Village School of Naples students make art for Humane Society Naples dogs

Village School of Naples sixth-grader Alek Hiester picked Apollo because he liked the dog’s name and thought he was cute.

The art class project — a scratch art portrait of a dog up for adoption at the Humane Society Naples — still took some time, Heister said. Each student picked a dog up for adoption at the Humane Society Naples and transformed the photo the agency provided into a piece of art.

“It took a while because there’s a lot of fine lines,” Heister said. “It takes a lot of concentration and time.”

More than 20 students in Erica Flesher’s art class at the school participated in the project to not only rack up volunteer hours for the students, but make sure those hours meant something.

The students who worked on the project, which involved scraping away a solid black panel to reveal the white surface below, said they learned techniques like cross hatching and how to use lines to demonstrate texture for things like the pup’s fur and tongues.

The art is planned to go home with the dogs when they’re eventually adopted.  It’s about giving back where they’re growing up, Flesher said.

“I really try to make a mindfully driven environment,” she said.

Jon Foerster, director of community affairs at Humane Society Naples, said art is a  good avenue to engage with the animals in a time where fewer people than ever are allowed in the shelter.

“I think it’s amazing,” he said. “We love our relationships with the students of Collier County, and it’s been a time when we haven’t been able to have them in the facilities.”

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Engaging with younger people is important, Foerster said, because they’re the next generation of animal owners and advocates.

“They chose interesting animals in that a lot of them have been in the shelter for longer periods of time, that maybe have some behavioral or health issues that make them a little less adoptable,” he said. “The fact that they chose our longer-term animals was really heartening to our whole team.”

Ava Corbin picked Cooper because he looked happy in his picture and was pretty darn cute, too.

“The owner’s going to be happy when they get the dogs,” she said.

Amelia Delate picked Roosevelt. Though the project was fun, she said, it was stressful at points. The fine details and tiny lines in the scratch art were sometimes frustrating.

“This was really hard, but I loved it,” Delate said.

And Keira Brady, who picked Betty Boo, liked that her work was helping a dog in need.

“I learned to be patient from it because it took some time,” she said. “Not all dogs have a home and I think it helps them and they can get a happy home.”

Flesher said cultivating a safe space in her classroom and making meaningful moments happen for her students motivates her. This project helped distill a sense of place and connection to the community for her students, she said.

“It gives a sense of importance from the classroom,” Flesher said. “We are using this time at the Village School for a purpose.”

Andrew Atkins writes about food and features for the Naples Daily News. Contact him via email at andrew.atkins@naplesnews.com. To support work like Andrew's, please consider subscribing: https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/