The Salvation Army Developmental Disabilities Program has announced the Fourth Annual Art Show featuring works from the artists of the Creative heARTs program. The art will be featured during August at the Millsboro Art League, 203 Main St. in Millsboro. An open house will be held from 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 10.
The Salvation Army DDP is a community program whose goal is to support people with developmental and cognitive disabilities in becoming integral parts of their communities. The participants of the program hold jobs in the community, volunteer with other nonprofit agencies and participate in many community activities with the support of DDP staff.
Although the program was only recently named, the Creative heARTs program started about six years ago when a participant of the program would sit and sketch pictures from her church programs. From one potential artist, the program now has 15 artists who enjoy learning and working on their craft. The artists have worked in and enjoyed every medium except oil since they currently do not have a place for oil paintings to dry.
“The artists embrace and are excited to learn anything new in regard to their art,” said Christy Cugno, Delaware director of the program, “I am always excited to see what they create each day. And they are more than excited to show off what they have been able to do! The artists amaze me all the time.”
The Creative heARTs artists have been taking watercolor classes at MAL the past few years. The MAL artists have been very generous with both their time and talent. Over the past year, they have worked on beach scenes, Christmas card ideas and a variety of other projects. A few of the paintings created during these classes will be on display during the show.
Not only will each painting be for sale, but the Creative heARTs artists have continued to add new designs to their line of note cards. The sale of the cards helps purchase needed supplies for the artists to continue to create. A limited edition of the “Tree of Hope” image will also be available.
The Creative heARTs program was made possible, in part, by grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
Those unable to attend the open house can see the exhibit on any Friday, Saturday, or Sunday in August at the MAL. “Please come out and let our artists' creativity inspire you and their artwork amaze you too,” said Cugno.
For more information on The Salvation Army DDP or Creative heARTs program or to purchase cards, call Christy Cugno at 302-934-3730, Ext. 111 or email christy_cugno@use.salvationarmy.org. For more information on the Millsboro Art League, call 302-934-6440 or go to www.millsboroartleague.com.
