Get Creative with Art-In-The-Square at the Colony Square Mall

Submitted by WHIZ Intern Maddie Luebkert

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Art can improve creativity and mental health according to Goodcity Creatives Community Development Corp.

That is why the local non-profit will host an Art-In-The-Square event at the Colony Square Mall. At the event, participants can take part in pop-art doodling and a watercolor project while learning about the benefits of getting creative.

“We’re going to be talking about doodling, what a doodle is, and how sometimes our minds kind of go toward doodling when we’re on the phone or we’re thinking about something, and how those doodles can really help us express ourselves, express what we’re feeling,” President of Goodcity Creatives Faith Cornell said. “They can also help us process our feelings as well. So it’s kind of a little bit of a creative practice but also a mental health benefit too.”  

The event is part of the art-focused organization’s recent push to increase access to art for students outside of school. The event works in part to prevent the summer slide, where students may struggle to retain what they learned in school. 

“I hope that everyone has an opportunity to get creative,” Cornell said. “One of the reasons that we do the pop-up events that we do during the summertime is because we realize that not every family has access to extracurricular arts programming. We know that finances are a reason and sometimes transportation, lots of different reasons. We offer this free opportunity so that if they want to take advantage of them they can.”

The event will take place on Saturday July 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Colony Square Mall. For more information about Goodcity Creatives and their upcoming events, visit their website at goodcitycreatives.com.