Free Arts Fest brings smiles, cheer

Campus Life, dynamic, Free Arts Festival, Issue 25, Kaitlyn Baldwin, Kristin Williams, Campus Life - By Kaitlyn Baldwin on Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 19:56

The Social Work Department and the free arts program put on an arts and crafts festival for the children of three different groups within the Montebello school district on Tuesday, April 10, sheltered from the much welcomed heat of the day in Club 88 from 2:30 to 4:30p.m. “It was for high-risk children who live in low income families or had to be removed from their households due to abusive situations or susceptibility to gang violence or joining a gang,” first-year and Intro to Social Work student Jessica Littlefield said. “We did art, had lunch with them in the C.I., gave them face paintings and gave them a tour of the school.”

The activities were meant to encourage creativity and expression in low income children and those who are in danger of dropping out of school. The tour of the campus included a trip to the dorms and Stauffer Science Building, where the children got to look at what it is like to live at and attend a college. The craft building took place in Club 88. Students were offered an array of paper and art supplies to build crafts in a low stress and interactive environment, where they can relax and have fun with other children of their age. The children were all relatively young, around the ages of 6 to 11. “It was superhero themed and a police officer came in to talk to them about the importance of education and staying away from things that could cause expulsion from school such as drug use and peer pressure,” Littlefield said. “We made superhero paper dolls and little boxes that they were allowed to decorate with a multitude of different art mediums in their own special way.”