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2021 SPECIAL SESSION II


HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 743
Commending Art for the Journey.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, August 3, 2021

 

WHEREAS, Art for the Journey, an arts education nonprofit based in Midlothian, has greatly served the community through various art education and art therapy programs over the past several years; and

WHEREAS, the seed for Art for the Journey was an art class at the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland that founder and president Mark Hierholzer organized in 2013; inspired by the success of this program, he established Art for the Journey as a nonprofit on June 19, 2014; and

WHEREAS, early programs developed by Art for the Journey included a children’s weekly painting program at The Carmel School in Ruther Glen and a program for individuals with mental health challenges developed in partnership with Henrico County and led by artist and doctor Steve Sawyer; and

WHEREAS, in 2015, Art for the Journey members opened a program at St. Mary’s Woods Retirement Community in Richmond based on the Scripps Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program curriculum, helping individuals with dementia channel their inner creative spirits; and

WHEREAS, two years later, Art for the Journey partnered with Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School in Richmond to provide art instruction to underserved youth, while becoming the first OMA training center outside of Ohio; and

WHEREAS, Art for the Journey partnered with Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 2018 to serve veterans affected by combat-related disabilities through various programs; and

WHEREAS, the staff of Art for the Journey are guided by the organization’s values of well-being, dignity, growth, evolution, generosity, and community, cultivating positive experiences that help rejuvenate and restore program participants’ bodies and minds; and

WHEREAS, the accomplishments of Art for the Journey have been made possible by the passion and dedication of its hundreds of volunteers and through the steadfast support of various local universities, organizations, and institutional partners; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Art for the Journey hereby be commended for creatively employing art education to connect with and uplift countless individuals and communities; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Mark Hierholzer, founder and president of Art for the Journey, as an expression of the House of Delegates’ admiration for the organization’s contributions to the Commonwealth.