FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 06/24/2008

Art Project Promotes Self Expression in Children

Through Digital Media

BRIDGEWATER, Va. — A summer program for the arts that will teach basic digital photography and photo editing skills to elementary students will be conducted July 7-11 by Bridgewater College, the Rockingham County School System and John Wayland Elementary School.

The program is funded through grants from the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children's Education and the Arts Council of the Valley.

Mixed media self-portraits created by the students will be displayed in an exhibit at the Cleo Driver Miller Art Gallery at Bridgewater College from July 11-Aug. 15.

"The purpose of this program is to enable a diverse group of 16 fourth- and fifth-grade students to see themselves in their school environment through digital photographs they will take of each other, and then transform by hand into personalized narratives using mixed media," said Douglas E. Ball, associate professor of education at Bridgewater College. "Students with diverse needs will explore their self-images, worlds and dreams though visual expression."

Ball said organizers wanted to provide a program for children of differing backgrounds and abilities that would allow them to explore self esteem and concept, identity and individual uniqueness.

"It's a process of finding fun ways to express how they feel about themselves, of using the power of artistic expression to help children put their worries and fears and concerns into perspectives that may help them feel more positive about themselves," he said. "The program can, we hope, be an antidote for some of the struggles kids have such as being stereotyped."

The workshop will be taught by Ball; Scott Jost, professor of photography at BC; Kim Floyd, an art teacher at Spotswood High School; and Jessica Clevenger and Courtney McDonald, education students at Bridgewater College.

For further information, contact Ball at (540) 828-5657, or send him an e-mail at dball@bridgewater.edu.

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