Artist Sargam Griffin Helping Transform Stairways Empowered Living Facility
Founder, Executive Director Mike Little announces makeover of his site by California painter and design
This summer,
with temperatures hovering at 100 degrees in Chico, California, well-known
artist Sargam Griffin was looking at paint samples and getting her hands dirty.
This time, however, instead of preparing to create one of the lyrical abstract
paintings she is so famous for, she was readying to commence her newest
endeavor: a design vision for Stairways Empowered Living, owned and operated by
Founder,
Executive Director Mike Little.
Griffin had agreed to
become a consultant to Little’s company a few months earlier and would focus on
a new ‘look’ for the site working in tandem with Little and the residents. “We
couldn't believe our good fortune that Sargam Griffin agreed to help us. The
residents here were overjoyed to find out that the place they called 'home' was
going to undergo a makeover," stated Mike Little.
Little had been introduced to the
art and design of Sonoma County-based artist Sargam Griffin when Sargam
suggested to Little that she would like to make few design improvements to his
cooperative living facility in Chico, working as a consultant. Little approved and
soon Sargam Griffin started with lots of help-and input-from the residents.” I
wanted my site to be pleasing to the residents, staff, and visitors. It needed
some cosmetic treatment that we had not been able to do," Mike Little
added.
Griffin is a well-known,
internationally collected artist. She also has a very strong design and
architecture background and could immediately see how to implement a few
changes at Little's facility that would improve it immensely. She picked out colors
for the exterior and interior of the buildings and made recommendations for
materials to use for awnings, gutters. She also helped the residents with
the redesign and the creation of a 40" by 60" painting.
The residents were very involved in
the transformation of their facility and even created a sign in German saying
"Willkommen" for the
artist. Sargam, originally from Germany, was being given a big
"Welcome" written in her native language. This sign touched her
immensely. "This is exactly why I do work in the community. I get so much
love and feelings of welcome. Art is what I can share and I was thrilled to be
involved in this special project. I am very glad Mike Little found my work and
agreed to have me make some improvements to his site."
After nearly four weeks, this initial
phase of the remodel was complete. Everyone-from staff to residents-were amazed
how Sargam had made their facility more attractive. Mike Little agreed,
"Sargam was a miracle and she accomplished a miracle. Her generosity of
spirit and artistic talents really made our facility a better place. We are
having her return to do more projects." Griffin also informed Little that
she would like to initiate an art project with the residents in the near future.
An art exhibit by Griffin is being installed in October.
Little stated: "Griffin's
vision meshes perfectly with that of our company-plus the residents love her.
The site changes we plan on doing will take a year or so to complete, this is a
real work-in-progress. We all are pleased Sargam is now part of our team.”
About Mike Little: Before
launching Stairways in April 2000, Mike Little worked in Silicon Valley as an
organizational consultant for Fortune 500 companies with an emphasis on
marketing and process re-engineering. Little’s partner and mentor, Bud Seith,
had been the CEO of Xerox before retiring. Mike worked with him for 19 years
and the most impactful lesson he learned from him was that everyone has a
"Natural Genius", something they do exceptionally well without much
thought. Mike Little has found that focusing on identifying, articulating, and
leading residents at his facility to discover and express their "Natural
Genius" by providing an environment that allows them to do so, has been
the reason his residents tend to do so well.
For more information, please contact Mr. Mike Little at 530-893-4083. He is available for
site tours by appointment, photo opportunities, and interviews.
www.stairwaysempoweredliving.com
For complete bio, CV, and resume for
artist Sargam Griffin, please visit her website: http://www.sargamgriffin.com/
