One of our goals includes offering "Art as Therapy" to veterans, seniors, and community members in long-term care. These vulnerable groups often go without the much-needed connections many rely on to get through the day. With Art as Therapy, we will bring those connections to them with art classes, and that will help foster their own love of the arts. These classes offer us the opportunity to reach out to the community and tap into a wealth of artist skills that are available, and they are something we can start working on immediately while we raise funding.

Another, more long-term goal we have set is creating a scholarship or grant program for art students within the Garland Independent School District. The student's money can be used for things like art classes, supplies, or contest entry fees. More concrete details on these scholarships and grants will be available as the organization raises money. Grants could also be given out to artists no longer in school but who need a little pick me up to get going in their careers.

These are just a couple of examples of ways we will give back to those in the area, but how do we make this sustainable over the long term without hitting donor fatigue?

We want to create a maker space with attached retail where artists can rent a short- or long-term studio space to create to their heart's desire. The space will also have standard equipment available, like 3D printers, a laser cutter, vinyl cutters, sewing machines, and the list goes on, that will be available for a fee for someone looking to create something they may not be able to at home. Attached to this would be a retail shop where artists can sell their work. The shop would be similar to an antique mall in that while there are many vendors, there would be a centralized place to check out to help reduce the risk of theft.

We also want to make Garland Create a resource for businesses in the Garland region to find artists to help them fill any needs they may have. Say a new business is opening, and they want to host a grand opening with a musician playing for the atmosphere. We can provide a link to artists in our database, and they can have someone local come play at their event.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ways Garland Creates will give back to the community while helping artists explore their passions.