With the sculptures generated by the stick drawings of the kids for Autoglow came the idea to fill the event space with ladders. Why? These ladders symbolized for me the leg up a donation to the Children’s Center would provide to the kids they help, but also the process by which all of us climb into our lives, and get to be contributing members of our community-one step up, at a time. In the dance floor/foyer I hung from the ceiling what seemed like an endless number of ladders- borrowed from everyone I knew.
I have had a leg up from others plenty of times, just like most people. I could have never done without this. All any kid needs is a leg up from a set of parents, a greater family, a good school and a focused community and a fair world. When any part of this goes awry, all of us who are able, need to step in.
We cut what seemed like a zillion stars from thin masonite, and painted them gold. Gold stars-this a simple visual representation of the achievement of my babyhood. I still remember the gold stars I got-don’t you? My figures were happily floating in the airspace-as any kid should be.
I did all of the figures, save one. The interior designer Charles Dunlap donated a figure, walking a dog, on his own. His dog went up the ladder and was already crossing over to a new place-his version of an enabled child not far behind.
The tables were not fancy; the not fancy chairs were every version of black we could find. The tablecloths-collages of photographs of kids printed on giant sheets of copy paper, overlaid with clear acetate. The centerpieces? Flashlights-shine the light wherever you can. Bottled water energy drinks-water, essential to life. Some of the steel ladders we welded up crossed over from one table to another-fun.
Its important with any fundraising event that the message be simple. There are those in need. There are those who can help. Helping others is the best possible time anyone could hope for. My job is to put together a visual telegram from those in need to those who can help. Let some visual sparkle do the rest.
The few moments before an event designed to raise money for a cause begins- I treasure. No matter what works or falls short, in the end, everything is about the sincere energy of the effort. The lighting people, the catering people, the entertainment people, the Children’s Center staff-so many people came together on this day, to a worthy end. I am lucky to know and have worked with all of them.
Those figures whose creation delighted me so much were not the star of this event. They just took their place along with the efforts of a lot of other very creative and energetic people. Once the room filled with people, there was a party going on. I am a member of a big group whose names and particulars may never be known-fine. We were just all hoping for the best, for the kids.
Not so long after this picture was taken, this room was jammed with people, every one of them a gardener busy nurturing the landscape.
Everyone in my town knows the Auto Show is in progress downtown in Detroit. Not as many people know that the automobile companies have for years sponsored the NAIAS Charity Preview event in tandem with the show-which has raised over 81 million dollars since 1989 to benefit a number of children’s charities in southeastern Michigan. I had occasion a few years ago to be involved in an event to benefit 
The ting ting was tightly zip tied to the flexible wire-but I was still able to pull individual ting pieces away from the wire-giving this figure a curvy shape. She had a curly ting head, hairdo, hands and feet. The legs were wrapped in ribbon, and studded with small cream colored paper roses. Her outfit-a tee shirt covered in paper hydrangea petals. The velvet ribbon at the neck and wrists-can you tell I was having a good time? 
I use dried and preserved natural materials for lots of projects-bringing the garden indoors is an activity I like. Invariably there are bits and pieces left over-I keep them. Who knows what might come up where a couple of green rope balls, or a few bunches of preserved grass might come in handy? The idea that this might help someone felt great.
I wanted all the kids to have a sense of lively animation-just like any real kid. As each one got finished, I hung them from a bar on giant S hooks in the greenhouse. Each one had a different set of materials, and a different personality. 
This figure made a lot of some green floral foam cones I had left over from a party for a client. A spool of metallic peach wired ribbon made fast work of a hairdo, a necklace and some bracelets. Though it took the better part of 5 days to make them all, the time flew by. In retrospect, the occasion to design and play with materials, shapes, volumes and colors was the gift of this project to me. Should I ever decide to give up gardening, I might consider making hats. Outlandish hats. 
I was able to hang my figures on a convenient fence at Mocad-the venue for the event. 
This ting man got his whirling dervish look from multiple strands of curved aluminum wire. The wire is very light, making it possible to make the wire appear as though it were floating. One pierced aluminum hanging votive made a great starting point for a head. 
