Forts on Gillham Road designed and built by children in Gillis program

untitled-(6-of-11)Those driving past the corner of Gillham and 36th this weekend will see a collection of forts on the lawn.

The temporary installation is a art project created by children in the Gillis Residential Treatment Program. They’ve been set up on the south lawn of Cornerstones for Care, 300 E. 36th Street, for the weekend so the public can view them.

untitled-(11-of-11)-3The forts are a collaborative project between the students and local artist Olivia Clanton. She says it started with the young people imaging a dream fort. With her help, they turned their ideas into a four-to-six-foot-tall space which they then built.

“Forts represent a safe, imaginative space” for the young people, Clanton says.

One of the young artists, Jackson, says he got ideas from Clanton and then imagined a teepee. For him, the project was a chance to push his skills in paper mache to the next level.

But Clanton says the project did more than help the kids develop art skills. The project also allowed each young artist to get individual attention and to develop a sense of self-confidence through creative problem solving.

Cornerstones of Care is a group of agencies that work to strengthen children, families and the communities in which they live. Gillis is one of those agencies.

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