Fine Arts Career Services

The last few weeks have been very successful.  I have been collaborating with the eco-school and the Heritage Park nursing home to get this community based project in full force.  After two weeks of visiting the eco-school and doing slide shows and demos of painting techniques, we went over to heritage park so the kids could familiarize themselves with the residents and ask them what they would like to see on their garden mural.  The children sang songs and made art for the residents, everybody loosened up and there began to be  some interesting dialogue between the kids and the residents.  It was a successful day and a wonderful experience.  The next week we met at heritage park to start the mural.  My mentor, Teresa Bond and I arrived early to set up for the children.  We played some music and gathered the residents to have some powerful interactions.  The children arrived and the painting began.  The children interacted with the residents and they were able to paint the mural while sharing ideas.  I feel this experience was one of the sweetest things I have been involved in.  I recognize the importance of bringing two differnt groups together to share one idea.  The outcome is priceless and the experience is something that both sides have benefited from.  I myself feel this was a nourishing experience and the begining of many more wonderful projects.

This week was a productive one.  The women from Conley Guerero and some of the other locations were picked to participate in a latin American art  show at the gallery La Pena on South Congress.  The opening was at 6pm. on Friday night.   Their was a mariachi band and some great mexican food.  I found this to be  a successful event for the women.  The ladies were overwhelmed with pride as were their families.  They have never participated in an event like this and were pleased to be experiencing something new.  I am proud to be involved with this program because I can see how therapuetic art can be and how it can bring people together as well as emit a sense of pride from the participants.  This art show has fueled the women to pursue painting and continue to explore their highest potential as artists.  The people we work with in the mobile art program are continously teaching me the importance of learning new things regardless of age.  I am inspired by these folks and can only hope when I am their age that I will have the mind to keep learning and enjoying life as they do.

The last few weeks have been intense.  I am happy to write I recieved the grant that I applied for, now I can get the ball rolling on the community based art project that I was hoping to accomplish.  With full support from my sponsor and the head of the Hertitage Park nursing home I am able to start reinventing their garden and creating a sactuary for the residents to enjoy.  With all this said I researched and found a private school to colllaborate with.  The Eco-School is a small school that I presented the project to in hopes that the children could be a part of the process.  I feel the children and the residents will benefit from each others company.  The school decided to become involved.  On Monday I will go to the school to introduce myself to the children, give a powerpoint presentation about the project , and talk about some of  their ideas.  This is an exciting project and feel very passionate about it.  I am hoping that the therapuetic effects of this multigenerational project will have an impact on the children and the residents throughout their lives and therefore they will become more attentive to the people in their community.

Another week goes by and we are still teaching art and using art as art therapy.  The people love it and I find it very nourishing, however our group also wants to expand on some ideas.  I just finished writing a grant  to help fund a community based project  in which we reinvent the garden at heritage park, one of the nursing homes.  Hopefully if we get that money I can start collaborating with a few prospects.  We are a grant runned non-profit and decided to take some of those funds and commision one of the local gentleman to build some wooden benches that the residents can paint for their garden.  The man is 80 years old and has worked out of his home his whole life.  So this weekend I will be spending most of my time at heritage park sanding sown the benches and getting them prepared for the residents to paint for next week.  I am excited about this idea because i feel the benches are a great way for the residents to participate in the developement of their garden.

This week has taken me on a new adventure into another level of research and fund raising.  I have had meetings with landscapers about budgets, sitting with a grant writer, fund raising which entailed setting up at wheatsville trying to get the name out their while selling the elders art works to support the cause.  I met with my sponsor several times, and my mentor who is a big supporter and promoter of community based art.  All and all it has been a good but exhausting week. The most interesting thing about this project is that when you stop to breath and step away from the project magical things tend to take place.  As I was enjoying my sunday I spontaniously ran into a woman I know from the resturant I work at.  She apparently sits on several chairs, one being of a local school that is big into the arts and the community influenced arts, and happens to be a great fund raiser.  So this woman is a great resource and definitly supports the cause.  I was very pleased to hear this and plan on calling her and to further our conversation.  I truly believe if you are where you are suppose to be then all will fall into place.

The internship I am working for is called the Mobile Art Project. It is a non-profit organization that focuses on state funded nursing homes,assisted living,and rehab centers for the under privileged. We travel to five different locations on the east side of Austin. The goal is to introduce art into their lives. We supply the materials to teach them how to paint, sculpt, and give them the opportunity to see things in a different way. I feel passionate about this program because the elderly are so often over looked. I have been working for this program for seven months and have personally witnessed how effective art can be on the mind and soul regardless of age. While doing this job I have also had the privilege of getting to know these people on a personal level; which fuels my passion to take this program to the next phase. With that being said, there is Heritage Park(nursing home), a steril enviroment, where death is lurking around every corner. The people their are beautiful. They have a garden that has not been green in many moons. My goal through this program with the support of my sponsor is to create a community based art project. We want to reinvent the garden and spread alittle life on those still full of life.