Local youth experience the fun in painting with Splatter! Summer Art Workshop

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - On Saturday, July 25th, The Woodlands Waterway Arts Council hosted their third annual Summer Art Workshop at The Woodlands Mall. The event was organized under the Council’s Because Art Matters Outreach Program, which strives to provide art enrichment programs for underprivileged and disadvantaged members of the community.

The 2015 summer art workshop was unique in the fact that it was led by local high school students rather than adult Council members, as it had been in previous years. Kayleen Barton, Director of the Because Art Matters Program, had earlier approached The Woodlands High School art students and asked them to come up with a themed project for the fifth and sixth grade participants to create; they eventually settled on a splatter art theme using recycled materials, based on the work of American abstract-expressionist Jackson Pollock.

“I love that the high school students were able to create this art project [...] and teach it, at this level,” said Barton. “They were able to give that to the community [...] and teach the things that they were learning, and hopefully be able to foster and spark that imagination in this student population that we have here today.”

The workshop began with a video presentation on the life and artwork of Jackson Pollock, in the Microsoft store’s home theater and using the Surface 3 tablet. The youth then were able to begin creating their own splatter art on bags and hats donated by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, as well as a collaborative canvas piece.

Also present at the workshop were Kendall Farris and Elise O’Connell, rising seniors at The Woodlands High School and co-presidents of the Annemarie Hopkins Art Alliance, a charity partner of the Waterway Arts Council. AMHAA is a nonprofit group under The Woodlands High School Art Department, and engages in the community through volunteering, fundraising, and scholarships for its members. Farris and O’Connell plan to take the leftover supplies from the Splatter! workshop and use it in other projects throughout the community.

The Splatter! Summer Art Workshop is only one of many outreach projects facilitated under the Because Art Matters program. The program dedicates itself to reaching out to four different areas of the community: underprivileged youth, seniors, those with special needs and circumstances, and local businesses and organizations. Activities include trips to museums and symphony performances, art classes led by Master Artist Vickie McMillan, and drumming lessons as a therapeutic outlet for stress.

“[Art] is fun,” said Amy Lococq, current president of The Waterway Arts Council. “With art or music or anything you learn at a younger age, you’re going to have your whole life. You’ll understand the value of it your whole life long. The earlier we can instill that in children, the longer they’ll be able to enjoy it in their lives.”

For more information on volunteer opportunities, donations, or the program in general, please visit http://www.woodlandsartsfestival.com/default.asp. Information on the Annemarie Hopkins Art Alliance can be found at http://amhaa.twhsart.com/.