Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world and the only one that celebrates the amazing work our young people are doing to improve communities. Under the guidance of TCP resident artist Jerushia Graham, our students at Jacob's Ladder were awarded a Disney Friends for Change Grant to implement their project. The Hide-N-Seek Art project, was one of only three projects selected for a grant in the state of Georgia!
Jerushia and her outreach students chose to use their art projects to give back to the community. For each project the boys brainstormed and collaborated on their own to determine how their art projects would impact their communities. This project was a compilation of their ideas to promote exercise and health, recycling, accessibility to art, and family outings.
For Hide-N-Seek Art, the class hid art they created from recycled objects in the Leita Thompson Memorial Park and Roswell Area Park, both in Roswell. Clues were given in the local media for residents to find the hidden art. Art was hidden Friday and Saturday of National Youth Service Day weekend (Apr 26 & 27) and the search opened to the public Sunday, April 28th. Members of the community were given until the end of May to locate the art.
This project was a fun way to encourage residents to enjoy the parks and recreation areas of Roswell, to reduce waste by recycling, to share the euphoria from making art, and inspire others to create their own art. Each found piece came with special instructions asking the participant to take a picture of the found work and email it for it to be posted online in the gallery above creating a virtual art museum for others to enjoy.
This project combined the therapeutic benefits of both nature and art, the healthy benefits of exercise in the parks and strengthening of family bonds by actively spending time together.