Painting a Better Community

While lining up painting posts I knew I would likely be able to find an art charity and swing it for painting week. What I found was much more impressive than that.

Circle Painting is a non profit organization that officially started in 2007 by Hiep Nguyen although it sounds like it started long before that. Hiep has a strong background in art including a masters degree from a University in California. The idea for Circle Painting began while he was in his homeland of Vietnam. He started inviting kids to come paint circles with him and they loved it. The kids kept coming back and they would always bring friends.

So began Circle Painting. Today the non-profit operates mainly in California, but has traveled to several other countries as well. What sets them apart from other charities is their focus through collaboration to create an actual large piece of artwork, and not something small. Collaboration is one of their core values. The art circle is the piece of many, not just one and requires collaboration. To explain how it works, the first person draws a line then the next person draws the shape so on and so forth…this in turn leads to increased creativity and beautiful work. Another core value is inclusiveness. Here the circle plays a central role again. The art built in a circle inherently includes everyone present and can include more or less if needed. The last value is imagination. There is no wrong way to build a circle. Participants are encouraged to be creative and try new things.

If you get a chance, check them out. Either at their website or if you are local to them in California. The pictures of their art are awesome.

Happy Painting!

Chocolate Fact: Cacao undergoes a lengthy process to become chocolate. The first step is fermentation.

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