Gosh how time flies… it’s been 5 years now since we started painting Christmas scenes and figures on business windows here in Grants NM, and our neighboring Village of Milan, using our local elementary schools’ 4th grade students. “I have an idea“, I mentioned to my wife Evelyn at a time near Christmas in 2017 after I had watched an enterprising artist from a town a hundred miles away paint a Christmas tree on a local business window. He finished and collected his fee and left. I thought to myself “why don’t use our local elementary students to paint windows for the Christmas holidays”? I mentioned that idea to Evelyn and her response was “great, let’s see what we can do!” We called our niece Joanna Fitch, a fourth grade teacher in Milan at the time, to see how she could help. She talked to her school’s principal Clara DeArmond, and fellow teachers Amanda Valdez and Angela Barela, and they got permission to do so. Twenty 4th graders from Milan Elementary school painted elves, Santa’s, candy canes and Christmas trees on 20 businesses and at a $20 dollar donation for each we achieved $400.00 which would go to Grants Mainstreet project (which I had joined) and split with the Grants/ Milan Rotary Club to support their backpack program feeding needy children food on weekends. Awesome!
The following years we included children from Mesa View, Mt. Taylor, San Rafael and Bluewater elementary schools and raised $800.00. The following year $1600. In 2020 Covid hit, and all businesses were receptive to hand drawn paper art as we could not get children out. These towns believe in children; we raised $2000.
We got children back in 2021 and it was great; over 40 businesses and 80 some windows decorated and $2000.00 raised. Kids ate donated Domino’s pizza, Subway sandwiches, and Sonic meals. Happy children and more beautiful windows. Math quizzes topping each day to keep in line with school requirements were achieved with donated and sharpened pencils from NMSU Grants Branch.
This year tops $2400.00 with 51 businesses bringing the total over the years to $9K plus and over 500 total young artist’s effort while learning team work and community participation.
This year we have children’s hand drawn Christmas paper art in 40 rooms at Good Samaritan and 20 patient rooms at Grants Cibola General Hospital.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas: Brushstrokes of Christmas Magic act V!
Merry Christmas!