Fly Art Center Was At The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North On March 28th
On March 28, 2013 Mike Vanover and the Director of Fly Children's Art Center talked to the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor North meeting about the Center.
Our own Mike Vanover and Katie Whitehouse spoke to us about the FLY (For the Love of Ypsilanti; For the Love of Youth) Art Center. Mike is president of the center’s board; Katie is program director.
FLY is a mobile art center that gives children freedom to explore and create without the constraints of a structured art class. The key to FLY’s approach is to get kids to unleash their own creativity. FLY supplies art materials and suggests general themes, “Make something that has moving parts” or “Make something that floats.” The adults do not judge the children’s processes or products and each child is free to discover his or her own talents and means of expressing ideas through art.
The center was founded in 2009 by Ruth Marks, a local artist and educator. Since its founding, FLY has given hundreds of children the chance to discover the joy of creating something from their own imagination. The center visits after-school programs and community centers, particularly in under-served areas.
At the end of the presentation, President Laura gave Katie a check from our club’s foundation to support the center’s work.