ThumbtackPress A handpicked collection of open-edition prints

“I Hope This Feeling Lasts Forever (Or For At Least Another Five Minutes),” by Michael Sieben

Allow me to introduce you to Thumbtack Press, a handpicked collection of open-edition prints by over 100 top lowbrow, illustration, and character artists from around the world.

By selling open-edition prints (prints without a limit on availability), the artists whose work is on Thumbtack Press are able to reach collectors who have elite taste but perhaps lack the dollars to match. This way, if you don’t currently have the dollars to own an original piece, you can still get your hands on their work in the form of a high-quality print. Thumbtack Press helps artists reach new fans, and they help fans become collectors.

That’s their niche – selling open-edition prints and making a carefully curated collection of previously unattainable art attainable.

Thumbtack Press’s recently upgraded site includes a virtual room for people to design on the fly, much more information (both personal and professional) on the artists, and numerous ways to search their collection. Plus, they’re always adding artists so the store is constantly expanding.

I encourage you all to check it out at www.ThumbtackPress.com!

In our continuing exploration of lesser known holidays, let’s take a look at Terry Fox Day, which is probably one you know if you’re Canadian.

Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete who had a leg amputated at age 18 because of cancer and then did a cross-country run to raise awareness and funding for cancer research. He was born July 28, 1958, and the first Monday in August is celebrated as Terry Fox Day in Manitoba.

Fox is considered a kind of folk hero in Canada despite the difficulties of traveling across Canada on foot (no one on his team spoke French, for example, the weather was often bad and cars would force him off the road) and the low number of donations at the beginning of his run. He ultimately had to end his run after 143 days and 3,339 miles, or 5,373 km, because his cancer had returned and spread to his lungs, but he raised $1.7 million, and a telethon a week after he ended his run raised $10.5 million.

Check out some Terry Fox quotes collected by My Little Desire. You can learn more in this video from CBC Kids, and listen to the Terry Fox song illustrated by a first grade class.

Twinkl has a bunch of Terry Fox related activities in both English and French, including an activity pack with a maze and word search, a coring challenge, a fact sheet and coloring page.

Most of the resources I could find were at Teachers Pay Teachers, but you can learn more about the activity pack for grades 1-3 that Mrs. Bremer’s Class has made, which tells his story and has kids write things they learned and discuss why they think he is a hero.

Creative Classroom Core has a few paid resources include writing activities, reading comprehension and a Terry Fox fact book.

That Fun Reading Teacher has a K-2 singalong with a differentiated reader and activity to teach kids about him.

You can also celebrate Terry Fox Day by talking about what makes a person a hero and who the kids in your home or classroom think of as heroes. And if you’re Canadian, there are Terry Fox runs in more than 650 communities in September, so you can make plans to participate or cheer on the runners to remember his legacy.

Have you read?