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Hernando Today

Art For Kids' Sake Done By Volunteers

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: March 6, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - The two-dimensional scenes invite viewers to put themselves there.

A vacant wooden swing hangs from the arm of a massive oak.

Colorful hot air balloons float against a blue sky, their baskets empty.

Bluebirds and butterflies float above a verdant field.

Eight of the formerly bland walls at the Children's Advocacy Center in Brooksville are being transformed into happy places by the Spring Hill Art League.

The league is volunteering its time and artistic flair to help make the place a little brighter for the children who arrive there to tell their stories of domestic violence, show their bruises and begin the healing process.

They left out renderings of humans to make it easier for children to put themselves in the scene, said Lynne Simone, an art league member who is helping to coordinate the effort.

The center is housed in two trailers on the edge of Kennedy Park in Brooksville.

"We decided to echo the park theme and since it's so beautiful, bring it inside," Simone said.

It's working, said Janine Hammett, program coordinator for the center.

When authorities suspect a child is the victim of abuse, the suspicions set off a chain of events and involvement by multiple agencies.

Those agencies - the Department of Children and Families, the Hernando County Sherriff's Office, the state attorney's office, the University of Florida's Child Protection team, as well as health providers and victim advocates - come together at the center so a child and family members don't have to travel all over the county.

Children who come in are often physically and psychologically damaged, downtrodden and shy.

Since the murals have gone up, the kids' faces visibly brighten, Hammett said.

"They love it," Hammett said. "They love the trees, the balloons. Everything they've done is so beautiful. It's really going to give the children a good feeling when they're here."

The children need those good feelings. In the medical examination room, staffers use a Web camera to take up-close photos of bruises and other signs of abuse so doctors at UF in Gainesville can document them.
Art league member Grace Ashcraft painted a coastal river scene with lush palm trees in the exam room that now calls to mind Hernando Beach.

"So when the child is lying down, it helps to have that distraction," Hammett said.

The project hits close to home for Ashcraft. The 43-year-old Spring Hill resident and her family have taken in two young children who were victims of abuse.

"I really wanted to reach out and help the kids who are having that same experience," Ashcraft said.

The center offered to pay for supplies, but the league said it wouldn't be necessary. The 10 volunteering artists brought the acrylic paints, brushes and other tools they'd need.

It's the first major mural project in the art league's 30-year history. There will almost certainly be more, said Julie Komenda, a league member who helped coordinate the effort.

"We have so much talent in Hernando County, we owe it to the people who need our services to provide them in the least costly and most caring way we can," Komenda said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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