By Becki Kenderes, Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation

Since mid-June, young artists in the Loyal to Your Soil Youth Arts Program sponsored by the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation and funded by the Knight Foundation have been meeting twice a week to learn about and produce a wide variety of original art.  This free program for youth ages 13 and up meets at the local library where the young artists either stay and try their hand at such art forms as improv comedy, painting, and poetry, or they head out to a variety of venues around the city to give tire painting a try, and graffiti art, and even circus school!

Last weekend these young artists made art right on the street in the Old Redford neighborhood -literally!  The young artists designed and cut out stencils with a “powerful message,” and brought their stencils to the Artist Village Sidewalk Festival on Saturday, August 2 where they painted their messages right on the street at Lahser Road (don’t worry – the paint is washable)!  The young artists also helped with the set-up of the festival to learn about event production, sell some of their artwork, and have the opportunity to check out fellow artists’ work at the festival.

“It’s been a great summer of art for these kids and for the artists who are working with them,” says Becki Kenderes, GRDC’s Sustainable Communities Program Director and coordinator of the Youth Arts Program.  “I can’t wait to see what they’ll produce next!”  John Garrett, a young artist in the program agrees that this summer arts program has been “really fun, and we’ve gone to some really cool places to see and do different kinds of art.” Erika Villarreal Bunce is the local (grown up) artist who collaborated with the youth group for this particular workshop.