MACON – The recently launched Tindall Heights Art Program will showcase its students' work and open its doors to the community in conjunction with the Fall Family Festival at Tindall Heights Homes on Oct. 17, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at 985 Plant Street.
The Tindall Heights Art Program is a free, after-school arts program for residents of Tindall Heights Homes. The program, which began in September, was created – and instruction is carried out – by students from Mercer University to teach art to children who are residents of the neighborhood.
“I have high hopes for the Tindall Heights Art Program and for programs like it across the nation,” added Rachel Paul, a manager of the program and Mercer student. “I know that it will inspire creative minds and even some new artists.”
The program and its student instructors are advised by several Macon artists and educators. Mercer contributed a pilot grant to initiate the free program, and the Macon-Bibb Housing Authority (MHA) provided rent-free space at the Hester Bivins Youth Center.
“I think that (the art space) has just been a really fun, positive influence on their lives,” said Emily Skidmore, an instructor and senior at Mercer, referring to the more than 25 children who are receiving art instruction.
The program is open to residents of Tindall Heights, ages 6-12, in the Hester Bivins Youth Center and is held every weekday from 4-5:30 p.m.
At the Fall Family Festival, which is an event for residents of Tindall Heights Homes put on by the MHA, the student instructors will open the art space to the public to showcase the children's artwork.
The instructors will also host a number of games and arts activities, such as a mask making, pumpkin decorating and face painting, and provide gifts and prizes for the children of the neighborhood.
“We're very much interested in providing residents of the neighborhood with opportunities to learn how to express themselves creatively,” said Dr. Creighton Rosental, associate professor of philosophy at Mercer and founder of the art program.
“One of our goals is to provide these children with an opportunity to become part of the larger arts community, and this open house is our first attempt at helping to develop an arts culture in the area.”
June Parker, CEO of the Macon-Bibb Housing Authority, said that MHA is happy to partner with Mercer to provide after school programs for its residents. “This is a wonderful program to bring exposure to the students in art,” Parker said. “We look forward to seeing the development of their artistic visions and skills while encouraging involvement in the arts community.”
For more information on the Tindall Heights Art Program, contact Dr. Rosental at rosental_c@mercer.edu or (478) 538-8597.
