6th Annual Spring Tea Brings Together Communities That Care About Arts Education

With the theme: Blossoming Community Literacy, Books, Brushes & Bands for Education celebrated 10 years of free Book Brigade programs at the 6th Annual Spring Tea, presented by Hammond Urban Enterprise. 

The luncheon was held at the Halls of St. George, Sunday, April 28. Please save the last Sunday of April to share tea with BBB4E. Sunday, April 27, 2025 will begin Books, Brushes & Bands celebration of 25 years of community art programs: 

In the Tea’s 6th year BBB4E and the local Northwest Indiana art community are at a pivotal moment. BBB4E holds to our mission to provide high quality arts activities for all families while also working to address foundation educational needs. This May, the Book Brigade is resuming door-to-door walks and is expanding to new distribution methods. The goal is to connect communities to books to develop a culture of lifelong readers and leaders. 

Guests at the tea selected free books from the Brigade collection (or mobile library). The Chicago Calligraphy Collective brought a handmade touch to the event with custom bookmarks. Raffle tickets for luxury gift baskets and vintage tea cups were available for purchase.

The event program featured performances by the BBB4E Midwest Youth Choirs. The Midwest Youth Choirs are open to students from any zip code ages 5-18. In addition to social and emotional skills, students practice proper diction and develop early professionalism. All the music stems from an understanding of reading and language.

Choir and Band alumni Rosa Cortes was also featured for her involvement in BBB4E over the years. Rosa participated in the first Book Brigade walks in 2013 as a student and returned to volunteer last fall. These experiences are a touch point for her and her sisters who are Hammond locals.

Jean Robinson accepted the Jean and William Robinson Community advocate for the Arts Award For their friendship and dedication to education for all people in the community.

Through their passion and continued investment in BBB4E since 2003, hundreds of students have experienced a personal connection to the arts. Unique opportunities for enrichment and exploration in the classroom and in performance, students from over 30 zip codes in Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area now have a deeper knowledge of themselves, seeds planted for the arts in their everyday lives, and memories to last a lifetime.

Representatives from the Hammond Public Library, Hammond Reads, School City of Hammond and local business leaders attended.

The funds raised at the event support Books, Brushes & Bands art education programs throughout Northwest Indiana.