STAK.life CIC (Stefan’s Acts of Kindness) was founded by Emma Kluibenschadl in honour of her son Stefan who, in March 2022, heartbreakingly took his own life after being bullied for his autism and dyslexia.
Creating a world for difference, STAK.life will campaign for change and improvement in services for neurodivergent people. The CIC will also offer training and support on neurodiversity and mental health through delivering therapeutic and creative workshops.
Stefan was a beautiful and kind soul who loved music and art and this May, on what should have been Stefan’s 18th birthday, Emma is hosting the first STAK.life Art Exhibition & Sale where creativity, poetry and music ignite and stunning artworks will take centre stage.
Despite being extremely busy collecting artwork up and down the county for the exhibit, Emma was able to spare some time and sit down with me to discuss the event this May and the plans she has for STAK.life.
STAK.life was created in honour of Stefan, what inspired the idea of hosting an Art Exhibition & Sale?
I had the idea for STAK.life a few months before Christmas last year and thought about putting on an art exhibition and sale because Stef loved art, my daughter is doing her degree in illustration and animation and I also know quite a few artists. I put the feelers out there and posted the idea on social media and it went ballistic!
So many amazing and generous people have come forward and offered to donate some of their time, effort, skills and artwork. The utter kindness shown by people for this is incredible.
We registered as a CIC on Valentine’s Day this year as a day to show compassion which I know Stefan would have loved. Stefan’s 18th birthday would have been 6th May so the dates for this exhibition were made for 3rd-6th May as a tribute to help celebrate Stefan and continue his legacy.
At STAK.life, we want to promote life and help people’s lives that are different.
What can readers expect from this wonderful Art Exhibition & Sale?
We are at Ark Cliftonville 3rd– 6th May, 11:00am-5:00pm on the Friday and Saturday, 11:00am-4:00pm on Sunday and Monday. We’ve got about 53 artists involved and over 80 pieces of stunning artwork that have been donated.
We have everything from sculptures, glass, pottery, watercolour paintings and illustrations. In terms of the artists involved; Anthony Giles is donating some pieces as well as watercolour artist Angela Malone, ceramist Kate Malone MBE and Margo in Margate among many more extremely talented artists. The art on offer is phenomenal, very diverse and affordable for everyone with items priced from as little as £10.
On Sunday we also have an evening event from 7:00pm-10:00pm with live music and poetry. There will be a raffle on the Bank Holiday Monday with over 40 amazing prizes to be won!
What are you hoping to do with the money raised and do you have any long-term plans for STAK.life?
The long-term plan over the next 5 years would be to use the money we raise to help get some premises where we can offer training on neurodiversity and mental health for organisations, professionals and parents who may have children who are neurodivergent. We also want to run creative therapeutic and creative groups focusing on anxiety, mental health, masking, and acceptance and put on workshops in music, poetry, art etc. for young neurodivergent people. What we found with Stef was that it was hard for him to access groups where he felt he belonged so we want to create that safe space for people to come in whenever they need.
I have already started planning the next STAK.life event which we are hoping to run as a Halloween Ball because Stef loved Halloween.
We also want to set up and run a group for grieving parents as the nearest face-to-face group is based in Hythe (The Compassionate Friends). I was reading the other day that 15% of mental health conditions are due to grieving and complex grief. As part of the grief group, I want to run yoga and breathwork sessions as this acts as a release of pain in the body. When your heart is broken, you can’t describe it fully but the physical pain is just so intense. This group is a space for people to openly grieve. Even though I lost Stefan two years ago, for me it feels like yesterday.
As well as STAK.life, Emma created Stefan’s Memory Stones; a beautiful tribute and movement to not only keep Stefan’s name alive but also raise awareness of neurodiversity. There are Stefan stones in over 111 countries and 980 destinations across the world. If you would like to pick up some stones to place somewhere, you can contact Emma via email at [email protected].