'Just Add Art and Watch Them Grow'

George Junior art program opens doors to community collaborations

Alliance Magazine News Service 05/23/08 

 
Boys from George Junior Republic’s art program glaze ceramic bowls as part of a community service project. Students joined with the youth group of the Grace United Methodist Church in Grove City, Pa., to make 500 ceramic bowls.
  
In an effort to allow youth in the care of Alliance member George Junior Republic (GJR), Grove City, Pa., to experience an effective and appropriate outlet for self-awareness and self-expression, the agency, inaugurated a new fine arts program called ART20 last fall.
 
In addition to the personal benefits for the youth, this after-school and evening program presents GJR with new avenues to connect with local organizations, area businesses, and the greater community.
 
It was Glen Sanders, a longtime GJR cottage parent and staff member, who came up with ART20 and gave the program its unique name. “My thought was, ‘Just add art and watch them grow,’” he says. “The name came very naturally.” 
 

ART20 gives each student an opportunity for personal growth and self-discipline, and encourages them to improve their communication skills by working on projects and exercises that help them develop visual perception, visual-spatial organization, and visual discrimination.

 
  The ceramic bowls were used at a bread and soup dinner to raise awareness of hunger as well as funds for the local food pantry.
Through individual and group projects, students challenge their creative thinking. Students work with new and different media, including paint, clay, wire, and plaster, which creates new ways to learn problem-solving skills and emphasizes GJR’s treatment model.

The program has also opened up doors to community collaborations, allowing students to take part in producing large-scale projects for community businesses and corporations.

“I am excited about the opportunity that exists in the Grove City community … to participate in making works of art for outdoor public display,” Sanders says. “For the kids and me, that is very exciting.”

ART20 has already been called upon by Olde Town Grove City to be part of a revitalization project. “Our students will design and construct pieces for a sculpture garden,” explains James Bird, director of development at GJR. Throughout the project, a local artist will serve as a mentor as well as direct aspects of the project.

 
An aerial photo of the George Junior Republic campus.

 

To complete the project, ART20 students will seek assistance from their peers in GJR’s Votech School, who will help with the construction of forms and provide a staging area for creation. Other collaborative projects are still in the works. For example, GJR is hoping that ART20 will soon partner with a project headed by a professor from nearby Slippery Rock University. 

For that project, youth would help create ceramic water filters that would be part of the professor’s efforts to fund a water treatment program for developing nations and communities.

In addition to providing opportunities for students to work within the greater Grove City community, ART20 provides the community with opportunities to learn about and become more connected with GJR. For example, on June 2, 2008, students hosted their first formal art show. Members of the community were invited to view students’ work as well as bid on it through a silent auction.
 

Tucked away in rural western Pennsylvania, George Junior Republic is one of the country’s largest, private, nonprofit residential treatment communities for at-risk youth. In 2009, the organization will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

The organization uses five residential treatment programs to individualize the treatment each child receives and help each youth reach his full potential. This range of programming includes general residential, special needs, diagnostic, drug and alcohol, and community-based homes.		  

 

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