March 10, 2021

I want to begin by thanking our donors for their incredible generosity during these challenging times.  Financial donations, purchase of student work and in-kind donations have allowed us to continue offering arts programming throughout the city. 

We were the recipients of the Louise Smith Family Foundation grant, a $50,000 matching grant.  While the pandemic made fundraising more challenging, we are thrilled to announce that we just met our goal and will receive the $50,000 match.   

In spite of the pandemic, we were able to offer abbreviated in person programming with the belief that students need connections, new challenges and more love than ever. In 2020, FreshLens was able to run 3 entry level classes at half capacity.  This past summer we also added a new advanced class which culminated in our students creating a beautiful photographic book, (great gift idea for a kid or art lover) which was a great source of pride for our students. We sold over 200 copies of the book and the students were thrilled receiving half the profits from book sales.

Unfortunately, the pandemic temporarily derailed our off-site middle school programming that had been expanding on the South and West sides of the city. We can’t wait to continue our efforts with those students.

Fourteen of our FreshLens high school and college students are currently exhibiting their work at 737 N Michigan Avenue, one of the most beautiful lobbies in the city. The exhibit, “City of Big Shoulders”, features student work displaying their skills and amplifying their voices. The lobby is open to the public, please to stop by to see the show.

We are looking forward to our continued growth in 2021 and plan to serve more students in creative and meaningful ways.

Stay safe and may 2021 return us closer to the lives we knew before the pandemic.