ArtSpace Art Show Tackles Bullying by Advocating for Kindness Opening Reception

15 Feb 2013

Opening Reception for Art Show, The Updraft Gallery, located at 84 Walnut Street in Asheville from February 15, 4:00-6:00.
WHO: ArtSpace Charter School students, grades 6-8

WHAT: Art From the Heart: An Exhibition of Kindness

Middle School students from ArtSpace Charter School will open an exhibit at The Updraft Gallery on February 10th. An opening reception will be held on February 15 from 4-6pm, and the public is invited. Students in grades 6-8 were presented with the challenge of creating a work of art inspired by kindness. This is part of an ongoing bully-prevention initiative which emphasizes community building, empathy, and compassion. ArtSpace Charter School kicked off this annual art competition on the International Day of Kindness (Nov 13, 2012).

The mission at ArtSpace has been to shift the focus from the negative, what NOT to do, to the positive as it relates to treating others with acceptance and respect. As with everything the school does, the arts have been used as a vehicle for promoting this message.

Students were encouraged to: perform a kind act and then use art to express their experience; create a work that expresses a specific need for kindness (ie: a social issue, personal experience); create a work that encourages others to be kind; or represent an experience that they have had with kindness that was particularly meaningful for them.

A grant from “Donors Choose” provided students with access to professional grade materials for free.