Center Pointe: Shared Art Project

For our shared community art project, we worked with the disabled adults at Center Pointe. Our goal for this project was to create a stimulating artistic experience and teach them the basics of the voting process. Founded in 1953, Center Pointe is a safe haven for disabled adults in Spokane. The organization’s main goals are to create educational activities in a safe environment with the hope that they can overcome their social isolation, develop friendships, increase life-skills, and serve others. They cater to a wide range of disabilities and help them to establish a healthy lifestyle. This organization does not receive Federal, state or local funding, so the only way they keep their doors open is through donors and fund-raisers. To learn more about Center Pointe go to http://www.centerpointeactivities.com/index.html.

For the art project, we worked with the adults to create a chalk stencil piece. Overall, this project was a success and most enjoyed it. Everyone participating was very receptive and welcoming to us. From this experience, we gained a better understanding of working with disabled people as well as organizing a community art project. We gained a better understanding of our strengths and weaknesses in this kind of situation. Despite long preparation, there were a few hurdles that we quickly overcame. For example, upon our arrival we were greeted by 50 excited people, rather than the anticipated 15. After a minor panic attack, we were able to regain our footing and continue with the project seamlessly. In addition to the surplus of participants, not all of the people had the ability to do the art project. We overcame this by lending our assistance and encouragement. Although there were some difficulties, we had an enjoyable, rewarding, and eye-opening experience.