FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2009
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124
aperkins@pa.muw.edu

MUW art students `Drawing Out Success’ for local high schools

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- West Lowndes High School now has a space dedicated to art thanks to the Drawing Out Success program created by students at Mississippi University for Women.

According to Dr. Beverly Joyce, MUW assistant professor of art, part of Kappa Pi’s mission is to enhance a deeper appreciation of the arts
within the community, and their chapter decided to achieve this goal
through the Drawing Out Success program.

The international honorary art fraternity began the program last
academic year and has partnered with area high schools to raise money for their art programs.

“This year, we partnered with West Lowndes High School to help them
convert a space into an art gallery for their students,” she said.

At the beginning of the year, the high school art teacher was asked to
provide a “wish list,” and then the MUW students raised the money
through the annual Art in Autumn Auction.

Joyce said, “Our partnership does not end here. During the spring
semester, we invite the partner school to bring a group of students to
our department for a day of art workshops, demonstrations and
presentations. The entire department gets involved in the activities,
but it is the Kappa Pi members who organize and facilitate all of the
events.”

Jeannie Staten, who teaches Art I and Art II at West Lowndes, said,
“I love working with the college students. They add a new dimension
to the program.”

DeAndra Lewis, a 10th grader at West Lowndes, added that the program has been well received. “My classmates really like it. We have learned that you can create art with anything.”

Joyce said the Drawing Out of Success program evolved last year out of a desire to have a consistent beneficiary for the Art in Autumn Auction, which started in the fall of 2005. At that time, proceeds were going to various charities.

“The students decided to start this program to give back to the art
programs that had given them their first exposures to art,” she said.
“They wanted to instill their love of art in high school students and
hopefully to encourage them to further study art at the university
level.”

New Hope High School was the first beneficiary and as a result gained a digital camera and computer programs.

Kappa Pi President Chelsey Herron, a senior in art education from
Vernon, Ala., said, “The Drawing Out Success program and the Art in
Autumn Auction are important, not only for the partner schools, but for
the MUW students as well. As future leaders, we learn the importance of community service.”