CALHOUN COUNTY, S.C. — Encouraging kids to stay in their communities after they graduate is the goal of the community arts project in Calhoun County.
“The youth are in the schools, so we wanna keep them engaged and keep them involved because we believe that an engaged community is a healthy community and a healthy community is a prosperous community," said Calhoun County recreation director Zachary Tarrant.
The project is part of the youth retention and leadership program. It's also a collaboration between the Calhoun County Recreation Department, Community Development, and the school district.
“We think that it helps the community grow, helps the county grow. The more people that live here, the more people that work here, the more businesses can come, the infrastructure will come, jobs will be here, we’ll be able to open up different businesses," said Tarrant.
The first task was painting hole markers at the Calhoun County golf course. 26 students throughout the Calhoun County School District participated.
“A lot of them they took their time, they wanted to make it look as best as possible. So it gives them hands-on experience with the arts and whatever they want to accomplish once they go to next level whether that be college or a career," he said.
Next, the group plans to paint murals throughout the county, including one at the John Ford Community Center next year. They will also be contributing to St. Matthew's Purple Martin Festival in the spring.