Volunteer
helps youth tap into their creative side
| 247-4795
April
3, 2009
When Sandy Donaldson's daughter came home from school in tears,
Donaldson immediately asked her what was wrong. Her daughter told her that the
art teacher never said anything about her artwork and that had upset her. Those
words struck a chord in Donaldson, who realized she never wanted another child
to have a similar experience.
"She wanted the art teacher to say something positive about her work and
she just never did," Donaldson said. "I realized at that point that I
wanted to be able to help kids with their self-esteem and self-confidence,
something I do through my involvement with the Monart
Art Enrichment program at Alternatives."
Alternatives Inc. is a nonprofit youth development that serves
Donaldson also organizes the Monart Children's Art
Enrichment Auction. The auction will feature 86 local artists, including seven
pieces from Monart students, to raise money for the
program.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for the art auction?
A: As board chair for Alternatives,
I learned about the before-and-after results with the Monart
Art Enrichment Project. They basically take these kids and after a 45-minute
lesson, they are able to create amazing artwork. They use the Monart method, which focuses on the use of five elements:
angle, straight line, dot, circle and curve. From these elements, they can look
at something and know how to make it.
Q: Where
does the money go that is being raised from this auction?
A: It
all goes back to the Monart Enrichment Project and
helps kids that are economically disadvantaged attend the program. This is
important, since children that attend the program demonstrate an increased
ability for creative problem solving and realistic artwork. It also helps them
with their reading and writing, through the sequencing skills that are taught.
Last year we raised $11,000, which helped us reach an additional 400 students.
Q: Where
does your passion for helping these children come from?
A: We
affect the lives of so many children. We enable them to tap into the creativity
they have inside as a youth. They can use this creativity to soar and be a
better person. It promotes self confidence and self-esteem.
Q: How
have you seen your involvement with the Monart
program change someone else's life or your life?
A: Through
one little girl in the program I've met, Yasmine,
just seeing how excited she gets for her Monart
lessons each week. Seeing her reading and writing ability improve so much and
her self-esteem and confidence going up.
Q: What
has been one of the most memorable experiences you've had through working with
this program?
A: At
last year's auction, Yasmine, an 8-year-old artist,
donated one of her pieces. A man by the name of Henry Jones was one of the bidders at the
auction and after he heard Yasmine's story, he bought
her artwork. When he came up to get it, he had tears in his eyes, because he
knew how much it meant to her and to the kids he was helping by buying the
artwork. He's come back this year and served on our fundraising committee.
Q: Who
is your favorite artist and why?
A: Nancy
Thomas. She helped us out so much with our fundraiser last year, allowing us to
have the event at her gallery in
• Bid
online at www.monart.cmarket.com
through today
• Silent and live auction at the Arbors in Port Warwick 6 p.m. Saturday. A live
auction will begin at 7 p.m. Cost: $35 per person and $50 per couple
• Reservations for the event can be made online at www.altinc.org or by
calling, 838-2330.