fortunate to know many good people that do good things, I enjoy making things to help out their good things. That’s how most of these projects came to be.

Shirts, grocery bags and lunch sacks printed on recycled and organic cotton, to benefit the Green Earth Institute - an amazing organic farm in Naperville, IL that promotes nutritional health and environmental sustainability.

Images from the 2011 Green Earth Fair, held at the Green Earth Institute.

The Site Word Superstar Program was an idea to get younger students, at a school on the north side of Chicago, excited to learn sight words which will in turn lead to better reading skills. The hope was that the simple prize of a screen printed t-shirt (and being able to wear it instead of their regular uniform) would be an incentive to learn the words that will help them succeed. The goal was to have every eligible student at this school, where many students are not native English speakers and dozens of languages are spoken, to become Sight Word Super Stars. 

The program was a success - students were begging to take their reading tests and if they didn’t pass the first time, they studied even harder for the next. Over 150 Site Word Super Stars were awarded this past year.

Pergola Bird Bath House - created in collaboration with Michael Garza.

For a Bucktown/Wicker Park Community Art Project to benefit the Pritzker School, a magnet cluster school specializing in the fine and performing arts.

Bird House of Blues

Side wall for the birdhouse, screen printed on slate. Created for the 2010 Community Art Project but sadly, the house cracked before making it to auction. 

a Plaything - 2 color screen print on paper and glass with found frame.

I used to work with a very good man who helps organize this event- a ten day motorcycle ride across America, from Sacramento, CA to Washington, DC. During this ride, members from the National Veterans Awareness Organization visit veterans’ hospitals and homes to spend time with vets, speak at schools and participate in memorial services that honor military personnel.

Posters for the 2011 National Veterans Awareness Ride were printed on metallic silver paper.

This past summer, i started teaching screen printing classes at Daniel Boone Elementary School and will continue teaching throughout this coming school year.

Classes are open to the community, projects are given an environmental theme and recycled materials are used whenever possible. 

Students printed and made their own stickers and note cards then exchanged with each other.