Firebird Art Center for Project FIRE

It is rare to see the simultaneous transformation of people and raw materials, but at Project FIRE, which is devoted to healing the wounds of traumatized young people, it is possible. Since the 1990s, Firebird Community Arts had been bringing ceramics to South and West side neighborhoods. By the time the organization moved to its current location in East Garfield Park, it was evident that severe trauma had become a frequent factor in the lives of many of the young people they served. In response, the artists at Firebird Community Arts collaborated with the professionals at Helping Hurt People Chicago and Cook County Hospital to create Project FIRE. What happens there must be seen to be fully appreciated. Some of the young people, often diagnosed with one malady or another, scarred by gunshot wounds, grieving loss of friends and family, work with clay, others with glass. Through glass blowing, which perhaps more than any other art reflects emotion and creativity, they hone teamwork and concentration. Amid blazing 10,000-degree furnaces and kilns, they discover the beauty they are capable of forging and the beauty in themselves. A walk through the studio reveals the stunning objects the young people have created; listening to them reveals what real change is about.