Thinking Out Loud- Regina's Thoughts: Event #1: Artists' Exchange Fall Out of Summer Festival

Hey everyone! For the first public event reflection this semester I attended the Artists’ Exchange Event: the 7^th Fall Out Of Summer Arts Festival with my family in Cranston, RI at Rolf Square. The festival was an all-day out door event mainly centered on children and their families. Many of the family fun games that they put together were hand-made by the kids/adults in the organization. There were carnival games that the artists made themselves centering on different famous paintings. There was a fishing game called Fishing with Monet, where there were paper fish in a kiddie pool and the children used handmade fishing rods to see how many fish they could pull out. Another game was named after Vincent Van Gogh and it was called Vinny Vang’s Star Toss. The artist that made this game painted a replication of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting, The Starry Night. In order to play this game the ball that is tossed has Velcro along with the painting and the ball that is tossed had to stick to the Velcro on the painting. This festival was filled with knowledge and learning for children. The Artists’ Exchange made it fun for children to learn and to raise money for their organization. Children could also participate in music, face painting, ceramics, and giant jenga.

This festival was centered on the arts and the community. The Artists’ Exchange fosters many programs for children like summer programs, kid’s clay making, and music together classes. This festival provided an outlet for both children and adults to showcase and sell their artwork. The Artists’ Exchange hopes to "revitalize the community they live in, which is in Cranston, RI. They pride themselves in providing opportunities for the interaction of all kinds of people, with and without developmental barriers, with art acting as the unifying force bringing the community together(http://www.artists-exchange.org/falloutofsummerfest.html)."

This Festival really relates to how a youth worker can use their talents within an organization to teach children art and music. So far in class we have talked about the types of jobs and internships a person can get with youth development. The Artist Exchange brings knowledge to children in a hands on environment through music and art. The children at the festival seemed very happy, and the youth workers very patient with the children in teaching them new skills in relation to art and music. It was so nice to see the imagination and craft it took to put this festival together. I could tell that many of the youth had in put and new a lot about the games that they were putting on for the other children. As we have been learning in class it is so important for youth to have input because it makes them feel like they are apart of something important; something that will make a difference. By all the children and families that were there I would say that the event was a success.

For links related to the Artists' Exchange: Events click here, Ways to get involved click here, General Information click here