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'Yarnbombing' Brings $8,000 To CPS' Wells High In Public-Private Mashup

By Alisa Hauser | October 17, 2016 4:18pm | Updated on October 18, 2016 9:22am
 Images from the Yarnstallation fundraiser at The Annex in East Village.
Yarnstallation Fundraiser at The Annex
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EAST VILLAGE — A fundraiser has generated $8,000 for arts and music initiatives at Wells Community Academy High School, thanks to a thriving partnership between students and volunteers from a neighboring advertising agency.

Located at The Annex, a rehabbed 1920s-era building at 1620 W. Chicago Ave., the Yarnstallation gala Friday night featured 12 original knitted and crocheted artworks made by a group of students at Wells High School, who participated in an after-school club organized by volunteers from Havas Chicago.

The pieces, which included a pom pom rug, tiny knit skulls, a blanket and bike wheels decorated in yarn, among others, were sold in a silent auction along with donated items from other artists and local businesses.

 Two yarn bombs in East Village.
Two yarn bombs in East Village.
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Provided

Wells principal Rita Raichoudhuri said that the money raised would be put directly back into the music, theater and visual arts programming at the school, located at 936 N. Ashland Ave.

"This event is a very good example of what can happen when a community invests into its local neighborhood school," Raichoudhuri said.

Raichoudhuri, in an interview over the summer, said the school had to lay off eight members of its faculty and staff and was expecting to lose about 23 percent of its students this year, going from 560 to about 430. 

Raichoudhuri met Havas Chicago workers at an East Village Association meeting last year, and they told her they wanted to do partnerships with the school, which is located about one block north of The Annex.

Within the past year, the partnerships have included a Havas Chicago-sponsored rally on the first day of school in September where the top three honor roll students were chauffeured to class in sports cars, and the Yarnstallation group, which met on Wednesday nights in The Annex from mid-July through Oct. 1.

Cathy Turley, a production artist who works on print and Internet campaigns for Havas Chicago, masterminded the Yarnstallation initiative.

Participants at the weekly Wednesday maker sessions included Wells students and staff, artists, people from the community and Havas/Annex employees.

Turley said Havas Chicago's only stipulation was that the money raised by Friday's Yarnstallation fundraiser be used for the arts, for two reasons.

"Students that may not be academically inclined but are artistic can still be successful, using their talents in this area. And, as a creative advertising agency, we know the power of the arts and have experienced it in our own lives," Turley said.

Turley was initially a freelancer and joined the full-time staff of Havas about a year ago when the company opened its satellite office in East Village.

"I love yarn and knitting and wanted to find a way to share it. We have to be able to make connections," Turley said.

Cindy Mizquiri, a senior at Wells Community Academy High School, said learning to yarn and crochet has helped her to learn a new hobby and relieve stress.

"I do plan to continue knitting and crocheting now that it's over. In fact, I am currently crocheting and knitting blankets for an organization called Comfort for Critters, which gives blankets to animal shelters such as PAWS," Mizquiri said.

In addition to the $8,000 that has been raised so far, Turley said that $405 has been raised toward a $5,000 goal, according to a GoFundMe campaign.

Jason Peterson, chief creative officer at Havas Chicago, said the firm aims to collaborate with Wells High School students on one project each semester.

At the back-to-school rally, Peterson said he and other staff members are mulling the idea of a gun swap, where weapons can be exchanged for music recording time and possible internships.

A pom pom rug made by Wells students and Havas Worldwide volunteers. [Photos by DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]

Art work sold at a silent auction last Friday.

Wells Community Academy High School principal Rita Raichoudhuri at the Yarnstallation fundraiser. 

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