Our Memory Books campaign has ended for 2021, but it was a great success! We were so thrilled with the response and the show of love that we will definitely do something like it again!
In the meantime, check out our Memory Books 2021 online gallery, featuring all the submissions we received, follow us on Facebook or Instagram, or sign up to our newsletter to stay in touch!
We are still shy of our 2021 goal to raise $10,000 to help us make it to our 2022 season. As a token of our thanks, we’re offering a special 2021 mug, hand painted by our friends in Deruta, for donations of $100 or more made before December 31st 2021. You can use the form below to contribute or visit our Donate page to find out other ways you can support us.
So many participants have let us know in so many ways, how much the experience has meant to them, how La Romita has been such a unique event in their lives. One of the most fun and creative ways that our participants have let us know is through our “Memory Books”…the scrapbooks in which each group is encouraged to leave some artistic or poetic message for us, and for future groups to see. Teachers and their students have collaborated on these memory book since 1980 and they are jam packed with images and thoughts and reminiscences and emotions. They are a constant source of joy…often inventive and always incredibly beautiful.
Between now and our end-of-year Aperitivo in December, we are asking you to create something – a small painting, a sketch, a few words – for us to add to our scrapbook: a memory or dream to fill the pages that would normally start “La Romita 2020” and “La Romita 2021”.
FIRST:
Go out and paint or write something!
Look for inspiration in the things that have brought you joy over the past 18 months, or past 18 years! Look for inspiration in what the future holds.
THEN:
Then send us a picture of your work using the form at right or post it on your social media and tag us. On Instagram, you can also use the #LaRomitaScrapbook21 hashtag.
We’ll repost your submissions on Facebook and Instagram, and include them in a special “digital” scrapbook on our website.
If you’d like your work to be included in our actual Memory Book (and we really hope you do!), then send us the original work and this summer we’ll add it into a special scrapbook, to be kept with the rest of our collection and mark a positive event from these years of struggle. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 58219, Washington DC, 20037.
Anyone who sends us a submission will be entered in a raffle to win prizes, including a free trip (airfare and workshop fees!) donated by our longtime friend, instructor, and supporter Lisa Guthrie.
The drawing for the raffle will be at our end-of-year Aperitivo in the early part of December. Our hope is that everyone who reads this will submit something to our Memory Book – that you will be excited to pick up a brush or pen and share with us and your fellow artists and poets. What could be more fun that doing what you love?
2. Submit a Picture
Sorry, our Memory Books campaign has ended for 2021!
Check out our Memory Books 2021 online gallery, featuring all the submissions we received, and if you don’t already you can follow us on Facebook or Instagram, or sign up to our newsletter to stay in touch!
…AND THEN:
We hope that you will also show your support of what we do with a donation accompanying your submission – we suggest $50, but it can be any amount.
Our goal for this event is $10000. Donation is NOT necessary to participate in the raffle, but La Romita has been able to survive the loss of the past two seasons only through herculean effort from a few volunteers, and the financial support from our community. Your donation is important to helping us cover our expenses until our first workshop in 2022.
You can use the form at right, or you can help us avoid credit card fees by sending your donation as a check made out to La Romita School, PO Box 58219, Washington DC, 20037. You could send it with your submission!
3. Show Your Support
…and Finally:
Attend our December Fundraising Finale Aperitivo! We’ll take a look at all the submissions, share stories, and have the drawing to see who won the prizes! The Aperitivo date is not set yet, but it probably be in the second week of December. Attendance is not actually required, but we hope to see you there!
What makes a good submission?
Our Memory Books are about happy memories and hopeful dreams, so choose a subject that speaks of that to you. Inspiration can come from old photos, scenes from where you live or your own back yard.
Sketches, drawings, paintings, poems, recollections, and calligraphy are all great choices.
Submissions should be no larger than 5 x 7 inches.