PEORIA Ill. (WMBD) — Artists Re-envisioning tomorrow, or ART Inc, is celebrating Black History Month.
Opening in 2018, ART Inc was founded to help kids better their future and keep them off the streets. Co-founder Nikki Romain said Black history is scattered around the entire ART Inc building.
“Throughout the building, we have artwork from various black artists, so they get to see the work of black artists every day. And then this month, we will just kind of hone in on specific ones.
She says the students will focus on themselves and what it means to be a person of color,” said Romain.
Romain went on to say how she wants her students to take pride in their art and in their culture.
“It helps them with a sense of pride. It also helps them with knowing there are people just like them that are in different careers, people that are just like them that are successful and that just brings about pride and makes them want to do better in life,” said Romain
Romain and her husband Johnathon started an after-school program to keep the kids off the streets and focused on their education and being upstanding members of the community.
“The worst hours in the day are between the time the kids get out of school to the time the parents pick them up after work,” said ART Inc co-founder Johnathon Romain. “What art inc is all about is actually creating a safe, fun environment for kids to come in as an alternative to what lies out there.”
The after-school program is free for everybody and more information can be found on ART Incs website.
