Visiting Artist Program by Nancy Koehler

Part of the mission of Best of Missouri Hands is to serve all the artists and artisans in the state of Missouri with programs and opportunities. This is exactly what our program for Visiting Artists does.

Catherine Mahoney

Visiting Artists serve the young people of our state who appreciate the arts but have never thought about art as a career or an avocation. We serve the established artists in the state with an opportunity to share their enthusiasm and expertise in the arts with others.

Every year BOMH requests from our artist community that they give a thought to stepping up to serve the young people of our state by sharing a bit of themselves and their talent in the school setting.

Kim Foster

So far this year we have had a wonderful response to our program from BOMH members. We would like to expand this program to meet in many more classrooms throughout the state. Our artists did a total of 23 classroom visits throughout Missouri. They reached 480 students and 34 adults with demonstrations and discussions. Many students have never met a practicing artist. It is an eye opening experience for some of them.

I want to thank our wonderful BOMH artists for giving of themselves to the students of Missouri. We hope to continue and grow this wonderful program. With the help of all of you who are able when the call comes out for volunteers, we will be able to do so.

Kim Kenney

Please keep this opportunity in mind for the future. There are so many schools that have cut back on art programming. We can make a difference in the lives of students for their future art careers and for art lovers who will grow up to be art buyers.