Hilltop Artists Turns 30 This Summer!

It’s 2024, and as Hilltop Artists celebrates thirty years of building better futures in Tacoma, Pierce County, and beyond, I am filled with hope for our young people. I also recognize that the current challenges in our communities are very similar to those we faced when our program was founded back in 1994.

Hilltop Artists began with a commitment to providing a safe haven and nurturing environment for students to explore their creativity.

Our hot shops are places for young people to find solace amidst the turmoil of the world outside. Our students learn to create beautiful glass while simultaneously acquiring social and life skills. They’re guided by caring mentors who nurture their artistic expression and help them on the road to adulthood.

Hilltop Artists provides a safe, inspiring, challenging, generative, and fun environment for our youth. This is exactly what young people need today in the face of school lock downs, neighborhood violence, and mental health challenges.

Our students face significant hardships and obstacles as they live through the pandemic era, Yet they show resilience, courage, and creativity while they grow and learn to support each other.

I see this learning and care every day, and I am amazed by it.

I was particularly struck by a moment during one of our recent Third Thursday evening demonstrations at the Museum of Glass.

I watched as a team of five 8th graders recognized that one of their friends was really scared and needed their support.

This student had never done a demo at the Museum before and was petrified. He was feeling the pressure of collaborating in a new place surrounded by a curious audience, and didn’t want to let his friends down.

I saw these 12 and 13 year-olds rally around and give him a pep talk. They helped him calm down, take some deep breaths, and assured him they would be there for him. He made it to the workstation bench, and with the help of his friends, succeeded in sculpting a cup in front of a crowd of strangers!

His teacher Doug cheered him on, having made the time to support his students after teaching a full day in our Daytime Elective program at Hilltop Heritage Middle School.

That moment was so brief–just a few minutes–but it distilled years of growth, camaraderie, mentorship, resilience, creativity, community building, and maturity: all of the aptitudes and abilities we endeavor to instill in our students.

Not only are these students learning to trust themselves, they’re beginning to see themselves as contributors to a community. At least that’s how I see it!

Because they have the support and have built their skills, our students feel confident and supported to take risks (like work with 2,100 degree hot glass), to get involved, to do something important and creative and impactful.

Moments like the one I witnessed reaffirm the power of art and the boundless potential within our students. To continue making moments like these it is imperative we commit to our young people, invest in their care, learning, and well-being.

30 years ago, caring neighbors and passionate creatives came together to build a safe space and a vision to engage youth through art.

That vision has been actualized and expanded: decades later, our mission to use glass art to connect young people from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds to better futures continues to guide our work every day, and our programs are vital to our students and community.

Over thirty years, the challenges, dangers, and threats that young people face have evolved, and so has Hilltop Artists’ ability to help them challenge themselves and support their friends as they overcome fear, learn to wield fire, and realize their creative visions!

Okay, maybe that sounds like a line from a fantasy novel, but that is what happens every day, for the past three decades, at Hilltop Artists.

None of this is possible without the generous support of donors like you. Your contribution enables us to adapt and respond to the needs of our youth, ensuring that they have the resources and opportunities they need to thrive.

As we work to meet our Spring goal of $50,000 I ask for your support. Please stand with these young artists, as together we make a lasting and positive impact in our community.

Please make your donation today, and consider joining our Murrini Club as a monthly donor! Thank you for your support. Your generosity truly makes a difference.