Five Months at Arthur and Already Forever Changed
By Heather Dewey Wagner
July 11, 2025
Five months ago, we walked into this building with boxes in our arms, hope in our hearts and about a thousand things left to figure out. Arthur was cold and quiet then. A little dusty. Waiting.
Now it is filled with music, laughter, paint-stained hands, the phone ringing, the soft hum of purpose, and the feeling you get when you know you are exactly where you are meant to be.
Every corner of this old school tells a new story now. A story of transformation, of community, repurpose, and of a team that showed up every single day to make magic happen, not because they had to, but because they wanted to. I want to pay a little respect to the crew that I have the joy of working with every day. We would neer be here without them.
Kassandra has been the heart of it all, juggling programming, rentals, camps, emails and the kind of day-to-day chaos that would make most people run. Instead, she steadied the ship. She made sure it all worked. She kept us going, and often, kept me grounded when the days got too heavy. Her fingerprints are on everything, in the best way.
Drake has taken on the enormous task of learning this building inside and out. He has figured out how to work with boilers older than me, and that is OLD, and systems that creak and groan like a haunted house on a windy day. He has worked tirelessly to make this space functional and safe and ready for the creativity it now holds. And the man knows so much about alarms and the internet now, it is unreal.
Naomi has carried our Rock Academy students through the transition with so much love, dedication, and consistency. She has created a program where the kids feel true ownership. They pick the songs. They choose the paint colors. They sign their names on the walls. They belong. And beside her are Jeremiah and Ryan, both offering steady support and deep dedication to every rehearsal and every young musician who walks through the door. We miss Craig. He will be back.
Now there is Harrison. He has held our Community Room in his heart. What started as a quiet little corner of comfort has now grown into something meaningful for so many families. He has been an incredible leader with our volunteers and interns, and has helped expand our reach in the community. His strong, yet quiet presence and ability to see the big picture has made a real difference.
Crystal has brought joy and vision into every project she touches. She gave life to our brand new sensory room, a beautiful, gentle space that holds our students with care and intention. Watching someone with sensory issues walk into that room for the first time is something I will never forget. It matters.
Russ has continued to pour his whole heart into Healing HeArts, growing it into something deeper, more accessible and more connected than ever. His work helps people express what they sometimes cannot say out loud. That is powerful stuff.
Barb is here cleaning the whole place, come rain, snow, ice or hail. She is dedicated, generous, and part of our family here. I can't imagine doing any of this without her.
And then there is Evan. The work he has done with TalkBack Studios defies words. Truly. He has put in countless hours creating world-class spaces for recording, rehearsing, performing and dreaming. He built three new studio rooms, a live room, a mixing room and a podcast space that would make any sound engineer proud. And yes, one of them has a pool table. But what matters most is that our students now have a space where they feel like professionals, where their voices are heard and their talents are celebrated.He has already recorded several local bands in the space as well as one band from the Chicago area, with all revenue going back to help our kids who need financial aid.
Our volunteers and teachers are honestly the BEST. And I am not just saying that. They really are. They are dedicated to their craft 2whether it be George in stained glass or Megan in mixed media or Garrett in charcoal and pastel. Everyone is so amazing. And let's never forget our interns this season, Eric, Santiago, and Jakob. I feel blessed daily to be surrounded by such great people.
Every day I walk these halls and hear the heartbeat of this place. It comes in the form of guitar riffs, paint brush strokes, dance steps and quiet moments of connection painting a locker, or soldering glass. It is in the kids who sneak a snack from the Community Room, in the parents who linger just a little longer because it feels good to be here, and in the artists who walk in saying they never felt they had a place until now. It is in the LGBT teen who never had a place they fit in, and the knitting gal who never had a place to knit and chat. We are all of those things to all of those people. This is a special place.
Even Roxy, our little studio cat, seems to know this place is special. She curls up in the sunny spots like she has been here her whole life.
What we have built in these five months is more than a program or a space. It is a community. It is a safe haven. It is a loud, colorful, beautiful mess of creativity and love.
And we are just getting started.
