Home » Blog » Margaret’s Fundraiser for her 50th: The Stained Glass Project for Philadelphia High School Students

Margaret’s Fundraiser for her 50th: The Stained Glass Project for Philadelphia High School Students

Stained Glass Project
  • Pin It
Fundraiser for The Stained Glass Project: Windows that Open Doors in Philadelphia.

 

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive. (Howard Thurman)

On July 29th, 2017, I celebrate my 50th birthday.

 

To mark this occasion, I want to raise $1000 for The Stained Glass Project(SGP) in the month of July.

 

Making glass art transformed my life, and I want to pass that gift of transformation onward.

 

Artmaking has enlivened me, as has the sustaining love people have shown me in my life.

 

The Stained Glass Project is a manifestation of other artists, Paula Mandel and Joan Myerson Shrager, who took the enlivening power of art and the power of love in action, and started this extraordinary program in 2007 for Philadelphia public high school students to make stained glass and gift it to schools around the world.

 

In an overcrowded room, teens, many who never took an art class, create serious minded artwork, often for the first time. Students are surprised by their own creativity. In many cases it is their first experience allowing independent decision-making and self-expression through art. . .Each semester there is an amazing collaboration between volunteer adult mentors, who devote about three hours every week, and the teen stained glass artists. This time is often the only one where students can have a sustained one-to-one relationship with an adult. The SGP is a diverse group of Muslims, Christians, Jews, old, young, varying economic backgrounds, artists, designers and students working with sharp-edged glass, blue-flamed torches and protective goggles to create original stained glass artwork that becomes a part of the lives of children throughout the United States and the world. This SGP cultural community that has developed has been life changing for all. (The Stained Glass Project FB page)

Over the next weeks, I will be sharing stories and work from the Stained Glass Project on my GoFundMe page. You can make a difference by donating $5.00 or more by July 31st, 2017.

NOTE:

The words of Howard Thurman circulate throughout inspirational quote pages, and looking for the source, I discovered it is from the introduction of a 1995 book by theologian Gil Bailie, Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads. Bailie was interviewing seeking the advice of Howard Thurman and talking to him at some length about what needed to be done in the world, and Thurman interrupted him with, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have alive.”

Thank you to Unitarian minister Chip Roush sharing the source, and the important context of this quote. Dr. Howard Thurman was an African-American mystic and theologian, spiritual advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, and co-founder in 1944,  of the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco, the nation’s first intentionally interracial, interdenominational church.

Related:

Read about how I first stumbled across a display of work by students from the SGP in 2010 when I missed my train and walked to Love Park, and found an exhibit of their stained glass windows at the Welcome Center. The windows were for a school in South Africa.

One comment

  1. Paula Mandel says:

    Your “stumbling” upon the exhibition only reinforces the idea that we share with our students in The Stained Glass Project: Windows That Open Doors: that when you create art, and put it out in the world, you never know who will see it and how they will be affected. And you may never find out, but know that you have changed the world in a positive way. In this case, Margaret, we were all fortunate enough to hear about the impact the work had on you. Thank you for this incredible celebration of your 50th year. We are honored to be included in your thoughts and kind deeds.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.