Happy December! If you over imbibed for the recent holiday, good for you! Whether that was honey-glazed carrots or too much whipped cream, we all need a little sweet. We’ve got lots of sweets coming your way in the new year—from our new catalog releasing January 7, to artists and writers in residence with their programming, to calls for our Alley Stage Reading Series and the Where We Live anthology as part of our NEA Big Read programming. Check out more details below and get ready for the workshop preview in our next newsletter.

We hope you’ll join us for the last hurrah of the year that is Santa Day, coming up this Saturday December 7. There’ll be gingerbread cottage decorating (for artists of all ages!), the cutest of crafts, and photos with Santa. Nothing says holiday like the smell of hot glue & spice drops. If you’d like to volunteer, we’d love your help.

The first flakes started flying this week after a slow turn from late summer to fall. As you’re readying for the new year, you may be hearing from us about support for our 20-year-old arts & crafts nonprofit organization. Your support is integral to what we do, and donations make up 25% of our operating budget. We know how important the arts are to our community, our economy, and our well being. If you’re inspired to give this year, we thank you. There are so many ways to support Shake Rag Alley: gifts of your time & energies, your talents, and your monetary donations. A gift of any amount helps us continue to deliver high-quality arts & crafts education, from our workshops taught by award-winning teacher-artists to our summer Youth Program and community events. Thank you for shining a light for the next 20 years!

From our table to yours,