FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Art Comes Full Circle for South Minneapolis Youth

Minneapolis  – Aug. 3, 2009 - Creating art. Raising funds. Receiving bicycles. These actions come together for youth in south Minneapolis as the Urban Arts Academy teams up with Full Cycle bike shop and Borders bookstores.

The Urban Arts Academy's Kid Power program will be working with Full Cycle bike shop to create some unique and fun pieces of artwork known as Tread Art. Participants will ride bikes through chalk across a sheet of paper, leaving patterns that result in one-of-a-kind pieces of art. When the art is finished, each participating child will get to keep the bike they used to make the art.

On Saturday, Aug. 15, Borders bookstores in Richfield and Roseville are providing space in their stores for Urban Arts to showcase student artwork. Kid Power’s Tread Art will be featured as the centerpiece, and visitors will be able to see evidence of the entire process, as well as the end result.

In addition to providing space, the Richfield and Roseville Borders stores will donate 15% of the proceeds from a customer’s purchase to the Urban Arts Academy at the presentation of a special voucher upon checkout. Vouchers can be found at the Urban Arts Academy website, or at either of the participating Borders stores. Vouchers are valid Aug. 15-19.

The Urban Arts Academy, which provides free and low-cost year round arts education programs, has served the youth of south Minneapolis since 2001.  The children that attend these programs receive not only instruction from professional artists in a variety of mediums, but also personal mentorship and tutoring from staff and volunteers.

“The kids mature a lot in this program,” says Urban Arts Academy intern Jarrad Fjelstad. “One of our goals is to get them to the point where they can mentor younger kids themselves.”

Kid Power serves as an extension of the Summer Arts Camps at Urban Arts Academy, providing a structured transition between the summer and school year for the kids that need it most.

Contact:
Lisa Lindstrom
info@urbanartsacademy.org
3901 Chicago Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55407
ph: 612.827.1641
urbanartsacademy.org