Week 5 - Action

3 - 2 - 1 - ACTION!  Yes, action was the theme of this week's art project.  Whatever community we find ourselves a part of, we need to also find ourselves taking action - doing good - together.  Families, friends, roommates, neighbors, colleagues - bonds between people become strengthened when we work together for good.  Doing so allows us the opportunity to discover purpose, meaning, and the good in others and ourselves.  Taking action doesn't necessarily mean saving the world, rest assured that is in Jesus' hands , but we have the opportunity to join Him in the work of manifesting His kingdom here on earth.  What does that mean?  What does that look like?  You and your community have the freedom to decide the answers to those questions, but examining Jesus' life and the scriptures can get you thinking in the right direction - big ways and small!

This week the Village Art Project community worked together to pick up trash around the neighborhood.  Before we began "operation clean-up", the younger kids made cards for everyone to hand-out to our neighbors as we picked up trash.  One of the benefits of doing good together, especially picking up litter, is that it's actually fun!  The kids and adults enjoyed cleaning up the neighborhood.  One of the mom's I know well laughed as we picked up some things around her home and exclaimed, "I've tried to get my boys to do that many times before!"  (Well, mom, now you know how to get them to do it - just have them do it with friends!)  Cleaning up our neighborhoods is just one small way for a community to take action, and it benefits both the earth and the residents.  I've gotten ahead of myself though because that was the second part of our evening.  The first part of the night (while the younger kids painted cards) the older kids painted using "action" art.  The canvases of choice were two old wooden doors.  The paintbrushes of choice were raquetballs and tennis balls.  The kids each got a partner and one ball.  They took turns dipping/rolling the balls in paint and then rolled them across the first door, back and forth, to their partners.  It looked like a masterpiece by the end!  The second door was painted a little bit differently and the scene was a little more, shall we say, out of control :)  Once they dipped their ball in paint, they bounced the ball on the door - sometimes soft, sometimes hard - can you picture it?  As we wound up that project they all circled the door and on the count of three, simultaneously threw all of the balls at the door.  Let's just say some of the kids ended up with a bit of paint in their hair!

Now some of you may have noticed that picking up trash isn't exactly art (although we did arrange the bags at the end into a trash "sculpture" of a heart representing love for our communities).  We decided to lighten up the night a bit because of the heat wave that passed through last week, and that included a waterballoon fight.  Although we all love art, and we definitely did some, art in 98 degree weather with 80% humidity can be a bit challenging to focus on!  It was a fun night as usual, the kids didn't seem to mind the weather, and they loved the art and water balloons.  Let us all take some time this week to think about the different communities we're a part of, and consider doing some good together.  It's inside of each of us because it's inside of Jesus.  Let it out!

Love,
Christie