Catalyst Takes Creative Action
Now that you’ve heard the story of Catalyst’s creation, let us tell you about our adventure which lead to the partnership with our dear friends at Wholesome Wave Georgia...
T’was a dark and stormy night (okay, it was vaguely drizzling outside on a Sunday morning). Several road-weary artists clad in varying shades of neutral colors (and more versions of plaid then are socially acceptable), bumbled into a local inn (and by “inn,” we mean coffee shop).
One moment... our narrative voice may detract from the gentleness of the tale so let us switch to a less heroic style....
The story begins as such:
After Catalyst was born, we chose Wallace’s “The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek” for our first production. In addition, we had written a mission statement, full of all sorts of lovely ideas, but this story focuses on one goal in particular...
“Catalyst provides opportunities for show-specific outreach, directly impacting human lives in the Atlanta community.”
Our first step was to connect our outreach to Naomi Wallace’s “Trestle,” which is set in the tail end of the depression and deals with loss related to employment, family and identity. We decided family-oriented outreach was a must.
Because Atlanta has an unemployment rate of 6.3 percent compared to the national average of 5.1 percent, job loss and its impact seemed like an obvious choice. We began the search, and brought Wholesome Wave Georgia to the table.
Wholesome Wave Georgia is ideal for Catalyst’s mission for three reasons:
They currently partner with 37 different producer‐only farmer’s markets in Atlanta and across the state of Georgia. By doubling each Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, aka Food Stamp) dollar spent, they leverage existing government food nutrition programs to encourage shopping at local farmers markets. Every nutrition benefit dollar spent at a WWG partner market becomes two dollars for the shopper and for the farmer. This means more money for farmers and more Georgians gain access to good, wholesome and locally‐grown food.
They currently have a Donate2Double campaign happening through November, where anything donated to Wholesome Wave will be doubled!
Alliteration
How exactly is Catalyst working with Wholesome Wave Georgia?
Catalyst Arts Atlanta will be passing on 10% of our ticket sales for “The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek” to Wholesome Wave Georgia. We’ll also be gathering as a collective and volunteering at different farmers markets before “The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek” opens.
Interested in joining us in our mission? There are a few ways you can help:
Make sure you get your ticket for “The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek” at http://trestleatpopelick.brownpapertickets.com/
Donate to Catalyst Arts Atlanta here: https://c4atlanta.org/the-trestle-project
Join us for one of our volunteer days but emailing us at catalystartsatl@gmail.com
Share our mission and efforts on social media: www.facebook.com/CatalystAtlanta/
Visit http://www.wholesomewavegeorgia.org/ for more on Wholesome Wave and their mission
