Sharing the University of Georgia’s mission “to teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things” through statewide commitments, the Georgia Museum of Art aims to make art education accessible beyond campus. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 120 out of Georgia’s 159 counties are considered rural. Many of these rural areas do not have the resources to support community art centers or arts programming of their own. Aiming to help fill this gap, the museum established its Just My Imagination program to provide children living in underserved and rural areas with free art workshops. The program began in 1992 through a grant from Target Stores and has been sponsored by the Turner Family Foundation in memory of Nancy C. Turner since 2002.
“While we do think that arts access is important and integral no matter if a kid lives in a rural or urban area, the availability of arts programming is much scarcer in rural areas, so much so that we might be the only, or one of the only, free arts programs for children in a rural community all year long,” says Mallory Lind, the museum’s associate curator of education.
Just My Imagination serves over 200 children each year through in-person workshops. Workshops are held at 10 or so different libraries each summer, and art instructor Toni Carlucci typically leads additional programs throughout the school year in Athens at locations such as Lay Park, Heard Community Center and Rocksprings Community Center.
In preparation of each workshop, the museum’s learning and engagement department trains an available teaching artist, sends them the necessary supplies and pairs them with a partnering location. The museum has been able to extend its services into more rural areas by networking with UGA art education alumni who are spread out across the state.
Recently, the museum organized a Just My Imagination program at the public library in Villa Rica, Georgia, a town with a population under 19,000 roughly two hours west of Athens. Rachel Linn, manager of the Villa Rica Public Library, couldn’t have had better things to say about the turnout of 24 participants, the watercolor activities and how smoothly the afternoon went overall.
“The instructor was great with the relaxed library atmosphere and really didn’t need much support to work effectively,” said Linn. “Clean-up was easy and the families seemed to have a great time. Some of the kids didn’t want to stop!” Linn strongly recommended this program to other libraries, especially those in cities without arts centers. “Villa Rica does not have an center of any kind, so many students don’t grow up experiencing the arts at the same rate that a child living near an arts center or a university would,” she said.
Morgan Clifton, a graduate of UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art (BFA ’20), was the Just My Imagination program instructor at the Villa Rica Public Library. Like Linn, she finds incredible value in the museum’s art program for children with limited opportunities. “I got to experience all the benefits the museum provided to students and the local community,” said Clifton. “When I was an art education student at UGA, I worked with the museum’s education department to teach outreach lessons to 5th graders in the Clarke County School District.”
The Just My Imagination program is one of several community and rural outreach initiatives geared toward children by the Georgia Museum of Art. The museum began distributing art kits, which included art supplies, instructions and prompts, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum recently provided Rincon Library with 250 art kits for its summer reading challenge and plans to distribute another 1,500 art kits this fall to Athens area nonprofits serving children and families in need. The Adopt-a-Bus program provides pre-K – 12 schools from outside Athens-Clarke County and across Georgia with funding for transportation to visit the museum. The museum also tables at PrideFest, AthFest Music and Arts Festival, K – 12 school fairs and other events to promote upcoming programs and connect with local families.
Authored by:
Jessica Doane
