Houston TX, (July 7, 2008)- ARTreach is partnering with Catholic Charities to bring a series of special art classes to children at risk in the Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program located in the Carlingford apartment complex at 6500 Gessner. Refugee children often arrive in the United States unable to speak English, and unfamiliar with the American culture. They suffer from the stress associated with family instability and face enormous challenges throughout their acculturation process.

Catholic Charities Refugees Resettlement Program gives the extra attention and practice the children require to catch up on homework, speaking, reading, and writing skills on a daily basis. ARTreach is utilizing the arts to enrich the educational aspects of this unique Catholic Charities program and aid in the acculturation process. “Art is providing a key component in bridging the diverse communication gaps between the refugee children.” says Rosie Worthington, program director for Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program, “These children are between the ages of 6-14 years old and are from Turkey, Russia, Myanmar, and Somalia, and art is their most common language.” ARTreach initiated this first pilot in January. The objectives associated with the art program were aimed at aiding in relationship building and social skills development, to stimulate the creative thinking process, and to support the children in adapting quickly and more completely to their new American home environment.

The pilot was made possible thanks to a grant to ARTreach from the Houston Endowment and included silk screen printing and mask making workshops taught by professional artists from Young Audiences of Houston paid for by the YAH Assistance Fund A post evaluation of the initial pilot collected examples of the artwork created, and testimony from the children, the social workers and the art teachers involved. This helped ARTreach to design and fund a second session initiated this summer to support a weekly time slot dedicated to teaching art and art history.

For the summer, ARTreach placed Nikki Golyer in the Refugee Program thanks to the Shell Non-Profit Internship Program Grant. She was given the task of designing a series of projects specifically for the refugee children. “I decided to research the art history of the countries the children came from and conduct a workshop that would help the children create an example of artwork that came from each country” says Golyer, “They would be doing art and also learning about the cultures of the other children in their class. I researched six countries that the children in the program originally lived.” Photos are of children in the Refugee Resettlement program with artwork inspired by the French artist and expressionist Henri Matisse Nikki is teaching art on Tuesdays from 4:00-6:00 this summer at the Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program.

On July 8 and 15th the children will meet artist Judy Malone Stein from Young Audiences of Houston with new lessons in the visual arts, followed by Danny Russo, also of Young Audiences of Houston returning to teach silk screen design and printmaking on July 22, 29 and August 3rd. The summer art program serving children at risk through the Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program is funded by ARTreach and made possible thanks to Extreme Technologies, Inc. and a Shell Intern Program Grant made to ARTreach. Additional support for the program is provided by Young Audiences of Houston and the YAH Assistance Fund to bring professional artists Judy Malone Stein and Danny Russo. An exhibition of the artwork created in the program will be displayed at the offices of Extreme Technologies, Inc., at the end of the summer.

Directions to the offices are available online at www.extreme-technologies.com. ARTreach is seeking $2,160- $4,320 in additional sponsorships to continue the program. Contact Terri Bieber at art.reach@earthlink.net for more information about sponsoring this special program. To learn more about the impact the arts have on children at risk, visit www.artreachonline.org. Thank you to the following organizations and sponsors that made this ARTreach Program serving children at risk possible - Catholic Charities providing help, creating hope, The Houston Endowment, Extreme Technologies, Inc., Employers One Source, Shell Oil Company, and Young Audiences of Houston- imagine, create, educate.