Design Week, Day 2

Day 2 was a busy one. We packed full a 12-passenger van (donated to us by Fox Motors Ford) with the Heroes, [FHH] staff, and volunteers for a 3+ hour road trip to Chicago.

Our first stop was at the Threadless Headquarters to give the Heroes and behind-the-scenes look at the company that will be producing their designs onto t-shirts, or as we like to call them: wearable works of art.

We thought this would be a good opportunity for the Heroes to watch how a company like Threadless operates, to see how the shirts look and feel, to learn the process and history behind Threadless, and to begin mentally “concepting” how their own shirts might look.

We were welcomed with open arms and were led on a tour around the warehouse and through their offices.

We learned the history of Threadless from Rachel, who has spearheaded this project for Threadless. Their CEO, Tom Ryan, spent a few minutes with us and shared their appreciation for the Heroes, their sacrifice, and his excitement for this collaborative project with [FHH].

We were then treated to lunch and found ourselves deep in conversations that ranged from the stories of the Heroes and the plans for the ArtPrize launch to what there is to do for fun in Grand Rapids, along with some media interviews, of course.

The Heroes: EM3 Michael Bell, Tech Sergeant Israel Del Toro, CPL Josh Hoffman, and Combat Engineer Chris Wiers.

After a couple hours, we were sure to leave our mark – literally.

We were off to our next stop into downtown Chicago…

… The National Veterans Art Museum.

After over an hour of pouring over the artwork, memorials, and hoards of historic artifacts, we all left changed and impacted with a new appreciation for art and those who fought for our country.

Our final stop of the day had to include a special Chicago-style treat: Gino’s deep dish pizza. Gino’s of East Chicago was generous enough to host all of us for free pizza and soft drinks.

We left that evening exhausted from a long, event-filled day returning to Grand Rapids after midnight – just in time to get a couple hours of sleep before another big day of positive work ahead of us.

Images courtesy of Terry Johnston and Stellafly Social Media.