#7 Kids Art Workshop @Esperanza Community Center
For the seventh art workshop, the Trojan Rocking Horse project visited the Esperanza Community Center, where we had the pleasure of meeting the children from West Palm Beach's Northwood community.
The workshop began with a short presentation of the Trojan Horse myth, taking the children 3000 years back in history and then opening up their imagination to how this horse could look like and what else could be nested inside it. Workshop facilitators, Marco Casagrande and Mary Glazier a.k.a. Gurferlady guided the children through creative exploration of “What is your dream for the city” - the core question weaved into the Trojan Rocking Horse project.
The children dived into the rich art supply pool donated for the project by Resource Depot and started creating their dream Trojan Rocking Horses out of cardboard cut-outs that they outlined themselves.
The Esperanza Community Center serves a predominantly Hispanic population, many of the families being recent or first-generation immigrants from Guatemala and Southern Mexico. Language, literacy, and cultural barriers leave these families facing many challenges on a daily basis while they are trying to build a life in a foreign country. A strong belief in the power of education to transform lives, as well as the importance of serving others by volunteering in the community, make the core values of the Esperanza Community Center and this reflects strongly in their work and the types of services they provide. Aside from acting as strong advocates for this community and organizing various programs that focus on education in order to address low levels of literacy and some of the cultural barriers, Esperanza Cultural Center is working towards empowering families to speak up, to advocate for their own needs and the needs of their family. "We strive to remind our community that we are strong, resilient, a part of a larger community and that together we can do more," says Maricela Torres, co-founder of the center.
We know that creativity and a sense of belonging are very important for the development of children. Creativity helps us express our ideas and feelings, but it also opens a door to a wonderful life because it makes you find new solutions - A creative person understands that there is always a better way to do something; no matter the situation, you can come up with something amazing.
The workshop took place on Friday, January 20 2023 at Esperanza Community Center
Big THANK YOU to all of the organizers and participants!