“Art Changes Everything”
This is the philosophy Susan Jenkins, owner of the Northwest Art Center. That simple yet deeply profound statement started out as a casual chalk scrawl across the front of the building by artist Dan Cautrell during the art center’s opening festivities.

Susan and co-founder of the center, Dianne Brudnicki were deeply moved and decided to adopt the slogan as their guiding principle.

Through art a person can change the way they feel about themselves, but it doesn’t stop there. Creating art for others has the power to impact lives and emotionally heal. At the Northwest Art Center, students not only explore their own self expression, they also have an opportunity to impact their community and reach out to people across the country. Following are examples of several outreach projects conceived by Art Center teachers.

If you can imagine a place in this world where the average life expectancy is only 42 years, where children often die before reaching adulthood, and therefore a place where children and childhood are not particularly valued, a place where many children go hungry and where clean drinking water can be very hard to come by, then you are close to imagining life in Songea, Tanzania. If you can also conceive of not having the care of loving parents because they are dead, then you are imagining the life of one of the 16 orphans living at a temporary orphanage in the care of a locally registered Non-Governmental organization called Songea Women and Children Organization. Upon hearing of this group of children in dire need of food, fresh water, education, and medical assistance, area residents Ellen Gaddy and Christine Tapert, along with several friends from Tanzania, formed NewDay Africa (formerly NewDay for Children), a nonprofit, charitable organization dedicated to improving the lives of the orphaned, the ill, and the impoverished in Africa. After working for more than two years to create a better life for a small group of orphaned children in this rural and remote area in southwestern Tanzania, in the fall of 2008 Ellen and Christine went to see firsthand what their organization had accomplished.  While there, they realized the tremendous need in and around Songea that affects so many more people than only the orphans. Now NewDay Africa's mission has expanded to lend assistance to others in need in the village and vicinity, starting with providing a medical clinic and clean drinking water for the community around the NewDay Home of Songea, which is under construction.

Of the thousands of orphans in the region, SWACO has compiled a list of 85 additional orphans who are living in foster care with extended family or friends.  These children receive varying amounts of assistance based on their individual needs.  Assistance ranges from school tuition and uniforms to food, cooking oil, kerosene, soap, food and other basic necessities. 

That’s where the Northwest Art Center comes in. After reading about Christine’s efforts in Tanzania, Susan Jenkins contacted her to see if there is a way to deliver a message all the way from Duvall, Washington that each child is special and that someone cares. Because life is so hard in Africa, children are not valued in the same way that they are in our culture—and there is little room in the lives of these children for nonfunctional items. Christine and Susan are hoping to find a way to reach out to make each child feel a sense of their own self, their own space and their own uniqueness by providing something beautiful that is uniquely their own. The Northwest Art Center offered a free workshop to the community to make each child a keepsake box, in which to store their personal items such as letters and photos. Each box was decorated and personalized with the name of an orphaned child from the village. In celebration of Arts Week, a state sponsored event, the workshop was held at the Art Center on Saturday May 17^th from 1pm-5pm. Additionally, in all of the older weekly art classes each student designed and made a beautiful box. The younger classes made medallions to put in the boxes.

Members from the community are encouraged to come and give the gift of caring to someone very much in need. Art can be healing and transformative. Students and members of the community explored their artistic talent and created something amazing. We can’t wait to hear about the excitedment of these children when they receive a unique treasure which they will use their entire life. Through art we can build friendship and promote understanding of others. If interested in donating to NewDay Africa please call Christine at 425.788.9380.

Mentor Program
 Mentor students receive extensive supervision while creating a compelling portfolio, photographing it, and applying to the top art schools in the nation. One of the requirements of the program is to create a community service project. Students are encouraged to connect other interests in their lives with art. This kind of project is a potent addition to a student’s college application and yet it is so much more. The opportunity create and implement an in-depth project is deeply satisfying, and the chance to make a significant difference in the lives of others is enormously rewarding.