Art for Life: Building Creativity, Community and Connection is a collaborative project created and run by veteran art program instructors and working artists Elizabeth Collins Hanes and the late Chuck Hanes, and Angelina Bellebuono, facilitator of the social/emotional development component.
This donor-funded program includes two school sessions per week, field trips, and community involvement to middle and high school children attending the Morgan County Alternative School.
For over 17 years, students at Morgan County Crossroads School have built, painted, sculpted, and woven things in a once a week art class as part of an education outreach program through Steffen Thomas Museum. In 2019, the Crossroads program expanded its scope, changed it name, and began operating under the guidance of the Madison Artists Guild. The program continues to gain local and regional recognition.
In the 2020-2021 academic year, Art for Life students at the Alternative Education Program/Crossroads School have learned basic photography skills and created a body of artistic work on the themes of community and connection. Using cell phones, they created, curated and installed a street-art photography exhibition onto an exterior wall of the Crossroads School building. This is the second outdoor public art photography installation available to be viewed by the public at the school (1551 Bethany Road).
COMMUNITY/CONNECTION 2021 incorporates photography skills, elements of design, artistic composition, and planning and execution with the experience of learning how their life stories and experiences are a form of art that can be shared with the public.
In March 2021, Madison Artists Guild, Inc. received notice from Senator Burt Jones that the Georgia Senate had formally recognized Art for Life: Building Creativity, Community and Connection for its reputation of excellence in the Morgan County community with the adoption of Senate Resolution 185. The presentation was held May 19, 2021. Photos are included in the slideshow,
