By Haley Sealander
For my service learning project, I signed up to work at the Zootown Arts Community Center (ZACC) and help mount art on the wall for an exhibit the ZACC hosted. The exhibit was pictures of monsters that kids drew and then next to it, a piece of art that an adult artist created using the kid’s interpretation of a monster as inspiration. When I first signed up for this service project I was skeptical how setting up an art exhibit would benefit the community. As soon as I got to the ZACC and learned more about what we were doing I saw how much of an impact this organization has on the Missoula community. The ZACC offers art classes and other activities to the community that get people involved and using their creative minds to grow a stronger community. In my opinion and personal experience, art is a kind of therapy that lets someone explain themselves while using a different part of their brain that people wouldn’t normally be using in their everyday lives. Creating social change is something that takes time and requires many different ideas, and starts with small acts that lead to the greater good. This program is committed to developing a strong community relationship and to connect Missoula residents through art. By starting on what seems like a small level, we can make big changes by starting at the roots of the issues. Just by people showing up to hang pictures, there is already an attitude change because volunteers are supporting the community in growing stronger. I was also able to hear from all the people at the ZACC and how they were so committed to this program, which allowed me to see that no act is insignificant. I was also inspired to volunteer more and seek out other opportunities in Missoula.
I learned the concept of starting at the root when I spent the summer in the Dominican Republic. I was there to be a “youth catalyst for social change”. My goal was to inspire youth to be leaders in their own communities. Youth, in my opinion are the perfect way to create a sustainable change because they are the population of people that are most open to new ideas. I think the ZACC is using the same tools to create a strong community environment involving all generations. The ZACC is giving kids the spark to seek out and explore their creative side and gain confidence in themselves. They are also creating opportunities for artists to connect with kids and show off their creative sides, especially people who aren’t professional artists and have their work displayed in exhibits. The ZACC is using a new approach to social change, for example they're not teaching directly how to create a strong community, but instead taking an indirect approach by encouraging strong community ties. In my opinion a lot of nonprofits are still going about trying to create social change in a very traditional way. What I mean by that is they are just putting a Band-Aid over the issue and thinking that they are better and are trying to force themselves on people because they think they do things the “right way” and they know best. I see this way of thinking a lot when programs are taking a group to a different country and building a school for example. The programs go in with money and just build what they think the community needs, without asking what the community really wants and if they actually “need” anything at all. By doing this, the program is giving off the feeling that they are better than the people in the other community and not empowering the people to make a change if they even want one. The ZACC, I feel is going about creating social change in a sustainable and dignified way. They aren’t saying the Missoula community is lacking in anything, only trying to support it to grow stronger.
Another way I think that nonprofits can improve the way they try and create a change is by using the word support instead of help. Help I feel gives the connotation that the people they are trying to “help” aren’t good enough and are inferior. I feel that the word support is a lot more dignified and gives the people involved in the issue empowerment to be able to accomplish the goal on their own. Another thing I learned from volunteering at the ZACC was how close and supportive the Missoula community was already. There were parents with their kids, young, elderly, and teenagers helping to hang these pictures that children and adults made. Volunteering is an amazing way to get involved in a community because you are working to benefit others and create an impactful change, which creates a closer knit community. Volunteering, especially at this time in my life, when I am moving to a new state and adjusting to being on my own for the first time, has made me feel a lot more comfortable and now I know the Missoula community a little bit better.