Current Needs
Volunteers to assist!
The Project
Paint Love Artist and TCP resident Andrew Catanese will lead third graders at Mableton Elementary in a six-week series called “City in a Forest”
Atlanta is known as “City in a Forest” because of its dense foliage and biodiversity. This program will introduce Atlanta as the forest it is and teach students how to recognize the plants that make up their home while translating this information into creative projects of their own. Initially, it will be a series of sketchbook trips to natural areas such as green school grounds, local parks and/or public areas with high plant variety. After learning about some of the most commonly sighted plants and a few hard-to-find ones, the students translate sketches into an art form of their choice such as paintings, collages, sculptures, poems, or even songs. The students will select their favorite personal projects as inspiration to design a collaborative public art project including work from each student classmate. This experience will equip participants with tools to maintain creative outlets indefinitely and an enhanced understanding and appreciation of their natural surroundings, wherever they go in life.
The School
Mableton Elementary has 1,052 students in grade levels K-5. They are a Title I elementary school with approximately 85% of students receiving free or reduced lunch. Their goal is to provide our students with exposure to as many opportunities that they would not otherwise receive outside of school. Having a STEAM focused curriculum is affording us this chance to engage them with creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking that will, in turn, help them become 21st century learners of the future.