Last year’s historic election inspired the young artists in the I Have a Dream program at Broad Rock Elementary to create a large-scale multi-media portrait of President Barack Obama.
Jamillia, age 9, described the portrait as something where “everybody got to do different things, and when you put it together it was so beautiful.” She also said she hopes the portrait inspires others to believe in themselves. “All those colors are how Obama feels, and how good he is to other people.”
ART 180’s first culinary arts program launched this semester at Our Daily Bread Ministries, a new partner on the Southside. Led by local baker Mark McIntyre, the students learned the basic cooking skills needed to make bread, pizza, cookies, peach cobbler … are you getting hungry?
The young artists will be offering a sample of their work at The Big Show on Wednesday, May 20th. Yum!
This spring, ART 180 partnered with Blue Sky Fund to help ten girls from a variety of Richmond neighborhoods write and illustrate a children’s book about the experience of getting to know each other–and themselves–during a four-day camping trip in the mountains of North Carolina. The artists have gone on to read their book to groups of children with the goal of promoting literacy while sharing their experience.
The young artists in our program for boys at Friends Association for Children have been elbow-deep in plaster creating masks in the shape of their own faces. The boys worked in teams to create the basic plaster forms, then decorated each mask on their own to create works of art that reflect each artist’s unique spirit.
The Youth Life Foundation in Richmond’s Northside is one of ART 180’s newest partners. There, young people have been using their paintbrushes and their pens to create their own illustrated autobiographies. Ja’Twan, shown here with program assistant Cole Hutchison, said working on his book made him feel happy, not mad all the time, and free to draw anything he wants!
The girls in ART 180’s new SOHO (Space of Her Own) program – offered in partnership with the Visual Arts Center of Richmond and Friends Association for Children – have worked for 20 weeks to build individual relationships with mentors, learn life skills, and create works of art to beautify and express their unique personalities in their living spaces. One participant, Joy, said making the projects alongside her mentor, Tate, felt like “a chance to let my artist person out.” Another young artist, Erica, said the “new” bedroom she and her mentor, Erin, redecorated during the program’s final weekend makes her feel like she has her own place. “I like everything about it,” she said. “Now I have a place to relax.”
Come learn more about our SOHO program and see how these young artists have transformed their rooms at The Big Show!
On May 20th, ART 180 will host The Big Show, our annual celebration of the young artists who participate in our programs at 14 sites across Richmond. We’ll be counting down to this incredible event by featuring one program a day for the next two weeks.
Some lucky folks caught a preview of the creative work of our young artists at the Peter Paul Development Center during last week’s performances of the Motown Review, a musical collaboration between SPARC and the PPDC. At the show, the youth in ART 180 unveiled an amazing mural that also served as the backdrop for the musical. You can see the work in progress here – we hope you’ll come to The Big Show and see the finished mural up close!
May 20, 6pm at Plant Zero (0 East 4th Street)