By Chelsea Martell, Advancement & Operations Assistant
P.S. ARTS’ biggest event of the year, Express Yourself, took place on November 11th, 2012 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. As a newcomer to P.S. ARTS and experiencing this event for the first time, I must say I was blown away. Here’s my “Behind the Scenes” perspective of our biggest fundraiser of the year:
The Event
Express Yourself is an incredible way for our contributors to experience the opportunities that P.S. ARTS provides to thousands of students in Los Angeles County and the Central Valley every day. It’s an opportunity for parents to spend quality time with their children and enjoy a day of arts and crafts, music, and dozens of signature eats and treats from LA’s top restaurants and caterers.
In a nutshell, Express Yourself is like an amusement park — but better. It’s a hands-on interactive event where parents and children alike enjoy a wide variety of art projects ranging from placemat making, flower pot decorating, face painting, clay mold creating to superhero transformations… just to name a few! And the best part: you don’t have to wait in line to ride the attractions! Our event provides numerous exciting art booths and samples of a wide variety of food without worrying about lines, ride closures, or grumpy cast members.
Behind the Scenes of Express Yourself
I quickly learned that while at this point the event is like a well-oiled machine (14 years and counting), it still requires many months of planning, organization, and preparation. Guests and outside onlookers may not realize how much work goes on behind the scenes of an event like Express Yourself. There are so many components to keep track of: committee meetings, volunteer lists, art supplies, edible booths, ticket sales, how many cans of glitter we have… needless to say, Google Drive becomes your best friend.
Here’s what my desktop the Friday before Express Yourself looked like. Lots of emails, documents, and of course, can’t forget our nametags!
The P.S. ARTS storage unit also becomes your best friend; everything here gets sorted and sent to the Barker Hangar for the event.
Here’s Education & Programs Associate Stephanie Kistner, Education & Programs Assistant Amy Knutson and myself sorting through storage way back in August.
Events Manager Heather Myrick and I also made countless trips back to storage during the months leading up to the event. This is when our handy movers came and took all our supplies, decorations, and boxes from storage to drop them off at the Barker Hangar.
Isn’t it beautiful?
The last leg of our event-planning journey is the most exciting, yet it is also the most grueling. Contrary to popular belief, there are no magical event fairies that come in and set everything up for us. Our staff, several amazing volunteers, and Bounce lived at the Barker Hangar Friday through Sunday evening on the weekend of the event.
Here are some pictures from all three days, start to finish.
Friday at 10AM…
Saturday at 10AM…
And finally on Sunday at 10AM… All ready to go!
A few other P.S. ARTS “Behind the Scenes” moments to share:
Building two cash wraps weighing over 90 pounds each (Don’t know what a cash wrap is? I didn’t either until this event. It’s the stand that holds the cash register). The catch? Instructions with no words. Just another task to take on as an events planner!
Here is Events Manager Heather Myrick reading the instructions amongst all our Express Yourself deliveries at the P.S. ARTS office. She looks so cozy down there.
We also have the pleasure of coordinating all of the fun new merchandise to sell at the event each year. This year’s new additions? Peek… Aren’t You Curious! children’s t-shirts, iPhone 4 & iPhone 5 cases, and Chan Luu bracelets.
Along with the actual event, we also set up a volunteer breakfast beforehand for all of our hard-working and awesome volunteers so they could fuel up for the big day. Our volunteer breakfast required over 150 bananas… the customers at Trader Joe’s probably assumed I owned a monkey. The security guard even interrogated me when I was leaving the store. Who knew bananas could raise so much suspicion!
Thanks to the commitment of our Board of Trustees, event committee, staff members, and volunteers (not to mention the hundreds of others who helped along the way), Express Yourself went off without a hitch, and we can’t thank you all enough. And it is through the generosity and passion of our contributors that make this event such a success year after year. Your time, support, and energy are all greatly appreciated. The amount of people and work that goes into Express Yourself is extraordinary. And what’s even better: children in underserved public schools will have access to a high-quality arts education that research indicates improves confidence and better equips them to be engaged, productive citizens — because of YOU.
The Stats
Attendees: About 1,500
Years Held: 14
Art Masterpieces Made: 10,000+
Edible Booths: 33
Raising over $500K for arts education in underserved public schools = Priceless
