REACH Studio Art Center’s Teen Open Studio (TOS) is unveiling a Community Art Project (CAPs) created in partnership with Ingham Academy, an alternative high school for court adjudicated youth that is operated by three agencies - Ingham County Circuit Court, Ingham Intermediate School District, and Highfields. Ingham ISD provides the educational program for children placed in the Academy by the Ingham County Circuit Court. Highfields provides behavior treatment and support to the program. This partnership between the three agencies has been in effect since 2007, providing these high risk students a path to learning the life-skills necessary to be productive members of society while earning a high school diploma.
After seeing photographs of all the empty walls in the academy's classrooms and lunchroom, REACH teens ambitiously decided to create 8 works of inspirational art to decorate these spaces. REACH has also negotiated with academy staff to have our instructor create art focusing on identity and voice with youth at the academy beginning March 25. Youth at the facility are very excited about both creating art and having murals in their spaces.
Join us on Saturday, March 23rd at 2:00pm at 1804 S Washington Ave in Lansing, to celebrate the completion of this project! The murals will be installed in the locked facility in the coming weeks, and a video documentary about this project will be made available late April.
