Dear Hatchers [Hatchies? Crossies? We're workin' on it, we'll come up with something good, we promise]:
Eleven years ago we started a nonprofit and we called it the Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design, or ISLAND. We thought it was pretty good – who doesn’t love a good acronym? But over the past decade and then some, we’ve grown – our island turned into a cluster of islands; we are no longer a rock, an iiiisssland, we’re a whole damn community of farmers, artists, gardeners, learners, lovers, eaters, growers, doers, movers and shakers. And so we’re changing our name. We’re departing the island (but it’ll always have a special place in our hearts).
We shall henceforth be known as: Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology. We remain a small, all-hands-on-deck, passionate organization that focuses its efforts on strengthening communities through the intersections of art, farming, ecology, and economy.
The first lifecycle of ISLAND required a lot of experimenting and learning from trial and error. And it was fun! But Crosshatch is a tween now, we’re old enough to know what we’re doing and where we’re going: Phase Three.
Phase three will be the development of the Crosshatch property located in Bellaire, Michigan. While Crosshatch currently is, and always has been, a “homeless” organization, the property will someday be the location of a working farm, multiple artist spaces for residents, a community building, and more. The Crosshatch property will materialize our longstanding concept of integrating art with farming and ecology: Where Art meets Earth.
TL;DR: We used to be called the Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design, but now we’re called Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology. We continue to dig in, dive deep, get up early and stay up late in the name of creating stronger communities through the magic of art, farming, food, ecology, economy, working together and having fun. We are trying our best and we love you.
Cheers,
Crosshatch