ULA Blog Day Tripping With Ula: Artists For Humanity

You may have noticed that here at Ula we're super snappy dressers. And for the New Year we decided to spruce up our look and give our wearable merchandise a little update; out with the old and in with the new, as they say. We put out a call to our resident artists looking for a new spin on our old logo and started searching for a new silk-screener? Printer? Screen-printer? In our time of need Artists for Humanity came to the rescue. Since then we've returned to the roost for their mad sign-making skills as we reimagine our customer area and pastry case. A nonprofit founded in 1991, Artists for Humanity is devoted to bridging social, economic and racial gaps to enable under-resourced youth in Boston to develop a sense of independence through paid employment in the arts. Sounds fantastic, right? Well we thought so too and were thrilled to find they have a studio devoted to screen-printing and found them willing and able to provide us with some beautiful new merchandise printed on organic cotton tees and sweatshirts. And if you can believe it, we were even more excited when we found out they're open for tours. So we laced up our boots, whipped out our Charlie Cards and crossed the river to the Epicenter where we were greeted by the fabulous and knowledgeable Lanae. An Artists for Humanity alum, Lanae was a student participant who returned as the Office Assistant years later. With her first hand knowledge as a former participant-turned-staff, she knows the program inside and out with a special spot in her heart for the painting studio. AFH is home to 20 mentors, 130 student participants between the age of 14 and 18 years old, and a whole host of art. They have in-house carpentry, graphic design, painting, and screen-printing studios. Applicants are given a choice in which studio they'd like to focus. Lanea took us around each studio. In the carpentry studio, students are encouraged to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials in new and interesting ways. The graphics department stresses the importance of learning all the skills necessary to produce a film from start to finish; from storyboarding to the final edit participants are empowered to take ownership and participate in every step of the process. Every film and short documentary piece on the AFH website was made and produced by its own participants. Those in the painting studio explore the boundaries of their medium and their own creativity. Students create what they want, their first piece is always a self-portrait -an idea that we Ulas love- and are able to sell their works for a commission. Screen-printing is the only AFH studio in full operation, because of the high volume of work commissioned from them. Also due to demand it's the only studio to require participants not be in high school. This studio was largely staffed with participants working for their GEDs, or college degrees, looking for job training, or saving up for the future. The studio's been up and running for 6 years now, and has been earning quite a reputation. And with beautiful merch like ours it's easy to see why! Plus they're super friendly and the folks on deck were kind to us novice Ulas, who had never screen-printed a thing in our lives a brief walk-through of the process from emulsifying agents to end results. Learn something new every day, right? After a photo op, we left for the day feeling a little in awe and so thankful to be welcomed into this little hotbed of creativity and youthful innovation in the heart of Boston. We love ya AFH and hope to visit again soon! Tags: communitymerchandise