Umbrella Arts Festival

Umbrella Arts Festival

Date: May 31, 2025

Venue/City: Evanston, Chicagoland

Audience: Community Public

“I never expected a booth about grief at an Asian American Fair. Wow - that’s different. But so needed too. Thank you for being here.”

Rooster and Hen Resources joined over 50 other organizations to represent and celebrate the arts in the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander community during the annual Umbrella Arts Festival hosted by Evanston ASPA. While our neighboring booths also offered art projects and activities to the public, we shared how we use art and story as a way to approach grief and loss.

We had one table that introduced Moving In Forever, the story about our founder’s friend who died in hospice at home, which started us into the area of grief work. Our second table led many families to create a yarn art story together, where they wrapped different colored yarn to represent various parts of their story. This simple yet powerful art activity ignited sharing about topics like “My Besties” or “Someone I Miss”, where even the youngest of children were able to “document” their story without needing to know how to spell or write.

We had many guests come through sharing their grief journeys that stemmed from a death, a separation, and a diagnosis. We made room to hold space even at a busy art fair;  the depth of conversation we had with so many who stopped by was testament to the need that exists in the community for greater support and resources.