Let's sort some beans together

you are invited to gather here

Many moons ago when I was still in the high school art classroom, a student asked me if I could sponsor her club. When I asked what the club was about, her response was, “Bean sorting.”

With a slightly puzzled look on my face, I asked, “So what exactly do you mean by this?”

Student: “You know how there are a lot of different kinds of beans? They come in different shapes and colors. So we would get a big bag of beans and sort them into their separate little groups.”

Me: “And then would you make things with them? Like jewelry or mosaics? That could be fun.”

Student: “No, we would just sort them. That would be it.”

Me: “I don’t get it.”

Student: She just shrugged and walked away, because that was the kind of cool kid she was.

Unfortunately for my student, Little Scrappy was still in preschool at the time, so my time after school was spent rushing to pick her up and soak up all that four year old goodness, and I was unable to sponsor the somewhat puzzling (to me at least) club.

Fast forward several years- we were in the throes of the COVID quarantine and I was sorting through several boxes of art supplies that had been donated for a Scrappy Elephant pop-up shop. Or at least a pop-up shop that was supposed to happen had the shutdown not put a halt on the plans. Everything was uncertain- can we leave our house? Can we go the the grocery store? Do we have to sanitize our groceries? Can I see my friends? Can I still try to open this creative reuse center with all this craziness? As I sat in my uncertainty I came across a giant box of buttons. I sat sorting them into several groups by color and suddenly it dawned on me. The simple act of sitting and sorting things was so relaxing. It immediately calmed my mind and certainly calmed down my anxiety for a bit. For a precious hour I didn’t think about a thing except putting the buttons into their matching little groups. I got it now. I understood why she just wanted to gather a group of fellow students and sort beans!

And why am I telling you this? Because here we are, six years after the quarantine, yet the uncertainty is just as high as it was back then. Here at the Scrappy Elephant our core values are Creativity, Sustainability, and Community. We are leaning hard into the community piece this year. Whether it is AI, the wars around the world, the climate crisis, prices of gas and groceries- everything is in flux right now. Each day the news brings about crazier and crazier stories. What helps during times like this? Being in community and being able to talk about what we are all collectively experiencing. What makes it even better? Making art while you are in community!*

Do you have a “club” we can “sponsor”? In Charlottesville we have created our little Book Nook corner and we intentionally made it space to gather. It has a cute little kitchen table, a comfy couch and two comfy chairs (thank you Habitat Store for making it so easy for us to fill our space with furniture!). It can easily fit at least eight people. We have provided coffee and tea. All we need is YOU! Want to gather some friends for an afternoon of crocheting? Come here! Want to meet some people and work on your Artist Trading Cards? Come here! Want to meet with a group of people and work on your embroidery or cross stitching projects (also known as Stitch and B*$#%)? You guessed it, come here. We would even be happy to have you sit and sort beans. If you are interested in us putting your gathering on our public calendar, please let us know. We would be happy to! And if you need a larger space, we also have the studio and the classroom that we chat about using for your events. Lynchburg friends, we have an awesome studio that we would love to host your gatherings in, so please reach out.

Not quite ready to host a club but still want to be with others and learn a new art skill?
Here is our awesome Cville May Class Schedule:

And our incredible Lynchburg Class Schedule:

Cville Announcements:

• Looking for a community that might get you a bit more involved in defending democracy? Come out next Saturday, April 25 at noon to learn more about what Indivisible Cville is doing and how you can get involved!

• Speaking of Indivisible…the May Day Strike is happening on May 1st.

  

  In lieu of closing our doors that day, we will be donating 20% of the day’s proceeds to Barrett Early Learning Center, which was founded by Janie Porter Barrett in 1935 in Vinegar Hill.

• Have you been wanting to up your sewing game? Then come to our sewing machine sale!

There will be 14+ refurbished sewing machines available from trusted brands like Pfaff, Husqvarna Viking, Brother, Kenmore, Singer and Janome/New Home. These previously loved machines are in great working condition, come with manuals and many include cases and extra accessories.

-Try before you buy

-Great for beginners and experienced sewists alike

-A chance to upgrade your current machine

All net proceeds benefit our local community Grocery Card Campaign co-sponsored by Keep Going Together, Sin Barreras, Legal Aid Justice Society, Indivisible Charlottesville and theCentral VA Community Support Fund.

• We still have a few spots left in some of our amazing summer camps if your kiddos are looking for some amazing art enrichment this summer.

Lynchburg Announcements:

• Marie and Natania are working on building a little community gathering in our LYH location. Please join them the second Thursday of every month for Thread Therapy Thursdays!

  

• We are looking for someone to lead our elementary education program! In Charlottesville, we have the incredible Beth Rodriguez. Beth was an elementary school teacher for 17 years before she decided to leave the classroom and build our elementary education program. Beth offers a wide variety of after school and summer art programs, everything from stop motion animation to clay. Are you interested in building an art program for children in the Lynchburg area? Do you have experience working with kids in a classroom environment? Then we would love to chat! Please email your resume to sarah@scrappyelephant.com.

• In lieu of closing our doors for May Day in LYH, we will be donating 20% of the proceeds that day to the Humankind Early Head Start program which provides free full time childcare in Lynchburg.

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  That’s it for now friends. Thank you so much for taking time to read this and for all you do. We are so grateful to be in community with you. Sending all the love and light. -Sarah

*ps- sharing an incredible episode of the Weekly Show Podcast with Jon Stewart. In this episode he interviewed the one and only Heather Cox Richardson. Heather, also known as America’s Historian, has a way of framing things in history and reminding us that this isn’t the first time this country has been this insane and we managed to get through it. Something that stuck out to me the most in this episode was this- she said, “…the future is unwritten. We can make whatever decisions we want going forward… One is that even in the darkest periods, one of the things that carries us through is art and music and the communities that those things create.”

So please come gather in community and make some art!