This is a special week for THE ART OF THE BRICK team because we are announcing the formation of a nonprofit giving organization called, the Art Revolution Foundation.

This is an organization and collection of smart, passionate individuals who have banded together to celebrate the joys, benefits and overall importance of art. It would've never happened without some remarkable people - I must thank Jon and Campbell for the clarity of vision, Cherie and Amber for the hard work, Nellie for making things happen and Rob for his outstanding counsel. Then there is my wife, Courtney. She is my soulmate, lifelong love and daily inspiration.

Together, we believe that art is not optional! It is a necessary part of humanity. It makes you happier, healthierand smarter. Yet it’s being cut from our schools and being stripped from our society.

You’ll be hearing a lot about exciting ways we are planning to raise awareness and funds for the foundation, which in turn will be granting funds to established and strategic organization that are doing amazing work in the areas of reestablishing art curriculum back into our schools, providing much needed supplies to facilitators of arts education and art therapy for the elderly and sick and those who are inspiring Americans to reintroduce themselves to the joys of creativity.

You can join the Art Revolution right now. It's easy...

We are kicking off the foundation and it’s giving program by partnering with my friend Sal Masekela’s Art of Craft project celebrating artisans and their crafts through unique, limited-edition t-shirt collections. “The Art of the Brick” designs feature nine t-shirts celebrating THE ART OF THE BRICK’s custom artwork with 10% of the proceeds going to the Art Revolution Foundation.

In addition, we are making available limited-edition LEGO street art Hugman sculptures in ORANGE! There are 12 signed and numbered orange Hugman sculptures available only through Art of Craft for $300 with 50% of the sale being donated to Art Revolution. And you can only get orange Hugman here!

Go to Art of Craft and get a t-shirt or Hugman. The proceeds will help the Art Revolution team put art supplies in America's hands and arts education back into ours schools.

This weekend we are planning to take down our Christmas tree and festive decorations. It’s a holiday tradition, just like putting it all up. However, as we pack it away into their labeled boxes and hoist it back into the garage rafters for another 11 months…I have to admit it makes me a little sad.

You see having, and maintaining, holiday traditions feels good. It brings joy and much of that happiness comes from making things, being creative and spending time together. Many holiday traditions are works of art. Wrapping gifts, making cookies and decorating the house are all forms of artwork. Traditions, just like art, are not optional. They are necessary.

In my family we have been known to embrace the art of traditions, and sometimes we even take it to the next level with a friendly little family art competition. Nothing too serious.

In years past we have had gift wrapping contests (complete with packages that light up and others swaddled in hand-woven recycled paper). This year was a cooking baking competition. The rules were sent to family members in advance. Judging included best use of themes, most uniform in size, most pleasing blend of ingredients, overall taste and innovation/creativity, and the cookies needed to be baked on site. The entries were impressive. Cardamom thumbprints with apricot chutney filling, green sugar cookie trees hand cut and stacked into 3-D Christmas trees, orange cookies with orange/peppermint crushed icing, candy cane cookies, haystacks, magic bars, snowballs and fresh strawberry/chocolate Santa hats. Okay it was serious!

Several studies prove how beneficial traditions actually are to our mental health. The American Psychological Association's Journal of Family Psych finds that family routines and rituals offer stability during times of stress and transition -- they are powerful organizers of family life. According to a review of research conducted over the past 50 years, traditions are associated with marital satisfaction, an adolescent's sense of personal identity, children's health, academic achievement, and stronger family relationships. And, as well-known political essayist, social critic, and author Barbara Ehrenreich says, "Festivity plays a critical role in our lives; it's mood-lifting and community building. Without them, it's easy to slide toward depression and isolation."

So the only question left is, “What will the Sawaya Family holiday tradition competition be in 2014?” The answer may be in those 70% off artificial pine wreaths we found last night at Target.

-Nathan

Hashtags are a social media tool. Companies use them to promote products – such as #LEGO. More often hashtags are simply a way for people to search for tweets that have a common topic and to begin a conversation. Like #worstjobever encourages tweets about crappy jobs. Or #ThrowbackThursday is something that happens on Thursdays involving retro pics and fond memories.

According to a quick online search, the most popular hashtag is #love.

So when I spoke at TEDx in Atlanta a few weeks ago, I expected the audience hashtag tweets with things like - #TEDx, #ArtoftheBrick or even #LEGO. But they did not.

You see, TEDx Peachtree invited me to share the journey of how I quit my job as a lawyer to pursue my dream of being an artist and how I am now committed to spreading the word about the necessity of art and creativity in everyone’s lives. My goal was to inspire attendees to go home and get creative. To draw, doodle and sketch. Do anything that turns on the brain’s imagination.

Imagination is the cornerstone of creativity. And imagination depends on memory and emotion.

Memory is required to recognize when something is original, which is an essential, and particularly rewarding, part of creativity. Not surprisingly emotions are intimately involved in creativity, too. When you create art – you remember bits and pieces of what you have already seen and know, and then you manipulate them to create something new. This evokes emotion and triggers multiple sensors in the brain releasing endorphins. This is good.*

This is just one reason why art is not optional. It makes people smarter, healthier and ultimately happier. It’s not acceptable that art is being cut from our kids’ school curriculum and that technology is robbing our society of exercising imagination and creativity.

So those at the TEDx Talk tweeted with a hashtag. A hashtag to start a conversation - #SaveTheArts. I couldn’t agree more. Art Revolution is about bringing art into people's lives - it's a movement for you, your family and your community.

So if you’d like to check out the TEDx Talk <http://youtu.be/LeTY70VPAg0> – it’s 18 minutes about having #theworstjobever, using #LEGO from my #ThrowbackThursday childhood to #SaveTheArts and do what I #love.

Join the revolution.

-Nathan

*http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/09/creativity-brain-science/3457735/

Welcome to the Art Revolution. What is it? Well, we all know a revolution is when a system or social order is overthrown in favor of a new way of doing things. It also means to rotate around a central point.

The Art Revolution is about both – it’s about making American’s happier, healthier and smarter by changing the way people weave art into their everyday lives. It’s also a movement that you, your family and your community we can rally around.

Art is necessary, it is not optional. Our mission is to make sure everyone knows this!

Art is being systematically stripped from their lives. Elementary school’s offer fewer art classes than ever. High school’s designate art classes as an “elective” and not part of the core curriculum.* U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, “It is deeply troubling that all students do not have access to arts education today.”

We need to take this into our own hands – our own creative hands.

I’m mad about the thousands of kids that visit me on THE ART OF THE BRICK exhibit tours and write to me every day telling me that building with LEGO is the only creative outlet they have other than playing video games or watching TV. And while I love a good video game – it’s not the same! Kids need to color, paint, explore, take apart and put back together. Sometimes life is disorganized, confusing and frustrating. For me, creating art brings things back together. It gives me joy, clarity and a sense of accomplishment.

Let’s give this power to our kids, our loved ones and ourselves.

This website is just starting out, and the movement is just getting underway. And you can be an important part of it in many ways. Join the Revolution and register for updates. And in the meantime while we are ramping up, promise to find time everyday to doodle, cook or knit. Dig out your glitter glue, toothpicks and old pipe cleaners.

Looks for ways to turn off the technology and turn on your creativity.

Join now!

Nathan

**U.S. Department of Education on the state of arts education, 2011