The Art Room’s
2025 Community Art Project:
From These Roots
announcing: from these roots
We’re excited to announce our 2025 Community Art Project, From These Roots. We’re hoping you’ll join us in the creativity!
As part of our mission and in concert with our North Texas Giving Day fundraising campaign, The Art Room historically has given back to the community by donating large scale artworks to other Denton area nonprofits, collaborating with community members to design and create the artwork while highlighting what it means to be a community.
This year we’ll be working with the American Legion Hall Senior Center (ALH) to beautify their space and to elevate the underrepresented voices of seniors, Veterans, and the Black community by celebrating the history of the American Legion Hall and its importance to Southeast Denton. We’ve titled our project From These Roots, expressing our desire to simultaneously honor our elders, the history of the ALH Senior Center, the gift of wisdom that the past brings us—now and in the future—and how meaningful social connections fuel our well-being.
We Need Your Help!
We’d love for you to join us in creating this year’s artworks. You can participate in several ways—by picking up art kits to take home and create on your own, or by joining us in-person on one of our scheduled days. Read on to learn more!
Design for the painting of the original Penn-Reynolds-Jones American Legion Hall Post No.840
Installation 1 of 3: Painting of the Original ALH
We’ll be creating a large hallway installation of a 5' x 10' painting of the original Penn-Reynolds-Jones American Legion Hall Post No.840 building. This painting honors the work of the Veteran founders who built and paid for the original building in 1957, which was torn down and remodeled in 2021.
The painting will consist of 72 10" x 10" wood panels painted by individuals in the community, as well as Members of and volunteers for The Art Room.
That’s a potential 72 participants—we need you! (Update 7/29: All panels have now been claimed—thank you!)
How to participate in the painting
July 29 UPDATE: all panels have now been claimed. Thank you!
On one of the listed dates below, come pick up a packet that will include a wood panel to paint, along with instructions. Volunteers can choose the part of the painting they want from the grid we’ll have on display. Volunteers will be recreating their assigned image at the correct scale and coloring, and are welcome use any medium that will work on the gessoed wood surface—and most will—such as acrylic, oil, watercolor, gouache, collage, pastel, oil pastel, or colored pencil.
Volunteer packet pick-up dates:
American Legion Hall Senior Center (629 Lakey St., Denton, Texas 76201)
Monday, July 21, 10:00-12:00 p.m.
Denton Senior Center (509 N. Bell St., Denton, Texas 76201)
Monday, July 21, 12:30-2:00 p.m.
The Art Room (721 S. Locust St., Denton, Texas 76201)
July 17, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
July 18, 11:00-3:00 p.m.
July 19, 11:00-3:00 p.m.
July 21, 3:00-5:30 p.m.
July 22, 3:00-4:30 p.m.
July 23, 3:00-5:30 p.m.
July 24, 3:00-5:30 p.m.
July 25, 11:00-3:00 p.m.
July 26, 11:00-3:00 p.m.
July 28, 2-4:30 p.m.
July 29, 2-4:00 p.m.
Wood panel paintings are due back at The Art Room by August 30.
Questions about the painting installation? Email Marlys Lamar at president@theartroomdenton.org!
Mock-up and on-site photos of the From These Roots mosaic bench that will be installed on the ALH patio
Installation 2 of 3: Outdoor Mosaic Bench and Planters
We’ll be creating an outdoor patio concrete bench with a mosaic of the Sankofa Bird and the American flag, which will be located between two mosaic planters. The planters will be given a mosaic treatment featuring portraits of the original founders of the ALH Senior Center, with a mosaic egg in each planter that honors the gift that those Veterans who’ve come before us bring to the present and future.
Over 600 tiles will be created by artists of all ages, all skill levels welcome—please join us!
How to Participate in the Mosaic
To volunteer, come pick up a packet on the dates listed below. The packet will include four pre-cut 4” square greenware tiles to render an assigned image on. Instructions are also included.
Tiles are due back at The Art Room no later than August 15 (contact education@theartroomdenton.org with questions).
Pick up a mosaic volunteer packet on the following dates (check back soon—more dates, locations, and activities for the mosaic will be listed!):
The Art Room (721 S. Locust St., Denton, Texas 76201)
July 19, 10-4:00 p.m.*
July 22, 1-3:00 p.m.*
July 25, 10-4:00 p.m.*
July 26, 10-4:00 p.m.*
July 29, 2-4:00 p.m.*
July 31, 2-5:00 p.m.*
Aura Coffee Shop (1306 W. Hickory St., Denton, Texas 76201)
Saturday, August 2, 11-2:00 p.m. - pick up a packet at this pop-up opportunity, or stay & paint!
Denton Senior Center (509 N. Bell St., Denton, Texas 76201)
July 21
*The Art Room Education Director Jennifer Diaz will be available to work with any volunteer at this time if they would like to create their work at The Art Room.
Questions about the bench and planters installation? Email Jennifer Diaz at education@theartroomdenton.org!
Planning for the From These Roots quilt
Installation 3 of 3: Sankofa Bird Quilt
A 56” x 80” quilt with a central appliqued image of a Sankofa Bird created by regional fiber artist Barbara McCraw, will be surrounded by twenty 12” blocks sewn by members of The Denton Quilt Guild and The Art Room. The Sankofa Bird represents the wisdom of looking to our past to inform our present and future. Each 12” block will represent our community coming together to support this idea. The quilt will be hung in the American Legion Hall’s Carl Lee Jones game room.
How to Participate: Making Additional Quilt Blocks
We aren't in need of further volunteers for the quilt itself at this time, but as a supplemental part of this quilting project, we are welcoming the following additional quilt blocks that may be framed alongside the quilt in the Carl Lee Jones game room:
Attend an introduction to quilt making workshop at The Art Room or The American Legion Hall Senior Center where volunteers from The Art Room will be demonstrating variations on the nine-patch pattern. Novice and experienced sewists are welcome to attend and sew a nine patch block. Quilt blocks made during these workshops may be framed and displayed alongside the Sankofa quilt in the Carl Lee Jones game room. Register now; space is limited to six registrants each of the following days:
The Art Room (721 S. Locust St., Denton, Texas 76201)
Saturday, July 19, 3-6:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 2, 3-6:00 p.m. [workshop full]
American Legion Hall Senior Center (629 Lakey St., Denton, Texas 76201)
Monday, July 21, 11-1:00 p.m.
Monday, August 4, 11-1:00 p.m.
Sign up here or write to info@theartroomdenton.org to reserve your workshop spot.
Questions about the quilt installation? Email Marianna Seaton at info@theartroomdenton.org!