Art & Culture
Conroe Art League donates Art Banner to The Treehouse Center
CONROE, TX – When Dhelynn McClellan, Outreach Coordinator at The Treehouse Center, contacted the Conroe Art League about donating an art piece for the facility she did not know they would be so involved and make such a difference to all the girls that reside there.
“We have a huge blank wall in the main room when you enter the building,” said McClellan. “The first wall is the centerpiece to the home and it’s where the girls eat every meal, they do homework there, and the girls do activities with arts and crafts. I wanted to incorporate a way to get the community involved and add something to the home that really had a story. I stopped by and visited with Vice-President Debra Riley of the Conroe Art League (CAL) and shared my idea with her to get one of the artists to donate a piece for the wall, without any knowledge that CAL donated artwork to nonprofits quarterly.”
The Treehouse Center is a residential home niched in a neighborhood near River Plantation in Conroe serving young girls 6-15 years of age with a safe place to live until they are stable enough to go back to living with their parents or eligible for adoption. The Treehouse Center provides an individualized structured residential program to assist troubled girls in achieving a productive daily life, free from abuse, delinquency, substance abuse, and neglect.
After McClellan visited with CAL, the organization put out a “call for art” to its members during their Spring Judged Show. Members were asked to submit images of their artwork that would then be photographed, enlarged, and printed on vinyl to be donated to The Treehouse Center. The only requirement was that the art contain a tree. Artists submitted their images which were then presented to the girls at The Treehouse Center. The girls in residence at the shelter selected their favorite piece, a painting by CAL member Linda Jackson.
“I had just painted the cherry tree in acrylic as an example for my next Thriving Artist Paint party when the Conroe Art League announced a contest for the Treehouse Center with encouragement to enter our tree paintings. I entered mine and was so delighted to find out that the girls picked it as the winner! The huge banner is now hanging in The Treehouse Center,” said artist Linda Smith Jackson. “I got to meet the girls as an added bonus!”
“The girls all loved the tree with the many shades of pink and it really stood out among all the images we reviewed,” said McClellan. We are so grateful to the CAL for considering us for this project. The Treehouse Center now has a beautiful centerpiece on the big (formerly) blank wall in the dining room. Thank you to Debra, Linda, and everyone else at CAL for making this wish a reality for us!”
The arrival of COVID – 19 delayed the presentation to the center until last weekend when the 4’x5’ art banner was delivered. CAL holds a quarterly competition among its members for their favorite artwork for the month and the winning art is enlarged into a banner which hangs in the gallery courtyard for three months. At the end of the three months the banner is donated to a local nonprofit organization. To be considered as a recipient, nonprofits should email vicepresident@conroeartleague.com with their request as well as the mission of the organization. For additional information about CAL, visit www.ConroeArtLeague.com.
“Currently CAL has 3 banners in need of a home, and it is somewhat challenging as they require a lot of wall space,” said Vice President of the Conroe Art League, Debra Riley. “The vinyl banners can be hung outdoors if there is a suitable place. We have placed banners in many locations in the City of Conroe including the Conroe Symphony Orchestra, Montgomery County Master Gardeners, Access Builds Children, Salvation Army, Hauke Alternative School, Angel Reach, and Tri County Mental Health Facility.”
The Treehouse Center shelter was founded 11 years ago by Dr. Day Lee Snell and Dr. Kathleen Tanner when they saw a need to provide girls with troubled pasts, situations of substance abuse or in distressed situations with the proper guidance and therapies necessary to turn their young lives around. Each resident is at the home approximately one year and derive from areas around Dallas, local communities, and CPS. Care is provided 24 hours each day with a capacity of housing 25 girls at any one time. Additional information about The Treehouse Center may be found at www.TheTreehouseCenter.org.
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