Your child is an artist. Think about it – if you’re a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle you spend a lot of time admiring art made by the children in your family and friend circle. Our homes become art galleries, with drawings, paintings, and collages hanging on the refrigerator and walls. Colorful construction paper is scattered among the markers, crayons, glue, and pipe cleaners. Glitter and glue flake onto the floor and counters, leaving evidence of artistic expression in the carpet and grooves of flooring tiles.
Art is a healthy form of expression for children. Creating art allows them to utilize their imaginations, learn and process emotions, and receive positive attention from the adults in their lives. For many, creating art is a normal part of childhood. However, for the kids living in our shelter getting the chance to work on an art project can feel like an extra special treat. When children come into the shelter, they may come with simply the clothes on their backs. Chances are they were not surrounded by their artistic masterpieces at home, and many have experienced violence and neglect. As a result, many of these children have never experienced the feeling of seeing their artwork admired by adults.
The Idea: A Shelter Art Show!
At our Emergency Children’s Shelter, we seek to offer the kids in our care as many normal life experiences as possible. With the goal of providing our children the opportunity to reveal their creative works to the world, we embarked on a project in early October to create an art gallery so our kids could share their creativity with the special people in their lives. Case managers, teachers, volunteers, CCA staff and families, and more were invited to come to our first ever shelter art show to admire the children's beautifully imaginative artwork.
We had 3 goals in creating our art gallery:
Every child participated in 3 projects, each taking two weeks to complete. By the end, each child had a self-portrait, a sculpture and a group mural to show off at our art show.
Self-Portraits
We wanted the children to focus on their special characteristics and unique qualities, so we began our 6-week art project with self-portraits! First, the children participated in a class where they learned about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. They admired examples of Kahlo’s self-portraits as well as self-portraits by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Norman Rockwell. Then, the children created their own self-portraits using finger paints, cut paper, marker, and other craft materials from our art bin.
Sculptures
Part of art is exploring different mediums. For our sculpture project, we used air-drying clay to create our own masterpieces. While the goal of the self-portrait was to identify what makes us special, the goal of our clay sculpture project was to get the children to explore and identify feelings. Inspired by their deepest feelings, each child created a special sculpture which they later completed by painting. Although they all enjoyed creating their projects, some pieces reflected feelings of fantasy and excitement while others reflected feelings of missing family members and anger.
Group Mural
After we finished the individual projects, all the children came together to create a large mural. The goal of this project was to help the children learn how to work together as a team to complete a larger project they could all admire. The children began by coloring or painting hot air balloons. They could create as many as they wanted to. The next day the children cut out their hot air balloons and made clouds of varying sizes and colors. In the end, they all took turns gluing their hot air balloons and clouds onto a large sheet of paper, resulting in a giant mural of the children reaching for their dreams in the sky.
The Art Show!
As the children completed each project, their excitement grew. We had it all planned – art gallery, pizza party, cupcakes, and a movie. After all, celebrating our hard work creating a 6-week project was part of the fun!
On the day of the art gallery, we set up their displays outside. The children rushed home from school, changing their shirts and eating their snacks as they waited patiently, but full of anticipation, for the event to begin. Many of the children wanted staff to help them do their hair in their favorite style, so we spent a bit of extra time styling hair in front of a mirror before the guests arrived.
When the art gallery opened, we walked out together to greet everyone. The children mingled with guests, greeting those they knew and introducing themselves to others. Our wonderful guests asked them questions about their artwork, complimenting their creativity and offering hugs. Every child had a smile on their face. Each smile, laugh, and hug showed how happy they were to see the results of their efforts.
After everyone had left and the children had eaten their dinner, we sat at the kitchen table enjoying our special cupcakes. Then we asked the children to share their favorite part of the event. Taking turns, we went around in a circle. In different words, each child expressed the same sentiment: “People actually came to see my work. I didn’t realize I was special.”The Beauty of Art
Hearing the children express their joy and surprise at the number of guests and all of the caring compliments they received was the true marker of success for this event, but we achieved all three of our original goals exceptionally well –
The art gallery project was a resounding success with the kids too, leaving big smiles on their faces. When they leave our shelter, they will take their art with them, as well as the memory of our very special project and this wonderful day!
For more information about our shelter program and the children we serve there visit our Emergency Children's Shelter page or call us directly at 480.834.9424.
Chelsea Grieve is a Program Specialist at Child Crisis Arizona where she provides support to our shelter, family education and counseling programs. She also teaches parenting education classes, runs skill building groups for children and teens, and is a certified trainer for nonviolent crisis intervention, conscious discipline, and active parenting. Chelsea is a committed advocate for child welfare and has been active in the movement to end violence against children since 2006.
