Groundwork Arts Director Rhonda Coleman discusses ‘Signs of Courage’ art project

On last Friday’s Up-Close Show, host Gary Daigneault spoke to special guest Rhonda Coleman, Director of Groundwork Arts, a local organization whose mission is to ensure students, their families, and teachers have equitable access to the arts.

Daigneault and Coleman discussed the Groundwork Arts “Signs of Courage” project, a program that helps students address deeper expressions born from modern challenges they may face.

“So, as you can imagine, kids these days are challenged with many things I wasn’t personally challenged with when I was young: active shooting drills, social media, cyber bullying, and the usual things young students deal with. So this project is specifically for 6th graders where they’re participating in creating a public art project called Signs of Courage, which will end up being 11 art signs, one sign from each school, that displays a positive message. So they learn about color, shape, type, message, presentation, working together, collaborating.”

Coleman hopes each of those eleven schools will then display the signs, as well as combining them into a larger installation at Freedom Plaza in Twentynine Palms.

Gabriel Hart

Gabriel Hart is an author and journalist from Morongo Valley, CA. He was a finalist for the 2024 Golden Mic Awards for his continuous reporting on the Morongo Valley Community Services District. His punk-noir novel On High at Red Tide is out now from Pig Roast Publishing, and he's the editor-in-chief/publisher of Beyond the Last Estate, a print-only magazine featuring "creative reporting on contemporary literature."