Kindness Camp for Newaygo County Youth

Free sessions to be held  July 25, August 1
By Marianne Boerigter

Spread kindness and be a part of an ArtPrize entry!  The 'Kindness–Newaygo County' project is providing Kindness Camp for Newaygo County youth, grades K-8, which will include lessons for youth to learn ways of being kind, show empathy, share their ideas on kindness and use their creative skills through a project that will be included in artist Jane Stroschin's ArtPrize entry this fall.

"One of the most important social skills involved in bullying prevention is empathy, understanding and responding with caring to what others think and feel.  Young people are less likely to hurt and more likely to help someone if they can imagine themselves in that person’s place" stated Lori Tubbergen-Clark, NCRESA Superintendent. "When students better understand themselves, they can better understand others.  As adults, we can assist our youth in the development of empathy and kindness by encouraging them through the art and experiences of 'Kindness-Newaygo County'."

Conceived and executed by Newaygo County artist Jane Stroschin, the project 'Kindness-Newaygo County' is both one women’s artistic vision and an interactive county-wide multimedia work that attempts to raise awareness about bullying, by inviting those who experience it to engage in empathy and kindness.  Stroschin is partnering with Spectrum Gerber Hospital, NCCA-Artsplace, and Newaygo County Regional Educational Service Agency (NC RESA) and K-12 students throughout the NC RESA service area in Newaygo County on this collaborative project.

With the purpose of art being, among other things, to provoke emotions and invoke wonder while communicating a certain set of ideas, the 'Kindness-Newaygo County' project is a presentation intended to speak to viewer’s hearts and minds.

Stroschin’s work will be six 4'x8' acrylic painted canvases and six 5' tall free-standing displays of shoes, artfully decorated by Newaygo County students, with all pieces emphasizing the theme "Walk a Mile in My Shoes....Be Kind".  The shoe displays were created by students from Newaygo County Career Tech Center.  Stroschin’s paintings and the accompanying artful shoe displays will be presented at each Newaygo County elementary school in early September, then on to ArtPrize September 20 – October 8!

As part of their activities, students in Kindness Camp will embellish a variety of shoes in artful ways that Stroschin will include as part of her ArtPrize 2017 entry.  With her themes of "Be Kind" and "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" in her artwork, the shoes will complement her work and add a youthful spirit to the entry.

Kindness Camp will be held in two sessions, Tuesday July 25 and Tuesday, August 1, each from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.  The location will be the Newaygo County Career-Tech Center in Fremont.  There is no fee to participate, but registration is required.  Please call 231.924.8807 for more information and to register.

“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”-Henry James