2021 Year End Letter

Dear Friend,

The COVID-19 pandemic held a mirror up to the lives we live and asked us: “Do you want to continue living this way?” Many of us came to the conclusion that there is much more to living a fully expressed life, which led to us asking, “What makes life worth living?” Our answers are like many others - joy, laughter, connection, creative arts and any wholehearted expression of our authentic selves.

So we came together with the intention to search for and learn how to generate significant change in all aspects of our lives. We’ve come to understand, like many others, that we cannot return to the workforce, or to life in general, on the same terms as we once did. What we envision is a physical and psychological space where community members can come together to share their gifts and talents with each other through music, art, writing, film, and theater. This creates opportunities for joy, expression and connection that will enhance the wellbeing of the whole community.

Through this change of thinking and the introduction to non profit platforms such as Painted Brain (thank you Paul Newland) we decided to begin the process of starting a non profit in the Santa Barbara and Ventura County areas called Rising: A Creative Arts Wellness Center. We intend to roll out this project in stages. Initially our goal is to address our disconnected post-pandemic world by creating a creative arts focused wellness center. Here, community members have opportunities to navigate our post-pandemic world together by providing connection through creative arts, expression and therapy. Offering a space that connects creative arts with therapeutic services will allow for the healing of underlying social emotional problems to allow the individuals healthy growth in the community.

In the past six months we have applied for and obtained our business license and have applied for our 501(3)c federal non-profit tax exempt status. Once approved, we will begin to accept donations in order to fund the foundation of our new program. In the meantime, we are building our community members which currently consists of educators, therapists, social workers, dancers, artists, poets, authors, film makers, theatrical and entrepreneurs alike.

We invite you to be a part of this community! Whether as an artist, educator, therapist, donor or in some other contribution. We would like to receive your feedback, questions and any interest in participating. We are so excited to be working with you and look forward to growing this community!!

With much love and enthusiasm,

Edie Lanphar, Sage Kimball and Katelyn Kirchner