Community Canvas

A partnership between Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital and Lehigh Valley Art Spark–and in conjunction with the Kellyn Foundation–Community Canvas gives students at 14 schools the opportunity to create artwork based on healthy eating habits and all-around wellness.

Community Canvas

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For the ninth consecutive year, Community Canvas is giving young artists at area elementary schools the foundation for a lifetime of healthy habits and a chance to display their passion for healthy living and their talent for art.

A partnership between Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital and Lehigh Valley Art Spark – and in collaboration with Kellyn Foundation – Community Canvas gives students at selected schools the opportunity to create artwork based on healthy eating habits and all-around wellness.

In Our Schools

Kellyn Foundation conducts a three-year classroom program series in the schools. In these classroom sessions, Kellyn “healthy lifestyle” educators discuss the connection between good health and good nutrition through programs created especially for third, fourth and fifth graders. Students learn differences between fresh, healthy, whole food and drink compared to processed unhealthy products. Students also learn how to read and understand nutrition labels, while learning to make the healthiest choices wherever they are.

Garden as a Classroom

Kellyn Foundation engages the third and fourth grade students at all the participating schools to get even closer to their food by planting, growing and harvesting produce from their own school garden, creating a year-round healthy food experience.

In Our Neighborhoods

Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital, Kellyn Foundation and Buy Fresh Buy Local are partnering with neighborhood corner stores to make it easier for families to make healthy choices by offering affordable fresh, local produce.

Expanding the reach and impact of the classroom education, Lehigh Valley Art Spark comes into elementary school fifth grade classrooms to provide a fun and engaging experience for students to connect the lessons they learn from Kellyn Foundation. These fifth-grade families receive information about Community Canvas and parents are asked to submit consent online for their child to be considered as an artist contestant at a public art event at the end of the school year. Contestants are randomly selected for the art competition, with two students selected from each school.

Children of Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) employees are not eligible to compete as artists.

Participating Schools

Allentown School District

Central Elementary
Hays Elementary
Mosser Elementary
Ritter Elementary
Sheridan Elementary

Bethlehem School District

Asa Packer Elementary
Hanover Elementary

Easton Area School District

Cheston Elementary
Forks Elementary
March Elementary
Paxinosa Elementary
Shawnee Elementary
Tracy Elementary

Nazareth School District

Salisbury Township School District

Salisbury Elementary School

Whitehall-Coplay School District

Steckel Elementary
Zephyr Elementary

What happens at the Community Canvas art event?

The Community Canvas art event will take place on June 11 at Lehigh Valley Mall. Students will be given a blank canvas and mystery lunchbox filled with art supplies. Every student will receive the same supplies. Students will have 45 minutes to create art based on what they have learned about healthy living. After 45 minutes everyone at the mall and a panel of experts will vote for their favorite work of art. Every student artist will leave with a prize, and special prizes will be awarded for first, second, third and fourth place.

While the students are creating their art, participating chefs will compete in a “cook-off” by creating healthy dishes using three ingredients supplied by the Kellyn Foundation’s Eat Real Food Mobile Market. The winning chef will be voted on by the audience, including the child artists, and will be awarded the Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital’s “golden spoon” trophy.

The Community Canvas program costs families nothing but their time and support for what we hope to be a tasty and inspiring experience for the entire family. The most important artistic talent students need is creativity and a passion for healthy living.

The artwork will be displayed in Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital art galleries throughout LVHN facilities.