Still Going Strong
JULY 2025
Greetings!
It has not been long since we published our last newsletter, but much has transpired since then, & we are ramping up our schedule again very soon. So many good things are happening, & we just have to share them with you!
However, so many good things never come without a fair amount of struggle, & even the most fulfilling work can still lead to exhaustion & burnout for lack of proper rest & stillness. Our team is happy, but we are tired! We don’t know what kind of season you are in, but whether you are tired from trouble or triumph, we hope you will take comfort in knowing we have a faithful Father in heaven who is strong enough to carry our burdens & is well-pleased to give us rest.
“The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding. He gives power to the weak & strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak & tired, & young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run & not grow weary. They will walk & not faint.”
– Isaiah 40:28-31
Wherever you may find yourself right now, lean into His strength. Trust in His wisdom. Fix your eyes on Jesus, & you will discover that nothing on earth can hold you down for long.
Summer So Far
Audiofeed Festival
Over Independence Day weekend, The Novelty Collective returned to Audiofeed Festival for our second year. Audiofeed Festival is a music & arts fest that has taken place at the Champaign County Fairgrounds in Urbana, Illinois for the past eleven years. The Audiofeed team shares our passion for platforming artists & uniting through creative expression, so naturally were thrilled to join hands with them when we were invited. Our part in leadership has been to host visual art vendors & organize workshops during the four-day event. We started small last year but found that people were very receptive to this new initiative. We made some dear friends & close connections that got us excited to do it all again this year!
Audiofeed Festival 2025 was definitely one for the books. We hosted double the number of artists from last time, added a number of creative workshops for festival-goers to participate in, & even invited a few musical acts to use the space for open mic performances. Foot traffic in the art space increased exponentially from the year before, yet the best part is that people lingered. The NoCo Art Market at Audiofeed was every bit as warm & welcoming as we could have hoped, & we are super excited to see what God does with this thing in the future.
If you have the ability to make the trip, we cannot recommend Audiofeed Festival highly enough. Check out our Audiofeed Page here on the website, & please take a moment to visit their official website to learn more!
Foundations
For those who have been following along on social media, you’ll know we just finished up our second week of Summer Arts Day Camp—if you have not, there’s no time like the present to check out the awesome photos & reels we captured of our students & teachers making art!
Camp has been another wonderful success. We knew it would be a challenge to bring this thing back after a two-year hiatus, but the payoff has been so worth it. During each week of camp, classes centered on two respective categories of art: visual mediums & performance. Some of our students could only make it for one or the other, but many of them stayed for both & learned how to do so much! Teachers focused on instructing the students in the foundational principles & techniques of each craft, ensuring that they had a firm understanding of the basics from which to build upon as they grow & hone their skills. Although every one of our instructors is either a seasoned veteran or professional artist in his or her field, our kids really kept us on our toes; they displayed such a natural aptitude for the arts that we often had to accelerate our lesson plans!
Art classes included the foundations of illustration, jewelry making, ceramics, block printing, fabric arts, creative reuse, film, guitar, theater, culinary arts, drums, creative writing, & piano.
In addition to art classes, we gathered each day to study the Book of 1 Peter in the New Testament. Director Brittany Hartman-King prepared an excellent curriculum, with the first set of lessons flowing seamlessly into week two without leaving new students completely behind. We talked about the foundations of our faith in Christ: the promise of salvation, holy living, loving deeply, & eternal life according to chapters 1 & 2. We had mini-art projects set up to correspond with each lesson, giving each student the opportunity to create a series of hand-made reminders.
We are so proud of all our students. They picked up so many new skills & memorized so much scripture in just a few short days. It makes us a little sad that camp has ended, but we are absolutely stoked for next summer!
You can now view photos from week one of Summer Arts Day Camp 2025 in the gallery section on our website. Revisit the page in about week for photos from week two!
Arriving in Autumn
Student Drop-in
We don’t have too much longer until the end of summer… But that means Afterschool will be back in season to continue serving our middle school & high school students! Programming will resume Monday through Thursday from 3pm-6pm every week, starting on Monday, September 8, 2025. We are excited to welcome new & returning students to The COVE, dive into another book of the Bible, & make some awesome new artwork this fall.
If you have a child in grades 7th - 12th interested in exploring his or her creativity during our Afterschool program, please tap the link below to get in touch with our team!
More to Come
There is still more to share about what’s coming this fall, & we will send it your way soon. But for now, we hope you will check out our social media, visit the website for even more content, & contact us if you have any questions about The Novelty Collective. Thank you for reading!
Last Open Studios
We’ve had a exceptional time with new & returning artists at Open Studios this year. It’s a great time to get away from home & spend a day making art with friends. Our last Open Studios session for the summer is happening on June 28 from 11:00am - 5:00pm. Tap the link to mark your digital calendar if you are interested in joining us! Make a few new friends, create your next masterpiece, & eat a delicious lunch, all for free. Remember to invite your friends!
“In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, & strengthen you, & He will place you on a firm foundation.”
– I Peter 5:10
Blessings,
The NoCo Team
Article written by Jordan A. King
