Fundraiser for Star Cottage Studio

Hello Friends! 

Some of you may have seen on our social networks that we've started a GoFundMe for some work that we need to do to our beloved over-100-year-old space, Star Cottage Studio. Over the years, we've done a lot of work on this lovely building of ours. Most of our work has focused on getting the inside of the building usable and in a better condition. We've upgraded and reworked the electricity. We've refinished the floors. We've installed a mini split system to keep things from getting too cold or too warm/humid. We've painted, refinished, and reworked so much on the inside. We've really poured a lot of ourselves into this building because it means so much to us. 

Unfortunately, as we've been working on the inside and doing what we can to survive as a small business, the outside of our building has started to show much of its age. The more weathered side of the building needs to have a number of the cedar shakes replaced, and the entire building needs a new coat of paint. We've realized that the way the metal roof was installed on one side of the building has allowed water to seep down behind some of our cedar shakes and has caused them to age and deteriorate even more quickly. Being an old building, the windows haven't ever been replaced, and while we're not expecting to do refit them with modern windows or anything like that at this point (we'd love to in the future), we would like to refinish those that are showing age and replace some glass that has cracked or fallen out. We also have a small fence near our outhouse that we need to replace that has blown down in some of the winter storms that we had this past season. 

Normally, we'd just keep our heads down and push forward, hopeful to make ends meet. But, we've looked deep within and realized that we could use some help. You see, this building was never meant for just us. So far, it's been set up that way because we've not been able to fully fund our vision of what we want Star Cottage Studio to be. We've worked hard to try to maintain and make progress where we could, but times are very tough right now for small businesses, and we've had a number of setbacks over the past few years. Star Cottage Studio is meant to be a community space. A place where people can come to take classes. A workshop where people can share space and equipment to help make their dreams come true. It's meant to be a place where people converge, converse, and concoct amazing things. It's supposed to be for those who otherwise may not have all the tools and techniques that we'll have available. It's a space where people can come in to dream and where ideas turn into form and function. It's for those, like us, who grew up without much, to come in and have access—to balance out a little bit of the inequality in this world. 

But, right now, those wonderful thoughts are just that—thoughts. We've never been able to get all the things done that we've wanted to in order to make them come true. If you know us, you know that we put our heart into every single thing that we do. And yes, sometimes we may take on more than we can chew—or, at least, fill our cups to nearly overflowing. But, it's all in a spirit of giving back and doing for those who remind us of who we were when we were growing up—kids without a lot who wished more options surrounded them. 

We know firsthand how difficult things are right now. We both come from generations of people who try not to ask for much, so it's hard for us to even ask this—especially in these trying times. But, so many people have told us that they'd like to help. And so, while it's difficult for us, we're asking. No amount is too little, and we're thankful for every single donation we get. Of course, we know not everyone has the means to donate (we understand that situation far too well…which is why we've started this in the first place), so we ask that you please consider sharing this with your friends and communities. With your help, we know we can make great progress toward achieving our goals of having this amazing space open to the creative community. 

Thank you all so very much, and we're grateful for each and every one of you who supports us on this journey of ours. If you'd like to help us in making this dream come true for us and our community, our GoFundMe is here: https://gofund.me/1692967d5.

With so much love and appreciation,

William & Andrew