Community Arts

Our goals were achieved by the following: 1. We worked with over 20 youth with and without disabilities to create art for 20+ sessions. Our goal was 20 students and 16 sessions. We worked with two mentor artists to complete several projects, including a mural that we gave to the high school for a lasting contribution from these students. 2. Our end of program show/sale was organized by the UROC students. They were aware from the start that the art they created would be sold in the sale, and they made sure to tell all of their family and friends to come to the sale. They hung posters all around the school, and on the day of the sale, they were all there representing UROC. Several students helped count money, make change, and add the total of purchases made by customers. 3. The mural was on display at our sale and then presented to the high school as a lasting contribution from UROC. (Unified Recreation of the Orono Community) Overall, we achieved our goals set out in our proposal. We were able to work with the artistic strengths of all of our UROC students and allow them to work in a variety of mediums on a wide range of projects during the sessions. This allowed the students and peer mentors to be exposed to multiple art mediums and at the end of the sessions, allowed that wide range of completed projects to be displayed and sold. Some strengths of our artistic processes is that both the UROC students and the peer mentors were very involved in what we were doing. They were excited to try art projects they have never done before. They were also very excited to have the opportunity to share their art with the peers, teachers, and family members. Our challenges during the artistic process were getting all students to participate at the same time. We had such great peer helpers that worked really hard to engage the students in what we were doing. Another challenge was that the UROC students wanted to take home their artwork after each session. But, once they saw the sale at the end, they were all very excited that their artwork was on display for everyone to see. Our intended audience was youth from the communities served by Orono School District including Maple Plain, Long Lake, Independence, Orono, Minnetonka Beach, and Medina. We provided an integrated arts experience for middle school and high school age students with developmental differences, allowing those students to work with their hands to create art while being expressive and creative. Because our sale was open to all community and family members, high school and middle school staff, and all students, we were able to include the diversity of our community in this arts experience. The UROC students hung up flyers around the high school and talked about it to their teachers. Additionally, we did the same at the middle school. Scholarships were provided for those who needed financial support in order to participate in the program. Additionally, high school peer partners were recruited for their interest in the program and caring hearts toward the students they worked alongside. Over 150 students, staff, family and community members attended. A mural was created and gifted to the high school. The students experienced many different types of art mediums. 100% of participants said they wished they had more time to do more art projects! Feedback from a sale-goers included, “The kids looked proud and excited about their artwork and were ecstatic to show it off to me!”