My favorite memories from elementary school are from the days we got to walk down the wooden ramp to the art building and enter the smells of Elmer’s glue, salvaged cardboard, Tempera paint, and the kaleidoscope of colorful creations hung throughout the room.As a mom of 4 grown and incredible children, I have watched the opportunity for and emphasis on art dwindle.

Shorter recesses, longer classes, more homework, and increased importance placed on state test scores have overshadowed the need for creativity and self-expression.I have wondered how I would have fared in this environment.

I created The Workroom and partnered with Fullness in the Family with this memory and concern as a primary foundation. There will be some kids, (like my husband, who can still get angry remembering how he had to miss recess to finish coloring his page in kindergarten) who will thrive in an environment where success is measured by the black and white scores in our system.

However, some of us are doodling our notes, coloring in our titles, and filling our margins with cats, dogs, dragons, race cars, and rainbows. We are aching to create, color, shade, and learn how to draw that dog with realistic fur! We are itching to get our hands into polymer clay, mosaic tiles, and glue, experiencing a new level of crafting.

I also believe in art as therapy and relief for anxiety, depression, and the frustration that I have felt and can see in many adults’ lives. Moms with toddlers and active older kids have little time to devote to their own interests. We willingly put these things aside to make time and space for these wonderful little creatures that call us ‘Mom.’ Eventually, however, our buckets run dry, our sparks burn out, and we must find a way to plug the holes and rekindle the creativity within us.

This is what I want to offer everyone: The experience of creating, renewing, and communing with others like you and, maybe, not so like you. Together, we can form a community.