Muskingum University Students Spark Community Engagement

ZANESVILLE, OH – Some local University students were out helping the community today.

Muskingum University students spent their day off from school by volunteering their time to different businesses and organizations.

Mary Beth Caudill, the Director of the New Concord Area Arts and Recreation District, and her student volunteers were gearing up for the annual New Concord Blooms Project.

“They’re helping out with our community wide art project.” Caudill said. “This was born out of COVID so it’s our 4th annual and it’s actually a project for the community by the community.”

Volunteers created glass picture frames that will be used for alcohol ink fire art.

Caudill said this will also double as a safety lesson for some students.

“We are actually going to light these on fire, which I have never seen before with a painting.” Caudill said. “We’re always looking for creative mediums and I think this will be very exciting. We’re going to pair this with the Fire Department and they’re going to be doing fire safety with the schools.”

A sophomore at Muskingum, Kylie Andres, said she is already looking forward to volunteering again next year.

“Honestly, this is so fun.” Andres said. “I love doing community service. I love meeting new people and knowing I’m helping the community with something because I know projects like this can take a while. Especially if it was just Mary Beth doing this by herself, it’s really nice that we have a group here that are able to help her out.”

If you’d like to participate in the The New Concord Blooms Project, you can head to the Crafty Tuesday event that will be held on April 30th.