Jumpstart Creativity Tour: Be a part of it.

10,000+ miles. 50 events. Two countries. One car named Stella. An artist named Jess. And a vision of arty goodness for all.

That's the Jumpstart Creativity Tour, brought to you by Jess Greene, the woman behind Seek Your Course. In just four days, Jess will set out from Massachusetts on a summer adventure to bring creative mojo to 50 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

Why is she doing this? In her own words:

To rally support for creative engagement and get adults making stuff. 

Most people do not have jobs that involve making art, building things by hand, or writing creatively. They need opportunities to fulfill that part of themselves. Seek Your Course represents a wide-range of creative opportunities and through the Jumpstart Creativity Tour we hope to further connect adults with those opportunities.

I'm happy that one of Jess's first stops will be here in Pittsburgh, where we'll gather at Assemble (a community space for art and technology) this coming Sunday, June 17, (7-9pm) to play with art supplies, delight in language, and enjoy the spark of creative community.

From here she'll be heading west-west,-west, all the way to California. In August, Jess and and Stella (who, I hear, prefers the title "Mobile Creativity Unit" to the more common term of "car") will be turning around and heading back east for more stops all along the way. There's a good chance Jess and Stella will be near you some time in the next three months. (You can see the whole route here.) I hope you'll meet up with them and make some arty goodness of your own.

Jess will be fundraising while she's on the road, which is itself a leap of faith. All of the art events are free and open to the public, but Jess needs money for things like food (for her) and gas (for Stella). She's working to raise $2,500 before she leaves, and she needs just $655 to reach this first goal. The ongoing expenses of the tour will be much higher, but Jess is trusting that the funds will come as she goes. Please consider making a donation to help this creative adventure hit (and stay on!) the road.

If you're in the Pittsburgh area, please join us on Sunday, June 17. (Full details here.) And whether or not you can come out to an event or make a donation, I hope you'll be inspired by spirit of this tour and make time to make some art this summer, whether or not you consider yourself an artist. (Of course, by "art" I mean everything from a painting to a poem to a peach pie. Seriously, make something that makes you happy.)