In just a few short months of planning, Hatch has evolved into a multifaceted festival, which will includes an art exhibition, art fair and series of activities led by visiting artist-in-residents Michelle Stitzlein.

The public part of the festival kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday, March 1, at the Indi Go Artist Co-op, 9 E. University Ave., downtown Champaign with an opening reception for the Hatch art exhibition. The show will feature innovative examples of fine art and functional design by creative-reuse artists from throughout Central Illinois and compass points beyond (as far away as Chicago and Indianapolis). At 7 p.m., Stitzlein - whose magnificent moth sculptures will be highlighted in the exhibition - will present a slide lecture on Indi Go's lower level.

For a $5 suggested donation at the door, attendees will gain admission to the opening-night

We will be announcing the roster of artists participating in the art fair and exhibition next week on the Hatch website. Artists' websites, if available, will be posted on the Hatch site as well, so you'll be able do your homework ... and make your art-fair shopping lists in advance! Many of the artists exhibiting at Indi Go also will be offering their work for sale, too, so please consider supporting creative reuse AND our artists by purchasing incredible, one-of-a-kind art!

Also on Saturday, from 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Stitzlein will lead a hands-on mini-bottle-cap workshop for teachers and other adults who want to learn skills needed to make or lead more involved mural or other bottle-cap projects using plastic caps and lids. Sign up for the workshop now while spaces are available! The cost is $30 per person. Please pre-register at the store or by calling 352-7878. Spaces may be available on a walk-in basis the day of the event.

More detailed information about Stitzlein's workshop and other Hatch activities - including her complete schedule - can be found on the Hatch website.

Between now and March 1, please consider tossing your CLEAN discarded caps - from detergent bottles, water and soft drink bottles and other containers - in a bag and donating them to The I.D.E.A. Store for Hatch workshop participants to use. Any color or size is welcome, but we do ask that that you please wash them carefully in sudsy water and rinse them before bringing them to the store! It's very important that the caps be clean before they are transformed into beautiful, one-of-a-kind art pieces!

More information on the workshop and how to register is available here.

To help celebrate the launch of this very special event in our community, award-winning local artist Lisa Kesler has created a limited-edition, signed 18 x 12 inch poster to commemorate Hatch. The poster, which features illustrations of a variety of materials used by creative-reuse artists, focuses on a directive dear to the hearts and minds of The I.D.E.A. Store regulars: "REUSE REPURPOSE CREATE."

Want to know more about the process Kesler used to create the posters? Here's her description:

"They are two-color, which means twice through the press. The background wood grain is a linoleum block I carved, and so is the illustration of craft supplies on the top half. The text is vintage wood type from Living Letter Press in Champaign. And the paper is from French Paper Company, and is made from recycled fibers."

Kesler's posters will be sold in advance of Hatch at The I.D.E.A. Store, at the Feb. 8

PechaKucha Night at Parkland College and at Hatch events for $30 each. Half of the profits will be donated to The I.D.E.A. Store/Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation, with the other half going to the artist.

Volunteers from The I.D.E.A. Store will be staffing an information and merchandise table at the Champaign event, passing out Hatch schedules and unhatched eggs. What's in the eggs? Idea-starters, naturally, to help you hatch your own creative-reuse projects! And keep your eyes peeled ... we'll be laying a few eggs around town in various roosting spots as well leading up to the festival. Be sure to crack one open if you find it, because in addition to those idea "seeds," we've planted four "green tickets" and one "golden ticket" (shades of Willy Wonka!). If you find one of these rare tickets, bring it to The I.D.E.A. Store to redeem your prize!

If you can't make it out to PechaKucha Night, you can still learn more about Hatch without leaving home. The I.D.E.A. Store volunteers will be clucking about Hatch on the local airwaves as well, with appearances between 4-5 p.m. on WCIA-TV's "ciLiving" program and from 5:30-6 p.m. on Smile Politely Radio, broadcast on WEFT-FM 90.1.

Store Assistant Sheila Daniels will be leading another "Soldering 101" workshop from 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9. Spots are still available. The cost is $30.

The workshop will cover basic skills and safety information, and will include a take-away project - a glass pendant with embellishment. All supplies will be provided. 

You may register at the store or by calling 352-7878 (your 

advance payment reserves your spot).

In remembrance of our four-legged bundle of joy, Louie Morgan, who left us on Feb. 3, 2013. 

Like so many of The I.D.E.A. Store's fabulous volunteers, Carleen Sacris was a shopper first, then a volunteer. For the past several months, she's been a key player on a small team of volunteers devoting countless hours to pulling together the store's first creative-reuse festival - Hatch. Exactly how she manages to find time to devote to promoting the store is hard to fathom.

This semester, Carleen is finishing graduate school at the University of Illinois, where she is a teaching assistant in the Intensive Language Institute. AND she somehow also manages to squeeze in volunteer work for the International Hospitality Committee, volunteer as a Filipino language teacher and occasionally complete tasks for Champaign's Swann School (where she's put both special-education and design skills to good use).

Originally from the Philippines, Carleen moved the United States with her husband Edward when he entered graduate school at the UI. Carleen not only left her homeland, but a successful career in which she was the youngest faculty member in the College of Education at the University of the Philippines - a flagship campus similar to the UI. There, she taught special education and was involved with teacher training. This is also where she honed her interest in creative reuse.

"Being a poor country where teachers are given no budget for their materials, I always taught material development with the idea of being resourceful through reuse and recycling - which is why I'm so drawn to The I.D.E.A. Store!"

Carleen even wrote a book called "Toys and Games Manual for Teachers," which is about "doing art and other fun activities in the classroom using found or recycled materials or other cheap alternatives, such as food coloring diluted in water instead of tempera paints." As a result of such resourcefulness, she said, "even children from poor parts of the country can enjoy art."

"I'm all about thrift stores and when I heard about The I.D.E.A. Store, visited within the second month of (the store's) opening," she said. "It was love at first sight. At some point it became an obsession ... then I got some help (hee hee!). It's still definitely an ongoing love affair."

Carleen said she always wanted to volunteer at the store, but a severe allergy problem prevented her from working behind the scenes with donated items. She did get more involved with store activities through the "Merry Treasures" DIY bazaars in 2011 and 2012. At the first one, she sold dog hats she'd made from her own old winter hats - an idea that originated from, of all thing, a class poetry-reading project. Carleen next began experimenting with small fabric dolls and sold them at the most recent bazaar. She was encouraged by the responses she received from friends and even The I.D.E.A. Store Manager Gail Rost.

Gail also encouraged Carleen to get involved with the planning of Hatch.

"She invited me to the committee and I was very honored to be considered for this opportunity. I enjoy being part of organizing things," said Carleen, who came to the committee with plenty of experience. In the Philippines, she organized four conferences for her academic department.

On the Hatch committee, Carleen has found her niche as the graphic designer and print-and-online materials maven.

"So far, I've made the posters and other handouts we've needed for marketing, and helped put together (with volunteer Amelia Neptune) both presentations of entries for the jury. We're all geared up to do PechaKucha Night at Parkland College on Feb. 8, and I worked with Amelia to assemble the eggs and get things ready for that.

"I'm really excited about being part of Hatch," she added. "It's an amazing group of people to work with, and I feel lucky to witness this greatness unfolding. I think it'll be amazing."

The Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation saw a need in the community to accomplish several things: 1.  Support the arts and arts education, 2.  Support environmental education in our communities, 3. Impact the environment by reducing the rate of waste disposal, 4. create a place for everyone to have access to quality materials and 5. Support itself in light of the difficult economic times.  So donate your discards and shop re-use.  Its about making a difference!

 www.cuSchoolsFoundation.org