Bridging gaps with Art
Write a comment
Tish Inman helps her class in their various art projects. Inman offers art scholarships for 20 Groveton students a year. Photos by Tony Farkas | TCNS
By Tony Farkas
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
GROVETON — Six-year-old Violet likes to make fans, ones that change pictures as it changes directions.
Faith, 8, loves to paint animals (wolves are her favorite), but has a special fondness for art using shaving cream.
Carmen, 12, says art to her is about meaning, and see other people’s interpretations of her work. It’s a way of creating communication.
It started as an “addiction” to doodling in the margins of everything, she said.
Molly, 16, said art for her is different. Being color blind, she instead uses her talents to freeze a moment in time.
Her favorite pastime is drawing landscapes, but wants to expand that creativity into digital photography and Photoshop manipulation.
Art for Molly is therapeutic as well; she has been diagnosed with a nervous system disorder, and art is a stress reliever, helping her cope.
Braedon, 7, was one of the first scholarship recipients. He likes to paint, snakes in particular — all of them, because they’re interesting and take more than drawing a line.
Tish Inman’s first six- month scholarship class is as eclectic as the various mediums she teaches — everything from pencil drawings to soldering for stained glass windows.
Inman owns Tish’s on the Groveton Square, a unique combination art school/B&B, and she is dedicated to creating an after-school program.
“Art is vital, it’s a different way of viewing the world,” she said. “It helps kids with their concentration and their attitudes. It’s freeing, because there’s no right or wrong way to do it. It’s a non-aggressive form of expression.”
For 20 students annually, ages 5-18 — 10 for each six-month period — from Groveton ISD to attend art classes once a week.
“I’ve always wanted to do a scholarship because some children can’t afford it, or they may have some disabilities, and those kids do well with art therapy,” Inman said.
This program is funded by donations from generous sponsors who believe in the importance of having art available during the most impressionable years in a child’s life.
“I have a very wealthy client in Maryland (who wishes to remain anonymous) who loves what I’m doing, and he stroked a check to cover 10 kids for six months, and he will continue to send the funds even after he’s gone,” she said.
If you would like your child (limited to one scholarship annually per household) to apply for this opportunity, contact Tish at (936) 433-2535 for more information.
Also, anyone interested in becoming a sponsor to help make this vital program and continue to make it available to this community can contact Tish.
You are a guest
or post as a guest
Be the first to comment.
