Service project produces art

Photo

Neighbors | Submitted .Pictured, from left, (front) are Donna Adams, Theresa Hickson, Rose Thomae; (back) Haley Holt, Anne Leach, Tami Sandford, Dennis Wiser and Anna Creque with the banner they designed for the 2014 Global Art Project for Peace.

When Canfield senior, Haley Holt, was choosing her National Honor Society community service project, she knew it would include her passion for art. She contacted Suzanne Gray, her former art teacher at the Davis Family YMCA, and they came up with a plan that was approved by NHS advisers, Tim Wensel and Matt Montgomery. For the past three months, Holt has been spending every Tuesday afternoon at Briarfield at Ashley Circle in Austintown. After much discussion, a group of residents with an interest in art helped design a banner for the 2014 Global Art Project for Peace. GAP is a UNESCO nominated organization founded in 1994 to foster world peace through artistic endeavors.

The AC group is in the midst of finishing a painting which will become part of an international peace exchange. They don’t yet know where their banner will be sent, but it will be one of tens of thousands of art pieces to circle the globe at the end of April. At that time, AC will receive a piece of art made by a group somewhere else in the world. Holt says that the experience of working with senior citizens on the project has been pure joy.

“By doing the project, I am honestly learning how to better communicate and I’m making some really great friends along the way. Everyone has his or her own story. They find a way to make you feel loved, and I always feel like a kinder, warmer person after spending time with them,” Holt said.