innovation

Artist Patty Mitchell worked with clients and the Athens community to produce an installation of 100 paper mache birds that hung at the Kennedy Museum of American Art at Ohio University. Because the residency was so successful, a 4-month residency with Patty Mitchell was requested and awarded to the Athens County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.

During this program, twenty-five workshops were hosted throughout the Athens community, including The Athens Middle School, Rural Action, Friends of the Kennedy Museum, The Athens Public Library, and others. The work produced during these workshops was combined and presented as an installation at the Kennedy Museum at Ohio University. The work illustrated A Story of Flying, written by local poet Deni Naffziger. The attendance of the opening of A Story of Flying broke the Museum's attendance record.

Clients have become active participants within their communities by offering art exhibits, installations for restaurants, window displays, original coloring books (given away to school age children at workshops), and greeting cards to be sold at Athens businesses. Through the sale of our art, we have developed a Visiting Artist program hiring local artists.