From Georgia to Maine, Lynn’s Artistic Youth Gain

(PRWEB) March 4, 2005

Raw Art Works, a youth arts non-profit organization based in Lynn, Massachusetts, has launched an unlikely alliance between art therapy and one woman’s love for the outdoors. From mid-March to early September, Jess Wilson, a RAW volunteer who lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts, will be thru hiking the Appalachian Trail, a distance of over 2200 miles as a fundraiser for the RAW Chief Mentoring Program. Together, Jess and RAW have set the goal for the “RAW Gone Wild” fundraiser at ,000.

Both RAW and Jess Wilson are excited about the innovative concept underlying their collaboration, namely that, although we as a culture tend to think and talk about the arts and the outdoors as being two entirely distinct things, the language we use to talk about them is strikingly similar.” Through this fundraiser, Jess hopes to both highlight these connections by “bringing the Trail to the kids, and the kids to the Trail.”

Jess Wilson has been meeting regularly with the Chiefs to discuss her plans to hike the trail and to solicit ideas and artwork for her journey. Describing her interactions with the RAW Chiefs, Jess says, “They’ve been really inspirational. Besides being amazing artists, they’re really honest, and direct. They don’t hesitate to tell me they think I’m out of my mind, but that it’s still a kind of cool idea. And they talk very openly and movingly about what RAW means to them, and the support and stability it has provided them.”

Of the total amount raised for “RAW Gone Wild,” a portion will be directed towards a special Chiefs initiative in the summer of 2005. As part of her belief in the overlap between the arts and the wilderness, Jess has invited RAW kids to visit her on the trail once she reaches the White Mountains in New Hampshire. One RAW Chief, Sophout Nop, who told Jess, “I can barely hike the trash out to the end of my street!” will be joining other Chiefs, RAW artists and Staff as they bring their art work and enthusiasm to the great outdoors. Jess and RAW are working to ensure that their journey into the mountains will be both educational and inspirational for these inner city youth, many of whom will find themselves on the Appalachian Trail for the first time.

Susannah Horwitz, RAW art therapist and co-leader of the Chiefs program, sees Jess’s fundraiser as a chance to introduce “even MORE opportunities for our kids to learn how to take the sorts of risks that will benefit them–healthy risks like stepping outside of their comfort zones and entering the wilderness–and using this as a metaphor for exploring the unknown in their own lives–without becoming involved in things that could potentially harm them.” This healthy approach to risk taking, along with the funds raised by Jess Wilson’s thru hike, will better enable RAW Chiefs to refine their skills as mentors and future community leaders.

Kit Jenkins, the Executive Director at RAW, sees Jess’s motivation and enthusiasm for RAW as a model for future fundraising initiatives. “Jess’s walk in the wild is great for RAW, especially as we are just entering a program expansion phase, where we are developing new programs for new kids, and more in-depth programming for our exiting artists. The more friends that RAW has, hopefully the more that RAW’s work with children and teens will be supported by the community of people that believe in the power of transforming lives through arts in community.”

For additional information or to make your pledge to support Jess Wilson’s thru-hike fundraiser, please visit the RAW website at www.rawart.org/AT_fundraiser.htm or Jess Wilson’s hiking journal at: www.trailjournals.com/breakaleg.

Raw Art Works touches the lives of thousands of young people each year, providing them with arts education, leadership development, and mentoring. Our mission is to use the power of the arts to nurture growth in at-risk children and teenagers.

Contact Information:

Susan Sakash

Raw Art Works

781-593-5515 (phone) 781-593-5955 (fax)

http://www.rawart.org

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