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I am very excited to announce that one of my best friends on the planet, the amazingly talented Alicia Caudle, is starting a nonprofit art group for children with Asperger’s and Autism. I am even more excited to say that I have been invited to serve on the board of directors for this wonderful nonprofit!

Alicia is the mother of a rather incredible young man name Finn. Finn is a brilliant, creative, and sweet little man who has Aspberger’s. Over the years I have watched Alicia do amazing things with and for Finn and I must say that I am constantly blown away by her dedication as a mother and the lengths that she goes to in order to understand and best serve her son. She honestly stops at nothing to do the best for Finn and it shows in what a mind blowingly outstanding child he is.

Because Finn is homeschooled Alicia puts a lot of effort into making sure that he has good social interaction with other kids his age and through the homeschool community, they have been put in touch with many other families who deal with Aspberger’s and Autism. And because their aren’t really any programs geared toward providing positive social interaction for kids with Aspberger’s and Autism in the Portland area Alicia decided to form a group of her own. If you are not aware of the challenges that these kids face the biggest is with social interaction. It was watching these little guys struggle to get along during play dates that gave Alicia the idea to pull out the art supplies and set them all down at her dining room table and in that moment she saw something amazing happen… the kids went from bickering and frustrated to focused, polite, and downright conversational the moment they sat down to create their works of art.

This little art group has since grown and Alicia’s dining room table is now rather crowded and there are more children and families wanting to take part than there is room for them all! This is what fueled Alicia’s decision to officially make “Little Bug Studio” a reality. She has filed for and will soon have her official nonprofit status; there are so many families interested that there will be enough participants for morning homeschool group as well as an afternoon public school group three days a week. There are big plans for Little Bug Studio and I am writing today to give all of you the opportunity to help make this happen!

There are a few ways you can help get this fantastic organization off the ground. A few months ago I posted about “The Tallest Book in the World Project” and this is the first way that you can contribute. Please follow the link to get all the details for this project. In short, you can contribute pages for this book which will be hand bound and HUGE! The goal is to create the biggest hand bound book in the world. It will be on exhibit for a while after its completion and then will be auctioned off to the highest bidder with all proceeds going directly to Little Bug Studio.

You can also contribute by going to Alicia and Finn’s “Mum and Finn” Etsy shop to purchase some of their original art collaborations. 100% of the proceeds from this shop will go to fund Little Bug Studio! My personal favorites are the “Finnsters”… these are stuffed monsters that Alicia has made based on Finn’s drawings. I happen to be the proud owner of a Finnster that Mr. Finn gave me for Solstice last year.

There are also original paintings for sale in their Esty shop! These are all paintings that were done by Alicia as she was guided by the kiddos in her art group. This is my favorite!

Lastly but far from least important, Alicia needs help getting the studio ready by this spring. As I already mentioned the group has grown far beyond the capacity of her little dining room table so she is giving her garage a facelift so that she will have a larger space and be able to accommodate all of the kids who want to participate! She has already been receiving donations and in order to get started on this project as soon as the weather permits Little Bug Studio will need to have some supplies ready and bodies willing to give time and a little sweat to the cause. Below you will find a wish list for the project. If you can donate any of the materials listed or are interested in donating some work you can contact Alicia at create@littlebugstudio.org  (reclaimed/recycled goods welcomed and enthusiastically appreciated).

Tyvek

Siding

Interior and exterior paint

Insulation

Drywall

2-3 large windows that open and close

French doors or 2 doors with windows

A little wood stove (to keep the kiddos warm in the winter months)

Electrical work to add outlets (materials and labor)

A large table (around 8’ x 3’)

Chairs

A couple of easels

Any and all arts and crafts supplies

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