The City of Palmetto has been awarded a grant from Fulton County Arts Council for its upcoming cultural arts project, “Our Lives, Our Land, Our Legacy: A Photographic Expression of Life in Palmetto,” to be held May 2-June 13.

The project will involve 5th, 6th and 7th grade students who are residents of the city, with sessions conducted at Palmetto Community Center each Saturday morning from 10 a.m. until noon beginning May 2 and ending June 13. Project participants will be assigned a digital camera, workbook and materials needed to participate in the 7-week program.

Designed to engage our youth, inspire their creativity, develop community pride and encourage artistic expression, this project will teach the basics of photography and interviewing techniques, said project coordinators Lorraine Allen and Majorie Morrow. As a component of the project, opportunities will be provided for participants to dialog with long-time Palmetto residents to gain insight into the city’s history and culture, they said.

Portions of the project involve genealogists training the students on how to conduct interviews with older residents and teachers providing instruction on how to write up the interviews.

“This project grew out of my desire to attempt to connect our youth with their community through the cultural arts. Hopefully, this experience will help to generate a different perspective for our young people and help to forge a genuine sense of pride in their community,” said Morrow. “This interactive project is designed to encourage them to ‘think outside the box’ as it relates to the city where they live. We will encourage them to delve into Palmetto’s past, to gain a greater appreciation for its history. At the same time, our goal is to help them achieve a greater respect for the Palmetto of today. These may sound like very ‘lofty’ and optimistic goals, but I am confident this can be done.”

The cultural arts project will culminate with a public presentation June 28 and a full exhibition of the participants’ photography and creative writing.

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