Waco youth touched by local arts program

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Students enrolled in the A Beautiful Message art program in Waco are learning how to better express themselves as they prepare for the program’s community showcase.

Alyssa Walker, 16, is a student in A Beautiful Message. She is normally shy. But after going through the program, she said she’s learning to open up.

“So I feel like those connections of meeting new people, of different ages as well, really made me open up as a person and helped me express myself through art and my words,” Walker said.

Beautiful Message student Abbie Sanders shared this sentiment.

“I think it’s been a more personal experience for me, just talking with other artists and talking about our experiences,” Sanders said. “It’s been really cool.”

Student Chris Ramsey, 20, said the connections he made through the program helped him both as an artist and as a person.

“Having this community of artists just allows me to let go of the pressure that I usually put on myself when I make art,” Ramsey said.

The program focuses on painting. Using paint, Sanders expressed his value of family in a new way. She described the piece she plans to submit to the program’s community showcase, which features her family centered in a colorized subway amid a crowd of achromatic pedestrians.

“We are connected to each other, but the world is changing and moving around us,” said Sanders, 15. “It’s inspired by my upbringing and the fact that my siblings and I grew up together, moved around a lot, and are the only consistency in each other’s lives.”

Painting by Abbie Sanders for the A Beautiful Message community exhibition.(KWTX)

The A Beautiful Message Community Exhibition will take place October 10-14 at the Art Center Waco.