Murals are not only beautiful pieces of art, but they are also great for small towns.
Murals have been used around the world to promote beautification, local culture, and even tourism. Below we will discuss three reasons why murals are good for small towns.
1) Improved Aesthetics: Murals can greatly improve the overall aesthetic of a small town. They add unique and eye-catching visual appeal to the buildings or other features they adorn. Murals can also cover up unsightly graffiti or other forms of vandalism on otherwise blank walls. By having a mural, small towns can have a much more attractive and unique appearance, making them even more appealing to both residents and visitors.
2) Promotion of Local Art: Murals are a great way to showcase local art and talent. They provide an opportunity for local artists to share their work with the community and create a sense of pride amongst residents. Additionally, by commissioning local artists to create murals, small towns can support their local art scene, which in turn creates a sense of community and helps the local economy in a beautiful ecosystem sort of way.
3) Tourist Attractions: Murals are also a great way to attract visitors to small towns. In many cases, tourists will seek out towns with interesting and unique art installations full of symbolism and a message that supports the vision for the town. By having murals, small towns can become a destination for art lovers and cultural enthusiasts. This, in turn, can help boost tourism and provide economic benefits to the town. Artists love to see their work showcased on social media deeming it "instagrammable" and special to that location when those visitors and locals post about it!
In conclusion, murals are a great addition to small towns. They serve as a source of pride for residents and attract visitors, and also promote local art. With the help of murals, small towns can enhance their unique qualities and create a more appealing and memorable atmosphere.
Have you been down to The Artful Gathering to see our mural on our 30 foot fence!?
Wildflowers including Tiger Lilies, which spread naturally in Southern Ohio and bloom during the hot summer, and coneflowers have been painted to provide a modern contrast across the colorful wash of turquoise and cheer. Added in are some unknown, prickly weeds that grow along ditch lines in the area. Even though weeds are not a desirable landscaping feature, I decided to paint them in because they represent the reality of life. Sometimes the unexpected and unplanned parts of life are completely beautiful.
Our mural is a symbolic message of flourishing and mindfulness. Have you considered the lilies that grow wildly along the roads? Do you notice their speckles in their centers and their delicate waves of their petals? They don't work hard to be beautiful . They don't "toil or spin".
At first, I thought how accidental this is.
But then it occurred to me that they were literally designed by the ultimate Artist to be this way. It isn't hard work for them BECAUSE it is a natural process designed that way from the beginning. We are all designed to be creative, living beings. Our art studio is a happy, welcoming place for you to feed your creative soul.
We hope you stop to admire and reflect on the meaning of art in our small towns and the value it brings, along with stopping to fill up your creative tank.
I don't want to mom-shame the hardest-working group of people I know- parents.
Instead, I want to get your attention.
I KNOW how stretched you are. I know how hard it is to decide where to spend your hard-earned family funds in the world of extra-curricular and educational experiences.
I also know you value the delicate balance of a happy, wholesome childhood that also prepares them for successful adulthood.
I have worked so hard to fill this need BY becoming an approved provider for ACE (an Ohio program for after school enrichment and day camps). It means this for working families: FREE programs.
For locals, that means FREE art camps and classes!
Finally! A way for you to give your child the creativite, fun, healthy social atmosphere, hands-on learning in action that happens at our art camps!
We offer art camps and classes all the time.
Evening art camps.
Day camps.
2 day camps.
Weekly classes.
This is where ACE comes in!
Exciting News for Ohio Families! You can receive $1000 per year to support day camps and after-school enrichment for each of your children!
Our art studio is proud to be a certified provider in this wonderful program.
Our favorite detail is the household requirements because almost EVERYONE can get this! For instance, a household of 5 can earn up to $140,560 per year and STILL get $1000 per child to be used for day camps and enrichment! Check out the chart!
We want busy families to be able to take full advantage of this opportunity! At other providers, you would need to pay and then submit your receipts to the state. With us, you simply have to complete the account creation steps with Ace and get a coupon code to take your cost to ZERO for our classes and then we will take care of the rest!
Here's how it works for parents:
2. Upload your 2022 taxes and last 4 digits of your children's ssn to sign up each of your children ages 6-18 (some school districts automatically count without uploading your previous taxes, but none of our local schools do, so you'll need to do this step)
3. After 2 weeks, you'll get an email from them called "Merit" which means you are in! Now you will be able to sign up for our art camps or classes using the coupon code special for ACE families!
You know your child and your family schedule.
Does a one day camp (5 hours) of immersive art sound amazing? We host them every possible school break and even on some Saturdays!
Think Black Friday and President's Day: all day amazing experience for the kids without worrying about child care! (We theme our art camps! You could check out the bazillion that we've hosted since we opened!)
Or does one weekly art class of one-hour work better? We have those, too! And, we are always adding more!
Families need to register for our camps and classes on our website using a special coupon code exclusively for ACE customers, which reduces their cost to zero. Registering online enables us to monitor class enrollments and ensures that they receive timely reminder emails before each class.
This means your kids can explore their creativity, learn new art forms, and have a blast in a safe and supportive environment with a teacher you can trust—all while you receive financial support of $1000 per year to use towards our enriching classes for EACH CHILD who is age 6-18!
Don't miss this fantastic chance to nurture your child's artistic talents and passions with our certified program!
You do not get "paid" the amount from ACE. Instead, you must find a certified provider on their website. Since we are an approved provider, we have broken it down this way for simplicity sake. Stretch that $1k over a year and that means you can sign each of your kids up for ONE experience (like an art camp or a weekly class) every single month of the year FOR FREE!
Are you paying attention yet, moms? No guilt over deciding which things you can afford for the kids. Your artsy kid will LOVE LOVE LOVE our fun and educational art camps and classes! We even added more to accommodate the teenage population! Check out the camps HERE! Check out the recurring classes HERE!
We hope you are ready and willing to spend the 15 minutes to fill out the ACE steps and then get started with us! We desire to provide the most amazing art programs possible for the east side! Are you already in Ace?Go to our homepage to get your special coupon code!
Sometimes I feel like I am stretching it to say that art fosters all these amazing skills like independence, leadership
and foresight
and stewardship
and mindfulness
and calm...
along with the obvious things like creativity and joy.
But, honestly, that is what makes my art lessons what they are.
I believe art can and should guide children in learning that can develop them into adults who have a plethora of actual skills.
Stay with me. Giving a child an assignment that encourages sketching is actually an editing and self-reflection/ self-assessment lesson. I teach them to view their art with an attitude of development and asking themselves how they can make it better. This is called healthy striving and independent learning.
And, personal responsibility and empowerment.
It is teaching kids that they have the ability to work on something more and more and get better, without anyone forcing them. It is enjoyable learning.
That is where leadership grows. Humans who believe they can do something are leaders.
Mindfulness in a sped-up world is actually just paying attention. Is art, we use our "powers of observation" as I call it. We learn to slow down and NOTICE. We look at details. We look at shapes. We even look at our neighbor's art and learn to acknowledge their skill and compliment them without comparing our own work to theirs.
How many adults need to learn this very real skill? Exactly.
What about foresight? Teaching kids to wash their brushes, for example, is an excellent way to teach cause and effect, stewardship and foresight.
When brushes are left yucky, they dry out... and no one can use them later, including me. Children learn that if they want to paint next week, they must wash those brushes TODAY, after using them. Foresight is knowing that I am going to want to paint next week, so I better wash those brushes today, y'all!
Okay, I obviously could go on and on.
I think there are a whole lot of parents out there like me. Parents who want to prepare their children for a complicated adulthood.
Without sounding nasty, I think many of us are looking at a whole collection of young adults who are lacking the preparation that childhood was supposed to give them and want better for our children.
We are willing to provide the teachable moments.
We are willing to provide opportunities for them to learn all these skills, both practically and joyfully.
When we make learning a joyful part of personal development, it no longer becomes a "chore" to guide them to leadership. It is the antidote to entitlement and immaturity.
But, like you, I want my children to experience JOY as they go through these experiences so that they do not develop in the wake of crippling perfectionism.
Let's link arms, fellow parents, as we take away electronics and stand firm in our mission to develop leaders who love learning and are independent, confident, kind humans who know they were created for something awesome.
I'll handle the art opportunities, if you need me to. Send them to me at my art studio: The Artful Gathering. I am happy to do my part in this complex and amazing childhood we are all trying to provide! We can do it!
