Healing in Arts with Noorthoek Academy and Dr. Jeffrey Frank

Under the Surface, an exciting collaboration between Healing in Arts by Pamela Alderman and Noorthoek Academy for ArtPrize 2024, aims to engage students in artistic expression and showcase their talents. The message of the project is to encourage people to look beyond the obvious to appreciate diversity and creativity. Under the Surface involves eighty students from Noorthoek Academy, all invited to participate in making their mark on the final mystery collage piece. Students of all abilities are welcome, and the workshops are designed to help them express themselves through art.

At the workshops, Healing in Arts artist Yeram Leonard guided students as they painted 10×10-inch wooden tiles with acrylic paint to form an abstract water design. But participants will not be painting in the usual sort of way, with paintbrushes. Instead, they will paint with their forearms. After loading up their arms with paint from wrist to elbow, the students will swipe or bounce their arms across the surface of the tiles. Through this method, each individual will leave their personalized addition. This piece aims to offer a collaborative tie between two Michigan communities and honors Dr. Jeffrey Frank, a U.S. military veteran and Academy board member. The final floating painting can be viewed in the pond at Veterans Memorial Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.