Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529095
THE ARTISAN WINTER 2025 • 15 recognizing the value and necessity to keep our members connected and morales uplifted. Our members who attend online have included those caring for loved ones, working or living out of town, our upstate non-roster members, and even those who cannot attend once we are at in-person capacity. Our summer Craft Education included a morning for hair stylists and make-up artists as a wellness-themed program. Make-up artists Kelcey Fry and Julie Socash (Local 706 President) put together a presentation of resources of "Fun and Free Things to Do" to help keep our members' morale up during this post strike era. They spent many hours sourcing this information sheet and it can be found at https://members.local706.org/resources. Business Representative Karen Westerfield spoke of the IATSE and MPTF fundraiser "A Day at the Races" and donated tickets to our raffle. Our afternoon Make-up Craft Education event participants included Clé Cosmetics, Genuist Beauty, Jane Iredale, Naimie's Beauty Supply, QMS, and Local 706 artist Vance Hartwell with his forward-thinking and reusable products "Heaterz." Vance was a film major and took a theatrical make-up class at California State Fullerton College. From there, he began his make-up career mostly working in special effects shops in the U.S. and New Zealand. A Local 706 member since 2007, Vance has been creating work on set and off, including products such as his easy-to-clean cc cupholders and his beard blocks (made with a self-healing surface for repeated pin use) for more than 20 years. His newest items, Heaterz, come from a combination of his entrepreneurial background and also a personal interest to create less wasteful products. His reusable Heaterz come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They're not just for personal comfort. "They can be used hot or cold; especially for the face. A hot one can be used at the end of the day for clean-ups and then a cold one in conjunction with skincare." Vance offers a 30% discount to Local 706 members when purchased from Vance directly at my.heaterz@gmail.com. With this article publishing after the results of the Local 706 election, my hope for our members is that whoever has been elected to serve our union and represent this well-respected craft, that they will continue to work together with all our union officers, committee members and volunteers to preserve a craft for the present, strengthen it for the future, and honor its past by creating in-person, hands-on and even online education. We are experiencing an immense amount of runaway productions. CRAFT EDUCATION If the majority of our members will be forced to work outside their home base, then we must insist that hybrid technology remains in place so that the working member continues to have a voice. "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." -Helen Keller