Tis the awards season. And while industry eyes are understandably on such upcoming high-profile competitions as the Cannes International Advertising Festival and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show, there was a noteworthy award bestowed this past Saturday (March 13) that largely went unnoticed, at least on the national scene.
The Advertising Federation of Minnesota held its Silver Medal Award party. And while that honor is prestigious, bringing it even greater prestige is this year’s recipient, Sue Crolick. An award-winning art director with a notable career in advertising and design spanning such Minneapolis shops as Campbell Mithun, Martin/Williams and her own Sue Crolick Advertising & Design, Crolick was also recognized by the Ad Federation for arguably her most lasting and ongoing accomplishment—founding Creatives for Causes upon her retirement from the business in 1994. She remains at the helm of that nonprofit organization, which gave birth to the Art Buddies program.
Art Buddies pairs creative professionals—including art directors, designers, illustrators, photographers and architects—with inner city children from low-income families in Minnesota. Art Buddies helps the kids experience the joys of creativity, building their self-esteem, dreams and confidence. Since ’94, Art Buddies has paired more than 1,000 children, one-on-one, with more than 1,000 creative people.
Crolick organizes two Art Buddies programs a year—one in the spring, the other in the fall. Each is a six-session workshop for 50 kids spanning six weeks. The next series of workshops is slated for five Fridays (April 23, 30, May 7, 14 and 21) and one Thursday (June 3). This time, Art Buddies is bringing back a popular theme called "Kids Rule!" For this, a creative professional helps a kid to imagine himself or herself as a world ruler. They team to create a fanciful costume expressing how the child would use his or her power to help people. The costumes are created with various art supplies. At the end of the program, professional photographers shoot pictures of the creative mentor and the child creator in costume. These children’s creations are then displayed in a parade.
"The whole point is for these kids to discover their own creative gifts—and this one-on-one mentorship is a positive force for them," explained Crolick, who works out of Creatives for Causes office space at—and donated by—Minneapolis agency Carmichael Lynch. "Sadly, it’s pretty rare for some of these kids to get this much personal attention."
The program is also an expression of pride by Crolick for her profession. "Our mentors are from the advertising/design world, as opposed to the fine arts world," she related. "Advertising/design people are unique creatively. They’re my people. I worked with them and was one of them for thirty years. I love their energy, their irreverence, their wild ways of thinking. I love the idea of sharing all that with a child."
Debuting during the Silver Medal Award gala will be a short documentary on Art Buddies in which the kids themselves talk about their dreams, goals and the program. The untitled documentary was produced pro-bono by members of the Minneapolis spotmaking community. The director was Marco Baca, who at the time was with the since closed Wilson Griak. Baca is now helming projects independently and exploring his options for spot representation. Several key players from Wilson Griak have since moved on to form BlueSixty Pictures, Minneapolis, including Ridge Henderson who served as executive producer on the Art Buddies documentary, which was edited by Steve Shepherd of Spotnik, Minneapolis. Spotnik was a Wilson Griak-owned shop, which has since gone independent.
For more info on Creatives for Causes, contact artbuddies@ visi.com or call (612) 334-6004. The deadline to volunteer for the next series of workshops is March 26.
