Partner in art, Erica Unterman, is an art adventurer currently disguised as a Youth Specialist at the public library. She designs programs for children of all ages.
For the Garden of Fire Festival she offered something super unique and FUN: squirt gun painting!
There is something about the smell that lingers in the air after a rainstorm in the summer time… for me it is extremely calming and refreshing, and it brings back many memories of summers spent playing outside as a child.
Unfortunately, this summer we have had very few rainstorms, meaning far fewer chances to enjoy this experience. However, this week we were lucky enough to receive some much needed rain!
The rain triggered a conversation between myself and a 9-year-old girl. I asked her why she thought rain was important, and her answer was sweet and simple: “It helps everything on the earth, like plants so they are able to grow, and for people to drink!” She then continued with “When the earth needs a drink, Mother Nature makes it rain!”
So far this summer the Corning Youth Center has visited The Rockwell Museum to make clay animal sculptures to protect their gardens, they have made and decorated their own rain sticks while learning about how to cope with their own emotions, and they have visited the Tanglewood Nature Center to go on a hike, meet some of their fascinating animals, and participate in a drumming circle, all while learning about the importance of water.
In each of these activities youth were encouraged to use their imaginations and to be creative. For their animal sculptures at The Rockwell, each youth was asked to choose a specific animal that they themselves could relate to. Some youth chose a bird, some chose snakes, another chose an elephant, and a young girl chose a lion. When asked why she chose a lion, specifically a male lion, she said:
These moments are why we love Garden of Fire.
Photos courtesy of Dan Gallagher Photography
This week’s update from the Garden of Fire! So happy to have parent involvement this week as the kids created cinch sacks around themes from the Garden of Fire.
With such a diverse array of participating organizations in the Garden of Fire program, we felt it deserved its very own logo – and who better to design it than the participants themselves?
The project began with a lesson plan created to teach the participating youths about logo and graphic design, including some criteria to guide their creations. They were asked to create a circular design with a limited color palette, using the Garden of Fire Story as inspiration. The story brings up themes of nature, gardening, art, life cycles, elements, and personal growth. Each youth center sent in their designs, and a committee including a representative from all of the partnering organizations and youth centers decided on the winners.
The committee was so blown away by the students’ creativity and vision, that it was decided to choose strong elements of a logo from a student at each youth center to create one super-logo that truly encapsulates the collaborative efforts of the program. The tagline, “Where young minds grow” was created by the students at Hornell Area Concern for Youth, and captures the intent of the program perfectly.
Click on the icons below to see the raw submissions that turned into the final logo, as well as the committee’s awards of “Honorable Mention.”
Thank you to everyone who submitted their logo designs – it was a very hard decision, as all of the submissions were very creative and moving.
All of the logo designs will be on display at the specific youth centers, and again at the Garden of Fire festival to be held later in the summer.
Garden of Fire 