Last year the Residential Program had so much fun participating in summer classes at the Art’s Place that we were extremely excited when the opportunity arose to participate again. A big reason that the Arts Place classes are so special to us at YSB is because of the therapeutic nature that comes along with creating art. Youth often struggle with expressing themselves and their identity and being able to use their hands to do just those things can frequently have a positive impact on them and their mindset.

We kicked off the summer with making tiles out of clay that would then be used as a backsplash for the sink at the arts place. The kids had so much fun with this as they were able to get their hands dirty and be creative. They also loved the idea of their work being displayed in the room where others would see them for many years. While doing this activity a big thing that stood out was when one resident did not feel confident in her work. She continuously asked if everyone else thought that hers looked good. We were able to redirect the conversation and respond by asking her if she thought that her tiles looked good. When she really looked at her own work and received her own approval, she stopped worrying about what everyone else thought and she noticeably became more confident in her work.

Some of the other classes we took this summer involved painting tote bags and tye-dying t-shirts. These classes may have seemed more “simple” but still challenged our residents to think outside the box while also being able to follow the instructions provided to them. One lesson they learned was patience, as patience was needed to let the shirts sit for 24 hours and then follow the instructions given by the arts place to properly rinse the dye and wash them. They loved having new shirts to wear around.

As school got closer our staff and kids were a little bummed to not have more classes to participate in. So you can imagine how excited we were when Allison Smiley sent us an Invitation to participate in a week-long Art Camp before school started. While signing up she generously gave us a code to use to be able to allow our kids to participate in this 5-day class that consisted of five classes each day. This was so much fun and the kiddos loved participating, getting out of the residential facility, and of course, the amazing food that was provided for lunch. YSB has loved partnering with the Art’s Place for the second summer in a row and we hope to be able to give more kids the opportunity next summer as well!

We would like to give a huge thank you the Art’s Place for this opportunity and the First Bank of Berne for sponsoring our participation this summer!