In the Spotlight By Emily Randall The Northeast News Kansas City, MO (March 18, 2009) - The arts continue to blossom in Historic Northeast — this time through Scarritt Art Club for children. The weekly club, although open to all Historic Northeast children, focuses on children living in the Scarritt Renaissance neighborhood. It is a product of Mosaic Brain — the youth development committee of Historic Northeast Cultural Arts Commission, along with Greater Kansas City LISC, Scarritt Renaissance Neighborhood Association, Westside Housing Organization and Melrose United Methodist Church. “The main thing is for kids to see the importance of community engagement,” said Pauline Mbogo, community organizing manager with Westside Housing, which is administering the program. “The other thing is to get them off the streets and keep them busy for that time that we have them.” The club meets from 6-8 p.m. every Monday at Melrose United Methodist Church, 200 N. Bales Ave. Participants may pay $5 a night or $10 for the month — which includes all art supplies. Each month focuses on a different medium — from painting and chalk pastel this month to music and recycled art in April, printmaking in May, theatre in June, textiles and masks in July and sculpture in August. A guest artist brings his or her expertise in the medium every month, and the month concludes with a community project. The projects are intended to somehow impact the neighborhood. “Some of the programs have a direct effect on the neighborhood, like a butterfly garden in August,” Mosaic Brain Executive Director Wolfgang Bucher said. “Others support events for the neighborhood, like a performance at Chalk Walk of their homemade music-makers in April.” The children also learn about community service through the program, such as through recycling objects in art that would otherwise become trash in the streets. “Projects make them aware of their neighborhood through questions during the project that lead to art,” Bucher said. “We brainstorm a project with the kids that impacts some aspect of their neighborhood.” The Scarritt Art Club is funded through an $8,000 LISC grant. The grant is made possible because the club is intended to meet goals laid out in the Scarritt Renaissance Quality of Life Plan — specifically arts education and being a safe alternative in the early evening to at-risk youth. The Scarritt Art Club is a part of Mosaic Brain’s five-year plan ending in 2013 to create 10 weekly after-school art programs in Historic Northeast. It is the second program implemented, after Garrison Art Club, which meets every Wednesday night at Garrison Community Center in Columbus Park. Up to 20 children may participate in Scarritt Art Club. The organizers’ goal is to have 50 percent of participants from the Scarritt area between Chestnut and Askew streets and Independence and St. John avenues. The other half may be from any Northeast neighborhood. To learn about becoming a club member, contact Bucher at wolfgang@mosaicbrain.org or come to next Monday’s meeting at Melrose United Methodist Church.
As seen in The Northeast News. © Copyright 2009, The Northeast News. All rights reserved. http://www.northeastnews.net/
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