Former ad
man makes it `happen' for children
Mya Frazier
Sure,
Tommy Rueff could have traveled the world for a few years. Spent his
days in an art studio honing his painting skills. Or simply taken it
easy.
Back in 1998, after a decade-long run as a "creative" in the
advertising world, Rueff sold his stake in the East Walnut Hills ad
agency he co-founded in the early '90s, Barefoot Advertising. With enough
money to live on, Rueff wanted to find a meaningful outlet for his creativity.
But no other option seemed right but this: making a difference in the lives of children.
So Rueff spent nine months developing a viable plan for a nonprofit agency centered on children's interactions with their parents through art.
"I saw an opportunity where I could make a difference," Rueff, 33, said after wrapping up an early Saturday morning class at Happen, headquartered in an old shopping mall strip off Beechmont Avenue. The curriculum gives boys and girls between first and sixth grades, and one parent, guardian or mentor of each child, the opportunity to explore the underlying themes of all art: from color to shape, from motion to expression.
On this Saturday morning, a class of children and parents slowly leave the brightly colored 2,000-square-foot studio. The kids are loaded with rolled-up drawings and projects and a first assignment to find the shapes of their names in the outside world, anything from a T in a telephone poll to a M in a bridge, to shoot with donated Polaroids.
Running on a shoestring budget of about $130,000 a year, Happen is making it by relying on pro bono work from local agencies and monetary donations from local businesses.
When Rueff spent the nine months strategically planning the nonprofit's mission and structure, he wrote a list of contacts in the business world. It was long and propelled him forward. It's also made it possible for Happen to offer 50 percent of its classes free to underprivileged children.
With his connections in the agency world, Rueff has been able to solicit the help of more than 100 volunteers for everything from logo work to design and printing.
Plus he has the professional experience to put together an image and concept.
"I'm still doing tons of creative work here," Rueff said. "I also get so much more freedom here to pursue my vision of things." And Rueff remains a virtual volunteer, collecting only about $3,000 in salary since opening Happen almost two years ago. But that's OK, he said.
"I question it sometimes. But at the same time, seeing these kids, I come out the richest man in the world. It's refreshing, on a daily basis, to see a kid just express their imagination in a way an adult wouldn't think of," Rueff added.
Recently, Happen has beefed up its outreach work. Partnering with another locally based nonprofit, Project Connect, which serves the more than 40 homeless children a day throughout the city's temporary shelters, Happen will offer art classes along with Project Connect's summer programs.
