Valeria Garrido starts by encouraging Morgan Cutler and Abby Rosenbaum to paint spring flowers. Then she teaches Abbys brother Jonah how to splash paint on his canvas by flicking his brush. Next, she swing by the Ciccarone family to make sure they have everything they need for their clay sculptures.
Garrido and her colleagues at World Artist Network took to the Sherman Green gazebo Saturday afternoon to spread the word about the group in their hometown of Fairfield. They turned the kids into Artists for a Day.
Were just here to show people what were doing and to share some of our art with them, said Garrido, who started World Artist Network five years ago in New Jersey. When she relocated to Fairfield last year, the organization came with her. Her goal is to boost arts education in the inner city, starting with neighboring Bridgeport.
She and her group got started by doing murals all over Bridgeport, especially brightening up low-income neighborhoods. But the group also does a number of presentations in the citys public schools, helping to support arts programs limited by budget cuts.
Art classes are usually the first things to be cut, Garrido said. So when we come once a month, we try to bring different projects with different ideas.
For example, last month at Bridgeports Hall School a graphic designer with the network taught kids about arts real-world applications. He had each kid design a label for a water bottle, keeping in mind a specific audience for his or her design.
Saturdays trip to the Green was Garridos way of introducing herself to her home base in Fairfield. Asking only for donations, she let kids have free rein over her supplies, offering help when they needed it. The idea was to bring different kinds of art experiences to both kids and adults."
What kinds of art projects do your kids like to do? Share their experiences in the comments below.
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