CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Clarksville families are adding to the city’s public art inventory, while engaging in random acts of kindness as they offer others the joy of a chance rock discovery. Residents are participating in a trend that is sweeping the nation by painting rocks of all kinds and hiding them around town for others to find, keep, re-hide, or substitute with a painted rock of their own.
Rita Arancibia, founder of Arts for Hearts, established the Clarksville Kindness Rocks program to connect Clarksville’s rock-painting effort to the larger, international Kindness Rocks movement.
The Clarksville Kindness Rocks project promotes random acts of kindness using art as a creative way to touch people. Arancibia sees Clarksville Kindness Rocks as a way to integrate arts more fully into our lives and to sponsor a connection to our community.
“When people think about art, they often think of paintings in museums and galleries,” Arancibia says, “but art exists in all of us. For me, art is a joyful thing.”
She says painting rocks is a perfect way to overcome the barrier of feeling artistically challenged. “Rocks are a part of nature. Anyone can paint a rock,” she notes.
Arts for Hearts has sponsored several rock painting and hiding programs to get families started. They recently worked with the Junior Rangers at Dunbar Cave State Natural Area to decorate rocks to place around the grounds for visitors to discover. The Clarksville Police Department has also joined the program to paint and distribute kindness rocks.
On Tuesday, Aug. 8, Arts for Hearts sponsored a rock-painting program at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library. Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett proclaimed August 2017 as Kindness Is Cool-Back to School Month for Clarksville Montgomery County Schools.
Arts for Hearts is currently planning an event to commemorate Clarksville’s position in the upcoming solar eclipse. On August 19, they will host Clarksville Rocks the Great Eclipse, where children and adults can paint coronas or other representational images of the eclipse on rocks, create watercolor paintings, or make booklets to record their eclipse experiences.
This event is a fundraiser to allow Arts for Hearts to continue to bring free art experiences to the community. Each art project will cost $5. Tickets can be purchased at the door or on Eventbrite. Funds from this event also will be shared with After Deployment, a program to support military and their families experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
For more information, go to the Arts for Hearts Facebook page or website, www.artsforheartsclarksvile.org.