Through our newest program, Arts Connect, we’ve begun to integrate a service learning component. A partnership with Pierce County Juvenile Court, Arts Connect serves court-involved young women, ages 11 – 18, who live all over Pierce County. Arts Connect begins with weekly art and writing classes in the girls detention unit at Remann Hall, and continues with four 12-week post-release sessions in glass, photography, pottery and other arts. Each session culminates in a public event in which the girls showcase their artwork and read original writings.
As part of a new partnership with the Emergency Food Network, Arts Connect girls have been learning about hunger in Pierce County, including the 140,000 people each month who seek food assistance at EFN food banks.
Arts Connect opened this spring with a post-release session in pottery at partner site Wilson High School. Arts Connect girls collaborated on three clay bowls that they bedecked with personal tiles representing what qualities they wanted to develop and offer to the community. At the culminating showcase event, the girls ran a live auction that raised $375 from judges, probation officers, parents, teachers and friends. The girls donated all proceeds to EFN.
For the summer post-release session, the girls learned how to shoot and print black and white photographs using Tacoma School of the Arts’ darkroom, through our new partnership with MetroArts. They traveled to EFN’s Mother Earth Farm in Puyallup to document its diverse, organic foods. At the summer showcase, each girl presented a matted print of the farm to EFN Development Director Jeff Kline. The group also interviewed Jeff regarding the history of EFN and his personal motivation to do community work. EFN will present the girls’ photographs in a silent auction at their annual fundraiser on October 16th.
“My favorite part of the summer was learning about all the ways that we can help people in the community who need help,” said Arts Connect student Victoria.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Gottfried and Mary Fuchs Foundation, we will be developing service learning further in Arts Connect, and integrating it into our Production Team program for advanced glass arts students.