Morgan County Crossroads Art Students’ Public Art Project (May 16, 2018)

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Steffen Thomas Museum of Art celebrates Morgan County Crossroads Students and their public art gift to Farmview Market in Madison, GA.  Under the direction of STMA Arts Outreach Assistant and Lead Instructor Elizabeth Collins, these students have worked collaboratively this Spring semester to produce a large weaving depicting a pastoral scene reminiscent of the trusted farming communities that are a part of the Farmview experience.  Please join us for a reception and unveiling of the weaving Wednesday, May 16 at 1:00 PM at Farmview Market, 2610 Eatonton Road, Madison, GA  30650.

Creative Teens Earning Green (CTEG) – the title of the Crossroads program – is the first and longest-running module of our three-pronged Art$mart Arts Outreach Program for students in Middle and Northeast Georgia. Since 2002, STMA has funded and delivered weekly arts programming throughout the academic year for at-risk students at the Morgan County Crossroads Alternative School.  At no cost to the students or the school, STMA-trained teachers deliver the only arts education offered at the Crossroads School, with more than 40 middle and high school students participating this year.  Steffen Thomas’ 70-year-long history of earth stewardship and creative re-sourcing and re-cycling of art materials is central to the CTEG curriculum. Such an innovative and relevant approach is an essential part of classes that include pottery, painting, sculpture, collage, mosaics, and graphic design. Each year, a visiting mentor artist works with the Crossroads students to introduce a new medium. An additional component of the program is a year-long service project and community partnership where the teachers and students design, create and install a large-scale public art piece to be donated to a nonprofit within the community. These donated creations feature re-used “art supplies” such as scrap metal, broken pottery, discarded lumber and plastic, and even roadside litter. Past installations include a mixed-media mural for the Morgan County Senior Center, a welded metal sculpture presented to the Morgan County Humane Society, a tile mosaic donated to the Georgia Safari Conservation Park, and a kinetic outdoor sculpture designed for the garden of the local food bank.

STMA is grateful for the support the following community leaders have provided for the Crossroads School arts outreach program:

Jim Boyd & Associates, Bank of Madison, Longview Wealth Management, Conrads Family Fund, CR Bard Foundation, Georgia Power Foundation, HouseSmart, Madison Studios, Morgan County Citizen, Smith Communications, Inc., The Creative Brain, Inc.