Lacrosse and art might seem to be an unlikely pairing, but for artist Ryan Cronin, it makes perfect sense. He firmly believes that art and sports saved him as a kid, providing him with the necessary outlet to channel his “energy” while at the same time teaching him the importance of daily focus, practice, and commitment; skills he employs to this day in his creative process, and which he shares with his players as a lacrosse coach. In 2018 he was given the rare opportunity to bring two great passions together when he was an artist-in-residence at Thread Artist Residency and Cultural Center in the Tambacounda Region of Senegal, thanks to the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation.

Artists in residence at Thread, are asked to engage with the local community as part of their experience there. Guided by his love of lacrosse and with a suitcase full of donated equipment, Ryan set out to introduce the game to the community of Sinthian. It unfolded naturally, despite the language barrier, and before long a solid group of kids and adults were gathering outside of his studio each evening to play before dinner. Upon his return to the States, Ryan and the team at CronArtUSA put together several fundraisers to send practice jerseys and new lacrosse sticks to the kids.

In the spring of 2022, Cronin approached Le Korsa, the philanthropic arm of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, with a dream of fostering a grassroots initiative to continue to grow the game of lacrosse within Senegal, with an initial focus on the village of Sinithian. Le Korsa invited Ryan, along with his son Daegan, to be part of a summer sports camp in August, where they ran the first-ever lacrosse clinic in Senegal. Over a period of three days they drew in over sixty kids from within Sinthian and the near by villages, many of whom had never experienced the game before. Le Korsa shared that they had never seen the children take to a game with such excitement.