I spent some time the other night catching up with my close friend, photograher Lucas Foglia. Lucas and I have a shared interest in using our art and creativity to benefit and bring awareness to the under served or unacknowledged members of our local communities.

As an undergraduate at Brown University, Lucas created an incredible collection of photographs documenting the relationships between the diverse members of a southside Providence neighborhood and the community garden that unites them.

Over the years, Lucas and I have had many great conversations and sometimes heated debates about how to approach and sustain our involvement in communities and how to focus our interest and creative output to enrich them.

Having been out of touch for several months, I told Lucas about the strides I have been making in my own business and specifically how I have found a way to use my jewelry and arts experience to engage with and support elementary students in my local community. I described the art supplies I am donating to 32nd Street School and the projects I am doing directly with the students.

He was excited to hear that I had finally found a way to incorporate my volunteerism and love of teaching with my passion for jewelry, but questioned the projects I was doing with the students. He asked me what exactly I was “teaching” the students and if I could be infusing them with specific lessons as we worked on creative projects. He sited an organization he had worked with called River of Words that goes into schools and using poetry and creative writing engages students as they learn about waterways and local ecology.

As much as I appreciate and see the great benefit of using artistic approaches to teach a curriculum, I also understand that students are often inundated with facts and lessons and that perhaps, sometimes children can learn and grow the most by just having the opportunity to express themselves with no further goal in mind.

In speaking with Lucas, I think I was able to further crystallize my intentions and goals for working with the students at 32nd Street School. My goal, as a volunteer and mentor, is to encourage the students to express themselves creatively, support their growing confidence in their abilities, and inspire them to be active and positive members in their community.