PINEY BRANCH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Two AFTP artists, Stephanie Ney and Alice Sims, held 6 classes for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders of the ESOL Program (English As a Second Language), after school. The children drew and studied insects, birds and fish of local Sligo Creek environment . The school mascot is a blue Panther. All 10 elements were designed by the children. The School installed the pieces in June. There were three funders: the school PTA, the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and The Takoma Foundation Fund of the Montgomery County Community Foundation.
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AT STEPPING STONES SHELTER
Alice Sims and Laurie Stepp returned to Stepping Stones Shelter to work with families in transition, making autobiographical books using digital photography, a scanner, and more traditional materials like paints, stamps and collage. We completed one successful session in the fall of 2004 thanks to a F.A.C.E.S. ("Freeman Foundation Assists Communities with Extra Support") grant from the Carl M. Freeman Foundation and returned again in spring 2005, funded by the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County.
THE BETTY ANN KRAHNKE CENTER
The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County has funded a sculptural installation at The Betty Ann Krahnke Center for New Beginnings, a shelter for women and children in recovery from family abuse. The work has been created by Stephanie Ney and Marilyn Banner, in collaboration with residents at the Center.
STEPPING STONE SHELTER CERAMICS Rockville, MD
Artists Alice Sims and Laurie Stepp worked with shelter residents in the Fall of 2002 and were asked to return for a second series of workshops in the Fall of 2003. The workshops focused on children, but family members of all ages were able to participate in projects using clay, glazes, mosaic and paint. The project was funded by The Montgomery County Council for the Arts and Humanities and AFTP.
STEPPING STONE SHELTER and HOMESCHOOLED CHILDREN
In the Fall of 2003, artist Ami Perlman worked with home-schooled girls to decorate furniture with "animal friends." Conceived as a gift to the shelter's children because residents are not permitted to have pets, the girls stenciled a table and two chairs over the course of three workshops. The project was sponsored by AFTP.
City of Takoma Park
RECREATION CENTER BUILDING
Three children's workshops culminated in large painted figures, installed on the New Hampshire Avenue building. The artwork altered and enhanced an impersonal public building, and made kids at the Center active participants.