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The Coloring Book Challenge

The Coloring Book Challenge

The Coloring Book Challenge

Coloring book by artist Sally Bills Bailey

Sometimes a small thing can have a big impact. Here at the Columbia Art Center we are always working on ways to provide art experiences to our community members—whether it’s by bringing folks into the Center or taking art out into the public.

Ideas for engaging seniors, kids, teenagers, adults, men, women, boys, and girls—the staff at CCA is forever developing the means of making art happen in the lives of those around us. And kids . . . I’m telling you, when you see kids engage in art it makes your heart sing. And so little can mean so much.

So recently the CCA staff was talking about ways to bring art into the lives of under-served kids in our community, and we got this idea to supply coloring books and utensils like crayons, markers, and pencils to kids who have little or no art in their lives. We called two wonderful local non-profit organizations that support families and children, the Fish Food Bank and The Next Door’s Klahre House, and proposed the idea.

They loved it. In fact, Dr. April S. Abernethy Director of Development at The Next Door wrote this:  “Your email was almost like divine intervention…we just had a Facebook post: ‘Coloring books, markers…what we may take for granted will be all these kids have to play with.’ And we have a newsletter story running next week talking about the joy our migrant program participants had at winning a singular coloring book.”

Then we talked with a couple of local artists who have created beautiful coloring books—and we were off and running and on our way to making this project a reality.

This is where you come in. The goal is to raise $500—that will allow for the purchase 300 coloring books, markers, colored pencils, and crayons to supply to the Fish Food Bank and Klahre House for them to distribute to the kids and families they support.

Please help by donating $5-$50 to help us reach our goal and to bring art to the lives of others.

Thank you for supporting the arts!  Sincerely, Kerry Cobb, Executive Director