Waco youth impressed by local arts program

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Enrolled students A Beautiful Message Students in the arts program at Waco are learning to better express themselves as they prepare for the program’s community show.

Alyssa Walker, 16, is a student of A Beautiful Message. He is normally shy. But after completing the program, she said she learned to open up.

“I feel like those bonds of meeting new people of different ages really helped me open up as a person and express myself through art and words,” Walker said.

Beautiful Message student Abbie Sanders shared this sentiment.

“I think it’s been a more personal experience for me to talk to other artists and talk about our experiences,” Sanders said. “It was really great.”

Student Chris Ramsey, 20, said the connections he made in the program helped him both as an artist and personally.

“Having this community of artists allows me to release the pressure I usually put on myself when making art,” Ramsey said.

The program focuses on painting. By using paint, Sanders expressed his appreciation for family in a new way. He described the work he plans to submit to the program’s community showcase, which features his family in a colorful subway amidst a crowd of achromatic pedestrians.

“We are connected to each other, but somehow the world is changing and revolving around us,” Sanders, 15, said. “It’s inspired by my upbringing, growing up with my siblings, moving around a lot and being the only consistent person in each other’s lives.”

Painting by Abbie Sanders for the A Beautiful Message community exhibition.(KWTX)

The community exhibition of A Beautiful Message will take place October 10-14 at the Waco Arts Center.