Sue Silverstein is scrambling to give her squadron of eager artists some challenging tasks when school starts in a few weeks.

The idea is not for people to buy things but for people to send and donate old stuff they aren’t using. Sue is now asking for old, discarded, or forgotten wooden picture frames.

(above, some art from Sue’s class.)

She and her very excited and enthusiastic young artists want to make weaving and sewing looms of the frames.

Small and large looms are fine, any style or age. Sue wants old, discarded, forgotten, or dust-gathering wooden frames in attics, basements,  garages, and grandma’s house.

Sue and her cranked-up artists will turn the frames into art. She is already spinning her wheels about art projects. The looms may also be used to make beautiful things with the fabulous fabrics people have seen sent to Sue.

(Maria has been there all day helping to get the sewing machines working well for the new school year. Photo above by Sue Silverstein)

If you can help, as you have been helping from all over the country, that would be great. You can ship the wood frames to Sue Silverstein, Art Program,  Bishop Gibbons High School, 2600 Albany Street, Schenectady, New York, 12304.

We are not asking people to buy frames, new or old, but to gather old ones that are no longer in use and ship them. Sue is a saint; if anyone deserves support, it is her. She is quite literally doing the Lord’s Work.

Yesterday’s successful Wish List will take care of art supplies for a while; now, she’s starting to plan for what will be needed. It’s the most fantastic art program I’ve seen in any public school.

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Also, I’m seeing support for the sorely depleted Mansion Fund. I was at the Mansion today, and the quiet season seems over. I’m heading to Wal-Marts today to buy 35 T-shirts for Tie-Dyeing; the residents are planning a big Fall festival.

We don’t keep any money lying around; we put it to good use. And we need it.

Two residents need clothes; they have nothing to wear and are embarrassed to go out on trips.

Most residents attend the County Fair (me and Maria with them); I brought enough money to eat well, buy souvenirs, and spoil themselves with ice cream.

We need to get some small pieces for the train, which is set up but looks a little lifeless. We have to spruce it up.

I’m ordering many art supplies for the Mansion; the new activities staff is still trying to figure out Wish Lists. I ordered $150 worth of markers, boards and paint.

There is also a plant to take most residents on a boat ride on Lake George. The tickets have been paid for; I’d love to give them some money for souvenirs and ice cream.

I’ve been asked to take a portrait of every resident so every picture of the people who live there hangs on the walls. I have been asked to buy tablecloths and plastic covers for the dining room for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

I need between $600 and $700 to do these things.

If you can help and wish to, you can donate via Paypal, jon@bedlamfarm, or Venmo,  Jon Katz@Jon-Katz-13 or by check,  Jon Katz, The Mansion Fund,  P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Thank you.

Seeing the Mansion coming alive after those long and challenging pandemic years is excellent. I’m coming alive also. Thanks for your help. And thanks again for setting a new record for Wish List donations.