The Sheldon Art Gallery Presents COLORS OF HOPE: ARTWORK FROM THE CHILDREN'S ART VILLAGE 2/18-6/11

The Sheldon Art Galleries presents Colors of Hope: Artwork from the Children's Art Village in the AT&T Children's Gallery, a multi-media exhibit featuring artwork by children from around the world who are served by the Children's Art Village , February 18 - June 11, 2011. Please join us for an all-gallery opening reception on Friday, February 18 from 5 - 8 p.m.! Gallery hours are Tuesdays, Noon - 8 p.m.; Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, Noon - 5 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and one hour prior to Sheldon performances and during intermission. Admission is free. For more information on the exhibition visit the galleries' website at www.thesheldon.org/galleries.asp.

The Children's Art Village (CAV) works with children in orphanages and schools to introduce art, music and dance components into the children's education and to foster self-confidence, personal growth and healing. Their mission is to connect children to themselves and to their creative spirits through art, with a focus on using art and music as mediums of expression to initiate the process of healing for children who have been abandoned. They promote and support creating and maintaining sustainable art and music programs in each of the different locations around the world where they work. CAV uses art and music therapy practices to help the children work through trauma related to abandonment, poverty and slavery.

CAV has worked in impoverished countries since 2005. Beginning with a week long project in Vietnam and then Ghana in 2007, CAV has held summer programs in Ghana over the last three years. They began a summer program in India in the summer of 2010. Artwork included in the Sheldon's exhibit was drawn from workshops in both Ghana and India. CAV believes in a sustainable program, and after the initial summer workshop, they hire local teachers to continue the art education throughout the school year in the same schools where the workshops were held. In 2009, CAV placed two endowed art teachers in Ghana. In 2010, CAV placed a full-time art teacher to work in India.

CAV has worked with the Village of Hope Orphanage located in Gomoa-Fete, a fishing village 1 1/2 hours from the capital, Accra, Ghana, since 2007. They now support an on-going sustainable art program at the orphanage's school, Hope Christian Academy. CAV's program serves 650 children at this school, 225 orphans and 425 day students.

In May 2010, CAV began their work at the Sevalaya Orphanage and School outside of Chennai, India. The orphanage and school serves 180 orphans and 870 day students. The artwork created during their week-long program in India is included in the Sheldon Art Galleries' Colors of Hope exhibit. Projects in the Chennai curriculum include drawing, watercolor, photography and pastel art.

This colorful exhibit will show how making art can inspire hope and assist in the growth of self in children who are faced with dire circumstances. This exhibit will allow visitors to experience the joy these children possess, despite their situation.

The not-for-profit Sheldon Art Galleries exhibits works by local, national, and International Artists in all media. Over 6,000 square feet of the galleries' spaces on the 2nd floor are permanently devoted to rotating exhibits of photography, architecture, jazz art and history, and children's art. A sculpture garden, seen from both the atrium lobby and the connecting glass bridge, features periodic rotations and installations, and the Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Gallery on the lower level features art of all media. The Sheldon actively supports the work of St. Louis artists in all mediums and features a dedicatEd Gallery with museum-quality exhibits by St. Louis artists, past and present.

Financial Assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. Support is provided by the Regional Arts Commission and the Arts and Education Council.