ArtReach in Arkansas
At the invitation of the Governor’s office and the Arkansas Board of Education, and in response to Hurricane Katrina evacuee families that were relocated to that state, ArtReach conducted a two-phase program of training for educators, healthcare providers and trainers from around Arkansas.
The program emphasized the use of the arts in education to promote healing and health of children who suffer from the effects of trauma as a result of natural disaster, violence, poverty and war.
Partipants in the ArtReach training program, held during the 2005-2006 school year, created a "fresco" banner (shown at right) and a group poem in honor of their collaboration. The banner and poem were presented to Governor Mike Huckabee to demonstrate the teachers' appreciation of the opportunity to learn how to help the child evacuees to heal. The poem is reprinted below:
Once upon a time, there were dark clouds and a storm, and children said, “What do we do? What do we do?” The wind began to blow, and people began to flee and disperse. The storm began to rage. A whispering voice from the unknown said, “There is this ArtReach, ArtReach.” As the children came closer, two beautiful images appeared, both with an “S” on their chest. An otherworldly light surrounded the two figures. All of a sudden crayons and paint brushes and clay began raining from the sky and then the material transformed into beautiful voices of art that contained the heart and soul of its creators. The children said “Ahhhhhh….”
One little boy stepped into the center and pointed excitedly at the wall and said, “Look, look, the wall is becoming a door. A way of escape from my pain!” There was a tree on the other side of the door with a one thousand year-old owl perched in its branches and many, many, many hands. He reached to turn the key in the door. “Wait!” said one of the children, “I see the smile of the endless horizon. Can that be mine? Can that be the bridge to happiness? I see the book of knowledge with many answers attached to the box of dreams. I see doves that symbolize peace for me. I see eyes and ears and a mouth and a heart. I see the light of hope shining through the ankh. I see a bridge - am I still welcome? This must be a safe place for all.” The owl said to the little boy and all of the other children, “Climb up into the branches of my tree and join your hands to help others. Let the stars in the heaven guide you because you are valued and loved.” The children said, “Who are you?” And the owl said, “We are ArtReach.”
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1Governor Mike Huckabee quotation was excerpted from Visions of the Future: Education in the Arts, a DVD from the Arts Education Partnership: 2006.