Charleston County Parks Adapts Programs, Events During Pandemic
REC-MOBILE TURNED ARTS MOBILE: NAC TAKING ART TO THE PARKS By: Sharon Graham, Arts & Special Programs Coordinator, City of Newberry Parks, Recreation and Tourism Newberry Arts Center’s (NAC) Art in the Park was an idea that came about after attending a Creative Placemaking Workshop in Columbia in 2019. The topic that stood out the most to me was about “taking art out into the community and to the people.” This sparked something deep inside me! As someone who grew up with two siblings and working parents, no transportation to summer camps – not to mention the price for three kids – I knew I just had to take the art to kids that could not make it to summer camp because of various issues. Thus, the beginning of our Art in the Park program. Our athletics crew with the City of Newberry’s PRT Department was already taking the “Rec-Mobile” to area parks Monday through Thursday with a range of outdoor activities free of charge for local kids. That left Fridays available for art! What an opportunity! On Fridays, we loaded up the Rec-Mobile with art supplies instead of sports equipment and headed to the park. WOWW … we were totally amazed at the number of children that showed up! For six weeks in 2019, NAC staff along with volunteers met every Friday at Marion Davis Park to take art to kids in the area. We had kids from ages 2-16! We were able to identify and offer scholarships to some of the Art in the Park kids for our Summer Art Camps at NAC as well. This was an outreach program that supported our mission – just what we had been looking for! We were so excited!
26 SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks • www.scrpa.org
