Help The Van Tassells Make A Move

BACKSTORY
Four years ago I was tired of needing to have a day job that could supplement my low-paying work as a freelance lighting designer at small theaters in Chicago. My wife Katie and I came up with a plan that would lead to me doing the work I wanted to do full time. I spent months preparing to apply to graduate schools. I spent three years at The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana earning a Masters of Fine Arts in Lighting Design & Technology. Katie and I have worked very hard to sustain ourselves during these years.

WHAT’S NEXT
And now that work has paid off: I have a job doing the work I want to do full time. Starting in mid-August I will be the lighting director and resident lighting designer for the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center in The Villages, Florida. The only challenge, is that we need to move to Florida. The two of us and all of our stuff are in Michigan where we’ve been working for a summer theatre since May. Our stuff is all in boxes in storage. It’s ready to go. We just need to get it down there. There’s one additional challenge: earlier this summer I tore my right Achilles tendon, so I can’t walk the way I normally do, I can’t load boxes onto a truck, and I can’t drive a U-Haul.


THE COST
Hiring a professional moving company is extraordinarily expensive. Based on the estimates we’ve received, to pay for professional movers to load our stuff onto a semi-truck, transport it across six states, the cost of insurance, and unloading it all in Florida would cost us nearly $8,000. But we’ve got a better idea. Instead of doing that, we have managed to cut that cost in half. We are paying for a U-Haul. Paying for local movers in Michigan to load that truck. Paying for a friend of ours to drive that truck down to Florida, and then paying for local movers down there to unload the truck. This is still expensive. Between the cost of the movers, the U-Haul rental, the U-Haul insurance, the wage we will pay our driver including a hotel room for them and a plane ticket back to Michigan, we still need nearly $4,000.

WHY YOU SHOULD HELP
Here’s where you come in. If you have ever worked with Katie or me and wanted us to take the next step in our careers; if you’ve ever worked with me on a show and wanted me to be able to do lighting full time; if you’ve ever seen one of my designs and been excited about my career; if you’ve ever believed in my art; if you’ve ever been excited about the adventure Katie and I are on together, please consider supporting us on this next step of our journey.


We will take whatever amount you’re able to give. If 200 of our friends each gave $20, we would have all we would need to make this move. If you’re someone who might not have much to give and you feel like giving less than $5 wouldn’t be worth it, you’re wrong. Making that sacrifice from your modest budget would be a choice we would deeply respect. If you are one of our mentors, or other people who we have looked up to and you might be in a position to give a bit more, we would be honored and eternally grateful.


THE BOTTOM LINE
This is the last step in our plan. We’ve done it ourselves up to this point. And now we’ve found a place where I can do the work I want. A position and a community that could support us starting a family. This is the last hurdle. This is the last challenge. And now, for the first time, we’re asking for just a little bit of help. Thank you for your time, your consideration, your support, and most of all, your friendship.