Art Feeds the Future
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by Hannah Ishmael
Photo by Jordan Comer
Ashley Le Blanc, executive director of Art Feeds Joplin, helps a student with an art project Nov. 11, 2015, at West Central Elementary. 14 VIVID / spring 2016
efore there could be an Art Feeds, there was a 19-year-old who wanted to help children. She found one who not only let her change his life, but he changed her life as well. “He disclosed to me that he was not getting fed at home, and right then I knew that here in my corner of the world was a problem that I needed to fix,” said Meg Bourne-Hulsey, chief executive officer and founder of Art Feeds. Since that first spark of an idea, BourneHulsey has created an organization she hopes will continue to impact the little creatives of the world. “I passionately believe that children are more creative and innovative than we are as adults,” she said. Art Feeds is a mobile art center that goes into schools and children’s organizations to provide a therapeutic art outlet. “We choose to work with children, not because we think that they could be something great, but because we think that they are already great,” said Ashley Le Blanc, executive director of Art Feeds Joplin. “If we can train them to feel worthy and that their ideas matter in this community, then it will completely shape and unify the community in Joplin as a whole.” Jayme Moore, a fourth-grade teacher at West Central Elementary, says she has noticed students developing pride and selfconfidence through their artwork. Even as a first year teacher, Moore saw one of her students who had never completed an assignment finally participating in class because he would be rewarded with Art Feeds programming. Although Art Feeds only started in 2009, it has empowered 28,000 students. By the end of 2016, that number will increase to 30,000. Now that the Joplin Chapter is well established, Bourne-Hulsey is ready to put her focus into Art Feeds National. She is working on chapters in Northwest Arkansas and Carthage. Then her dream is to open two to four chapters annually.