The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
YMCA holding Paint ‘n Pizza night for teens
WINSTED — The YMCA in Winsted is partnering with the Northwest CT Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Northwest group for a collaborative and creative night of painting and pizza for teens.
The event will be held at the Winsted YMCA in the Champ Room, from 6-7 p.m. May 20. Local teens are invited to join the event and paint on ceramic tiles which will be assembled together as one work of art. Materials, pizza, and water will be provided. This event is free to attend; space is limited to 20 participants and registration is required.
This project is organized by Northwest CT Chamber of Commerce Leadership Northwest classmates Jenay Thompson of Torrington Savings Bank; Sharon Kunay, Northwest CT Chamber of Commerce); and Maddie Stenson, NWCT Arts Council.
Participants will be able to paint on ceramic tiles with acrylic paint for 1-1.5 hours, listen to music, and get to know one another. Once all tile paintings are dry, the Leadership Northwest team will varnish and assemble them on one panel, which will then be displayed publicly at the Winsted Town Hall, organizers said in a statement.
“We are very excited to collaborate with our community agencies in this wonderful project!” says Catharina Ohm, Executive Director of the Torrington and Winchester Youth Service Bureau. “This is an amazing opportunity to provide a positive prosocial activity for youth on Friday night and a beautiful project to be displayed within our community.”
“Collaborative projects are great ways to bring the community together. We wanted to provide a safe space for teens to create freely, have fun, and socialize over a common interest,” said Stenson, who is
Program Director at the NWCT Arts Council and a Leadership Northwest teammate. “When I was a teen, my favorite things to do were all the extracurricular activities I was involved in through the arts. I hope this project offers that special opportunity to this emerging generation, too.”
For more information and to register, visit paintnpizzawinsted.eventbrite.com.
Paint ‘N Pizza Teen Paint Night is sponsored in part by the NWCT Arts Council and private donors. Pizza is being donated by Torrington Big Y.
The mission of Paint ‘N Pizza Teen Paint Night at the Winsted YMCA is to curate a creativity night for the youth of Winsted and Torrington as a way to cope with the stress of everyday life. This is a contribution towards hope for a better future where an experience like this can be a regular occurrence.