Dabbling With Duct Tape

Yesterday marked my fourth visit to bring art into the lives of a handful of teenage boys
living in a group home not too far from where I live. Last fall I went through some
mentor training through Free Arts of Arizona—a wonderful organization whose mission
is to "spark the creative spirit in abused, homeless and at-risk children and their families,
to inspire and transform their lives through the power of artistic expression." I work with
a partner and we alternate curriculum planning, so every other week it's my turn to try
and come up with something to inspire these boys. I know I'm often the last to try the
latest and greatest crazes and while duct tape projects have been all the rage for a few
years now, I had my first experience this week, and decided to bring the boys the
experience as well. Here are three things I practiced with ahead of time, so I could give
the illusion I knew what I was doing. One wallet, one flowered wristband and one ring.

In case you're wondering . . .one of the boys was already familiar with making duct-tape
wallets (of course), but everyone seemed to have a good time and liked what they made. I
have lots of tape left over, so I'll be playing with it myself for a while. Who knows what

havoc I'll wreck . . .