Starting Back Up and Art Bingo

The Saturday Market closes on Christmas Eve and all the artists go back to their tiny caves and polish their hammers and read novels for the next three months, or so goes the myth. Actually the organization takes a teeny break for staff vacations, which are not even all at the same time, because the work must go on. There is a tiny moment when the data base switches over and we go from over 500 members to zero. It's just a technicality of course, as many of the members of Saturday Market have a long membership, and fortunately we continue to enroll new ones every season. Soon the applications will go out again and the membership will build back up.

We had our January Board meeting this week. Officers were elected and I was again honored to be elected to serve as Secretary, with the emphasis on the word serve. People who volunteer a lot know that of course you do get a reward for it, but it is not much but the reward of participation, belonging, and the giving of your time to make something greater than yourself possible. It's significant, highly entertaining and sometimes quite difficult, but always worth the effort.

I've been volunteering for Saturday Market on and off for the last 40 years, even being lucky enough to have been the Chair back in 1981 when we incorporated, so there is my signature on the articles of incorporation. In a nice symmetry I also got to sign the articles of incorporation for our nonprofit, the Kareng Fund. It feels like a legacy to have longstanding service, and I am both humbled by it and grateful for the opportunity to have something in my life I really care about that is way bigger than me.

The Kareng Fund was begun in 2002 or 2003 by Judy Vanderpool after the death of a Market member, Karen Buxton. Like most artists Karen left behind much of her unsold work and Judy decided to sell it and use the money to fund grants for others of us who were in situations that could be helped by a bit of cash. The fund grew and others joined in and a Board was formed. The name honors Karen and another member we lost at the same time, Liza Karen Loube. They live on in the name which is hard to get at first but is simply the Caring Fund with an artistic spelling.

In 2012 with the guidance of the formidable Beth Little, the KF Board decided to take the big step of getting out from the umbrella organization which was providing us with nonprofit status and strike out on our own. We learned that to qualify we would have to broaden our grant base, which used to be just Saturday Market members. We decided that it could be our advantage to broaden it to all independent artisans in Oregon, those who live under 200% of the federal poverty income line, while broadening our donation base as well. We could go public with our work. Most artisans have little in place as a safety net and exist by the work of their two hands, their hearts, and their minds. When crisis hits, they often do not have the resources to get through it while continuing to work and sell their work. Our small grants (now up to $750) have funded artists after fires, accidents, health crises, and the deaths of family members, plus situations less dramatic.

Before the Affordable Care Act, there was a great demand for grants to help with health issues. Most craftspeople work their bodies hard and it is often repetitive, forceful work. Lots of us could not afford health insurance, and indeed we are one of the groups who have greatly benefited from the so-called Obamacare. We at the Kareng Fund know that this is true as we set up a program to assist people in enrolling, and many of us did. Now we get fewer grant requests for these issues, though of course there are many needs that insurance does not cover in a time of health catastrophes. We are happy to help with related bills or other things that arise at the time, such as replacing water heaters or paying bills incurred unexpectedly. We no longer just send a check, but can reimburse or pay bills if they meet our conditions and we have consensus regarding the need.

Speaking for myself, I am so comforted to know that there is a bit of a net for me. When I broke my heel, not only could I not work, I couldn't drive or bike, for three months and then a longer period of regaining my mobility. I needed a lot of help and getting that card and grant was the most heart-warming moment ever. Just knowing that I was noticed, important and cared for was an immense comfort. I joined the Kareng Fund Board shortly afterward and have served as the Secretary since, helping shepherd us through the paperwork and all the learning we had to do to get our 501(c)(3) status.

Other members of the KF Board have been so generous with their time, and care so much, it often brings me to the verge of tears. The most astonishing part, however, is the continuing generosity of all of the Saturday Market members and others who have donated time, money, and their incredible work to the fundraising efforts over the decade. This is most evident at the Holiday Market but throughout the year many members donate small amounts to the Fund when paying their fees every week, by rounding up their 10% with a small donation or directly giving their hard-earned cash.

The Holiday Market is when the generosity is completely brilliant. We fill five or six giant baskets with the assorted, donated crafts of literally hundreds of artists and have a drawing to give them away. We hold an Auction with Percussive Interludes to sell other items back to ourselves in what we lovingly call the Pottery Smash. This developed when a couple of potters tried bowling pots down the aisle with predictable horror and shards and the energy was corralled into an auction. Potters and ceramic artists and others donate items that are auctioned quickly and if they don't get bids, they are sometimes broken with glee. Really the pieces broken are almost always seconds with cracks or flaws that ruin them for retail and only rarely are valuable pieces destroyed, but there is a cathartic element of destruction that can happen with artists who are reaching the end of a retail year and often grueling holiday sales period, and some delight in the breakage. Sure, it can be horrifying, but life is full of horror and dismay and some of like the nonfictional aspect of this contrast to our usual sales experience. Anyway, this year we raised some $6000 at the Holiday Market through all of the ways we sought donations, a truly remarkable show of deep caring.

In two weeks we will have our first public fundraising event, Art Bingo, which will be held Sunday, Feb. 8, at Cozmic at 8th and Olive, from 5-7 pm. The games will be family-friendly, low cost, and there will be kids' prices too. All of the prizes will be donated crafts, art pieces, and gift certificates from local small businesses. We feel that this is a launching party for our bigger, more far-reaching goal to make and give a million dollars in grants. No one ever believed we would give $20,000, so a million sounds do-able in someone's lifetime anyway, maybe not mine. But I will do my part, and even bring some Jell-O art for some lucky winner. We'll have a little entertainment and a lot of fun, and refreshments will be available at the Edsel, which has that delicious pizza and hard cider and lots of other treats which you can purchase to support the generosity of Cozmic too. They are the place for fundraisers as all small local nonprofits know, and they really deserve our support for all that they give to organizations in our town.

So  please plan to be there, join us, and do access our fund if you need us and qualify. Our brochure is out with the application right on it, and you can pick one up at the Saturday Market office, open Tues-Fri 10-4 as usual. We have a website at http://www.karengfund.org/ where you can donate or access an application. We are indeed part of your safety net if you make art in Oregon and need a hand. We are happy to serve you. That's what we do when we are not hammering things into shape and toting tubs and pop-ups down to the Park Blocks. We care.