Sinking Springs girl starts art, kindness phenomenon
- Mariah Ramer
- Jun 1, 2017
- 2 min read
With over 50 students participating in Sinking Springs Elementary School, Bella Thomas continues to encourage more to become involved in Panther Abandoned Art.
"Many people experience stress and anxiety, so since I have stress and anxiety, I decided to create art. Art helped me cope. It makes me feel happy, said Bella, 12, a Sinking Springs sixth grader.
"One day we were in the grocery store, and I was having a really bad day and the last place I wanted to be was in a grocery store. I looked behind a cereal box because I saw that something was peaking out, and I thought someone was littering again. But then I pulled the cereal out and there was a piece of art that someone left behind. I said to my mom, 'I want to start this at my school,' because when I found that piece of art I was happy," she said.
"I hope to see Panther Abandoned Art statewide. It was a long, hard process to make, but it was so worth it," she said, adding that many other states have found enjoyment in her idea. In fact, North Border Elementary School in North Dakota found a love for Bella's idea and established their own Abandoned Art program.
"It's always nice to think about how much hard work we put into our art and to think where we are now. We all sit down and brainstorm sbout what the other students like and dislike and that helps us create our art. Before I started it, I just thought this idea would just blow up in my face, with only five people wanting to do it. Now, I consider it successful because more than 50 students have participated in this event and a bunch of followers on Instagram and Twitter supporting us," she said.
The Panther Abandoned Art has almost 2000 followers on Instagram and is still growing.
"I started it in the beginning of the school year of 2016. I feel it helped the school by causing less drama and more people talking about 'who wrote this or who drew that.' There has been a lot less gossip in my school thanks The Panther Abandoned Art. A few people thought it was lame, but once we started it, they later changed their minds and started to think it was cool," said Thomas.
"I came up with the name because Panther came from my school and abandoned art came from us spreading kindness. My principals helped me by allowing the York Daily Record to come in and interview me in their conference room. They also allowed me to use the art room during our free period to create our art. They have allowed me to do so much and I greatly appreciate it. It was just so much fun."
Bella explained that learners meet regularly in the art room to make art to hide. Then they put a positive message on the art for others to find to brighten their day.