At Arts Corps, it is a deeply held belief that together we can do better.
This is one value shared by our longtime sponsor, Hoxie Huggins Construction. A premier builder of unique, custom architectural homes in the region, Hoxie Huggins creates their best work by collaborating with talented designers, fabricators, engineers, makers and craftspeople in the area and beyond.
Every team of collaborators is tailored to the need of the owner and the design priorities. This is because each individual project represents individual set of needs and challenges which require unique approaches. Such work prompts those involved to think and excel in new and different ways every time.
Chris Huggins, one of the company’s founders, shared with me how this creates a need for “creative, engaged, empowered and enthusiastic folks,” a clear connection he sees between his company and Arts Corps.
“At times the work seems technical and systematic, but the success is not always due to a masterly of a trade, but the way in which teams can work together in a collaborative and mutually successful way. We feel like we can always teach the technical, but we depend on a baseline level of creative and critical thinking – which Arts Corps clearly is helping to build in our community.”
The recognition of the importance of these skills originates from the founders’ own arts educations. Both Rob Hoxie and Chris hold fine arts degree and have a first-hand understanding that there is no clear linear path to career success. Chris described his own arts education as critical to his development as a young person. Born into a family of artists and makers, Chris feels fortunate to have had their lessons and a creative community available to him since an early age.
“The broad range of experiences, successes and failures all helped build a critical way of looking at things and being creative and open-minded and then empowered to confidently find a means to any end.”
Hoxie Huggins is aware that not every student has access to the resources which make these types of experiences possible, and that schools face continuous challenges for providing arts education in underserved communities. Moved to do their part in addressing these social and economic challenges, Hoxie Huggins takes the same approach as with the design and construction of the homes they build, which invests in collaboration and processes responsive to the needs of those they serve.
Through their partnership, Hoxie Huggins supports Arts Corps in working towards a world where barriers to arts education no longer exist.
“We feel fortunate that we are able to share and know that what we do share is having and meaningful impact in the lives of youth,” Chris tells. “We know that Arts Corps understands how important and powerful creative empowerment can be in building a foundation for youth to stand proud and prosper.”
Thank you, Hoxie Huggins, for doing better, together with us!
— GRECIA LEAL PARDO, Development & Communications Coordinator
