GE T I N VO LVE D
GETTING SWEET ON LOCAL ART BY JORDAN SMITH
Young and aspiring artists (as well as established
and high schoolers, send its staff to learn a
artists) know that supplies and classes come
curriculum called “Visual Thinking Strategies,”
with a price tag. Sioux Falls nonprofit JAM Art
sustain and improve its website, and offer
& Supplies makes it their mission to deliver
drawing classes for all ages this spring.
these necessitates at an affordable price, as well as offer a sense of community for area artists. To help them achieve this goal and to show the community just how creative (and delicious) Sioux Falls can be, it is hosting the second annual JAM Art & Supplies Sweet Art Show this month. According to co-founder and executive director Jess Miller, JAM has four pillars: store, classroom, website and projects. “We function as an art and craft supply thrift store, classroom, and hub for creatives. All of our merchandise is donated to us, which allows for us to sell supplies at an incredibly reasonable price, similar to thrift stores such as Goodwill or Savers. This also allows us to offer local nonprofits, teachers, and students 25 percent off of every purchase.” JAM began collecting donations before it had even opened, but when the nonprofit moved into its first storefront at 6th and Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls in December 2014, it quickly became obvious that more space was needed. By April 2015, JAM expanded into a much larger space within the same building, roughly 10-times the size of the previous store. Last year, JAM used profits from the Sweet Art Show to offer one Creative Reuse Day Camp for 8 to 13-year-olds in the summer. The camp taught kids what creative reuse is and introduced them to installation art. With money raised from this year’s event, the organization hopes to give more children the opportunity to use their imaginations and practice creative problem solving. Besides wanting to bring four creative SUBMITTED IMAGES
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reuse camps to Sioux Falls in 2016, JAM would like to continue to offer free art clubs for middle
“Just learning how to draw can teach the importance of all of our different perspectives and improves brain health,” said Miller. The Sweet Art Show is unique for many reasons, but three especially stand out for Miller. The artists that will be showing their work at this event are all local artists that have been interviewed this year as a part of cofounder Amy Jarding’s “Inspired Interview” series on the JAM website blog. Second, instead of serving normal finger food on trays, there will be gourmet sweet treats, hence the event name. One treat served last year was homemade ice cream sandwiches that were delicious, but sadly melted all over. This year, delicious, but less messy, hors d’oeuvres will be featured. Lastly, besides having singer Elizabeth Hunstead as entertainment, JAM has a surprise that Sioux Falls will not want to miss. “It's so hard for me to keep a secret, but we want to give you all a taste of how much fun JAM really is,” said Miller. “Last year we had a surprise drum line from Washington High School; this year we’re going even bigger.” The second annual Sweet Art Show will be held February 12 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Icon Lounge Event Hall in Sioux Falls. There will be a freewill suggested donation of $10 at the door, art on the walls for purchase, the presentation of an artist advocacy award, live music, raffle prizes, sweet treats, and a makeand-take table for Valentines. For more information about the event or volunteer opportunities with JAM, visit jamartandsupplies.com.