Fire can heal. It’s an idea that has been the center of ArtReach’s practice since the introduction of Project Fire in 2015, its flagship glassblowing program focused on serving young Chicagoans dealing with violence-related trauma. Since 1990, ArtReach has existed in one form or another to connect traumatized communities in the city to arts education and practices. Now, in its 30th year, the Garfield Park-based organization is changing its name to Firebird Community Arts and focusing further on the flame.
Of course, some things have changed during the pandemic—it’s not possible to send everyone home with a torch for glassblowing, especially if they’re not properly trained, and there’s limited capacity for pickups and drop-offs to the kiln for ceramic projects. But Firebird’s core values have remained. Maintaining a community around open communication and discussion about dealing with trauma is at the top of that list. Reyes says she’s found their young participants are more involved than ever in those sessions. And Firebird’s employment program is still fully funded through the end of the year. That means that teaching artists and youth participants in trauma psychoeducation group sessions are still being paid for their time.
