More than 300 art projects created by high school students in seven counties will be on display June 16 for the I Sing the Body Electric Arts & Health Festival at Common Grounds in Mattoon.
Fort the third year in a row, the Body Electric Art Tour is partnering with the Mattoon Art Council as part of ArtWorks 2018. The Body Electric Art Tour celebrates area youth who have created innovative and effective prevention messages through the arts. Projects include paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, poetry, while the topics include teen depression, suicide, substance abuse, bullying and body image. They are created by students in Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Moultrie, Shelby, and Effingham counties and will be available for viewing during the Common Grounds regular business hours. The projects promote messages of healthy lifestyle choices based on the 2016 results of the Illinois Youth Survey, which was taken by nearly 83 percent of high school students in seven counties.
The community is also invited to a dessert reception celebrating 20 years of Body Electric’s Art Tour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Saturday, June 16 at Common Grounds.
I Sing the Body Electric is a program for teens that uses the arts to communicate healthy lifestyle choices to their peers through a three-stage process. First, a biennial survey is conducted to determine subjects of concern for area youth. Then high school students choose a health issue based on the IYS results, research the best way to convey their prevention messages, and then create a work of art that is then taken to area schools throughout East Central Illinois.
The Body Electric Advisory Council includes members from WEIU, LifeLinks, The Fields Church, local law enforcement, Bridges Schools, CEAD Council, HRC in Paris, the Regional Office of Education and Sarah Bush Lincoln.
For more information about I Sing the Body Electric, visit www.isbe.org or call 888-550-7464.