Community Outreach and Health and Wellness Programs

Outreach

WMA works to fill needs in education, cultural sharing, and community development in the Wiregrass region by partnering with other nonprofit organizations, schools, and key community stakeholders with shared goals. The museum’s outreach often centers on providing hands-on arts learning, both inside WMA’s galleries and studio, and occasional off-site programming with established partners. Some of our community partners include art summer camps with students and volunteers at Hawk-Houston Youth Enrichment Center and The Wiregrass Boys and Girls Club, art activities with senior adults at Rose Hill Senior Center, or art kits distributed to partners like Aunt Katie’s Community Garden, Vaughn Blumberg Services, and the Harbor.

Health and Wellness

Arts participation offers communities incredible benefits to improve peoples’ quality of life, and WMA works with partners in the medical education and medical care fields to provide learning resources and greater access to art. Museum staff work with instructional staff in the nursing programs at Troy University, who bring their students to the galleries throughout the year. Students build their skills in observation and analysis while engaging with works of art and exhibitions, an exercise that translates to patient treatment and care.

Other partnerships in health and wellness include the Alabama Head Injury Foundation, which has incorporated WMA’s education resources regularly for its Traumatic Brain Injury group sessions.

For more information about WMA’s community outreach programs, contact Janin Wise, Art Educator and School Programs Coordinator, at jwise@wiregrassmuseum.org, or at 334-794-3871.