Meet Charlie.
He started drawing around the age of five. “Art has always been my first love,” he says. “As a teenager I started saying “art is not what I do, art is who I am.”
Today, Charlie is still an artist, and he’s also helping Chattanooga’s youth discover the artist in themselves through the nonprofit he runs called SPLASH Youth Arts Workshop. SPLASH is a free arts education program dedicated to empowering young lives through creative expression. It’s a year-round arts workshops for marginalized and at-risk youth, that provides a safe, supportive space where children, families, and seniors can develop artistic skills and build confidence.
In short, “we use the transformative power of creativity to build stronger communities,” Charlie explains.
The Story of Splash
Some 15 years ago, Charlie Newton and his wife, Iantha, noticed a striking need in their community: kids didn’t have anywhere to be after school—much less an organized, nurturing activity to be part of. This gap often leaves youth without constructive options after school, increasing risky behavior. Having grown up in a similar environment facing these same challenges, Charlie and Iantha sat down and started asking themselves the question, “what would have helped us?”
“The answer came back immediately,” Charlie recalls. “People like us who love art, kids, and our community—investing in the lives of children with free art classes would have been a tremendous blessing to us and would have made all the difference in our lives.” Enter, SPLASH Youth Arts Workshop.
Not long after this conversation, Charlie and Iantha started SPLASH in an abandoned school building in College Hill Courts on the westside of Chattanooga. Since then, the successes of SPLASH have proven wider and deeper than they even imagined at the get-go.
“When we started SPLASH, we were looking for the little Charlie Newtons, the kids who love art and could possibly use it as a career in the future. What we found out was that all kids love art. Our first class attracted 32 kids with ages ranging from 5 to 19 and we have been growing ever since. At present we offer weekly art classes, year-round, to some 260 students including preschoolers, senior citizens, homeless families, and incarcerated teens. ”
And so, a hobby that began years ago in Charlie’s sketchbook, is now a passion that extends opportunities—opportunities to learn, create, and grow in safe spaces—to a whole new generation and to the whole community.
How Art Uplifts Youth
One of the most profound ways that art contributes to a more connected community is through its impact on youth. “Art is essential to the development of young minds,” says Charlie. “Kids can learn to express themselves honestly without fear of judgment or criticism, not to mention all of the benefits for developing motor skills.” Art empowers youth to express how they feel and what they think, to share their hopes and their stories.
If you haven’t had the chance to personally interact with SPLASH Youth Arts Workshop, we wanted you to get a taste of the powerful stories that exist because of it. So, Charlie shared this recent story of one of SPLASH’s students, 13-year old Harmonee.
“She started with us at age 9 and for years she lacked confidence in her abilities. But her talent was obvious to all of the teachers. Her grandfather brought her to us because she had no activities to participate in. She didn’t talk to anyone in class for 2 years. I would personally encourage, mentor, and gently nudge her in every class but she just didn’t believe in herself. But slowly, she continued to grow and do excellent work. And now? She sold a painting for $1000 and another for $500 at the 4 Bridges arts festival last year! She was also featured in February’s City Scope magazine. That girl immediately gained all the confidence in the world. She has come out of her shell and in class I can’t stop her from talking. ”
Art is an opportunity. And for students like Harmonee, it can be a pathway to confidence, new joys, and maybe even a life-long passion.
Community-Led Art
SPLASH is one of United Way’s funded nonprofit partners this year, and we’re thrilled to get to support this whole-family, whole-community approach to arts education. On several occasions, we’ve also been lucky to partner with SPLASH on specific community-led art projects.
This past fall, for example, we hosted Tocqueville Society donors at our office for an evening to learn about the impacts being made in Chattanooga, and to be reminded of their “why” when it comes to supporting this work. Charlie, and his team at SPLASH, helped guests intentionally reflect on what inspires them. And, of course, he did this through art.
One strip of canvas at a time, guests added their ”why” to this communal art piece. And pretty soon, these pieces came together to tell a hopeful, inspiring story.
“The theme of the art piece was to answer the question “why do you give?” I view the heart of the community as family. And as the family goes, so does the community at large. The home is the place where family is nurtured, ideas are cultivated, and family is strengthened. Thus, I used the painting of a two-story house as the thematic foundation to symbolize the family. Then we utilized text, contributed by the participants, in a kind of collaborative dance to populate the final image with their thoughts and words. The quilt-like collection of these thoughts and prayers on one canvas acts as a symbol for community. ”
This art piece now hangs in our office. It’s a daily reminder to us of the many hands, materials, colors, and ideas that are involved in building a stronger community.
Let’s Make More Art Together
Art can serve as remarkable glue for communities—it sparks dialogue, inspires action, provides an avenue for storytelling and creativity and vulnerability. As Charlie puts it, “art is where diverse cultures come together in a safe place of experiencing, sharing, and learning.”
Because of this, art can look like many things.
For Charlie, it often looks like paint on a canvas, or helping others find and express their own creativity through this same media. For others, it might look like stewarding a neighborhood community garden, serving a warm meal to neighbors who don’t have a home, or playing soccer after school with elementary school students. Art is about uplifting. Art is about creating what isn’t yet there or nurturing what already is. “There is healing power in the arts,” reflects Charlie.
What sparks this passion for you? How might you use your passions, however big or small they may be, to connect with and uplift your neighbors?
If you are looking for ways to get involved in organizations already doing work like this, check out ihelpchattanooga.org. We post our community’s biggest volunteer needs here all year long.
Whatever it might be, don’t be afraid to start small. Someday it might just make a splash.
