Summer love lures Iowa artist to lakeshore, inspires socially conscious screen printing business

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood | The Grand Rapids Press By Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood | The Grand Rapids Press The Grand Rapids Press

Adam Weiler, founder and director of Ambrose, stands in his inspiring studio space at 224 River Avenue in Holland where he leads a screen printing and design business that hosts workshops, after school programs and summer camps for budding artists and creative types. Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood | MLive.com  

A summer camp romance and a $5,000 grant have given arts education a boost on the lakeshore where a small business is providing opportunities for kids to express themselves creatively.

This is what happens when cupid and a creative guy named Adam Weiler cross paths with a lovely lady on a basketball court. But more about that later.

As the founder and director of Ambrose, the Holland-based screen printing and design business with a commitment to educating kids about the arts, Adam, 32, and his team of collaborators and volunteers are doing what they can to build community and inspire young people in West Michigan to achieve their artistic potential through events like cardboard regattas, weekly after school programs and summer art camps.

But Ambrose might never have started had it not been for a lakeshore love connection.

Adam, an Iowa native who studied art and mathematics at Central College in Pella, Iowa, landed in West Michigan after falling in love with a fellow counselor at Camp Geneva in Holland during his college days.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about her,” Adam said about Jenna, the woman he befriended weeks before falling for her during a friendly game of basketball. “I was really glad this happened the second to last week of camp because I would have been a really (distracted) camp counselor had it happened earlier.”

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A couple weeks later when it was time to pack up and head back to Iowa, Adam invited his crush to ride with him to a party on the last night of camp after strategically packing his car with all of his belongings so there was only room for one passenger.

On the way home from the party Adam asked Jenna what she would wish for if she could have three wishes. She said she wished she wouldn’t have to worry about money and could pursue her own interests.

“And the third, she said ‘And I wish you didn’t have to go back to Iowa.’ And I was like, ‘What? You, you reciprocate these feelings?!’” Adam said. “That was awesome.”

His methodical packing worked and Jenna, the Hope College psychology major who made him swoon eventually became his wife and co-collaborator.

The chalkboard wall at Ambrose was recently embellished with the silhouettes of student artists. In front of the wall is one of the mobile screen printing stations that the Ambrose team takes to off-site workshops. To the right are t-shirt designs by guest artists that are available for purchase. Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood | MLive.com  

Ambrose grew out of a volunteer effort Adam and Jenna launched in 2008. It started as an after school arts program for teens. They met weekly with kids at the Holland Area Arts Council for four years. To raise money to support the program, they teamed up with Sonscreens, a local screen printing company to print shirts after hours to sell to support the arts programs.

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In 2012, the couple won a $5,000, 5×5 Night grant and set up their own screen printing shop and design studio space at 224 South River Avenue in Holland. While Jenna just recently left the daily operations of Ambrose to pursue her love or sustainable agriculture full-time, she’s still very much a part of the business and a financial whiz according to Adam.

“I reference her as wisdom incarnate,” he said. “She is so wise.”

The Ambrose studio is used to create and print custom designed t-shirts, with part of the proceeds going to fund the after-school programs for kids. The studio also does corporate branding and logo design work and hosts team building youth and corporate workshops. Groups come in and design a t-shirts and then leave with shirts they printed themselves.T-shirts designed by guest artists are also available for sale at Ambrose.

While Adam recruits artists and creative types to come and mentor kids, hanging out at Ambrose usually leads to a screen printing experience — an opportunity that he offers to the public monthly at Print Together sessions where attendees learn how to print their original drawings on t-shirts for $40.

“The face of kids when they pull the squeegee and when they lift up the screen and can see this thing that they made is just — I get butterflies in my stomach every time,” Adam said. “Because realizing that you can make something, and it can make a difference and you don’t just have to consume your identity by picking your shirt off a shelf in some store, is a really powerful experience.”

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As a church youth director turned art educator, community builder and artistic entrepreneur, Adam said he finds his work rewarding and even a bit validating.

“In some ways, I feel like I’m trying to help middle school and elementary and high school Adam kind of like self-actualize and realize that ‘Hey man, cool. (Life) is what you make it and it’s okay to be weird and pursue those things that not everybody might be interested in.’”

Listen to Adam tell the Ambrose story on episode #131 of Jennifer’s CraftSanity podcast posted on craftsanity.com .

CONNECT:

Read more about Ambrose screen printing and design services, workshops, after school programs and summer camps at ambrose.is and find out about upcoming Print Together Time events at www.facebook.com/ambrosecollective . Follow @ambrosemakery on Twitter and Instagram.

Email Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood at jennifer@craftsanity.com or send story ideas to P.O. Box 888192, Grand Rapids, MI 49588. Read Jennifer’s blog at craftsanity.com . Follow @CraftSanity on Twitter and Instagram and check out the latest edition of CraftSanity Magazine available for download at craftsanity.com .

Source: http://www.mlive.com