On April 26 the Sammamish Arts Commission presented their “Au-Some Artists!” event at the EX3 Teen Center. It was attended by more than 30 special needs students, 38 volunteers and 30 parents and featured music, jewelry making, painting, clay sculpting and more.

“Last year, we capped the event at 20 special students, but with great volunteer help we were able to expand,” said Lin Garretson, Sammamish Arts Commissioner. “Our volunteers are mostly teens and tweens who volunteer to pair up with a special student as an art mentor for the day.”

Tracy Smith, mother of 12-year-old Marley, said she loves the fact that the events are always packed with young teen volunteers.

“Not only do the volunteers get to gain experience that could benefit them in the future, they are getting to help others work on their social and communication skills. Everyone gains at these events, from the children to the volunteers to the parents. It should serve as a model for other communities.”

Since April was Autism Awareness Month, “Au-Some Artists!” had a special focus on students with autism, however the inclusive event was open to students with any type of special needs.

Smith said that they have been fortunate enough to attend three special events put on by the Sammamish Arts Commission.

“The first event my son attended was the ‘Creative Characters’ event back in October last year,” Smith said. “Having never gone before, I was a little nervous about whether my son, who has autism, would like the event. But that nervousness quickly went out the window upon entering the EX3 Teen Center where the event was held. Without hesitation, my son was gone with his teen volunteer to go explore.”

And Smith said there was an unexpected bonus for her at the event as well. While she had planned on simply taking photos of her son, she enjoyed refreshments and cookies while mingling with other parents.

“It was the best experience ever,” she said. “I had just recently moved to Washington last year, so I was just learning about the area, things to do, and places where my son could get services and meet new people. I spent the next two hours talking with a great group of parents, who gave me an abundance of information. I literally smiled all the way home.”

Smith ran into several parents in the community who had not heard about the events, which got her thinking about ways to spread the word. She wanted to give back to the community in some way, Smith said, so she created an event blog for children with special needs and their parents, so that in the future, no one would miss the change to attend an event such as “Au-Some Artists!”

“It was so nice to see all the children so engaged and having a good time,” Smith said. “Events like these are so important to our children with special needs, and not only because this event is free and many parents have to struggle financially to have their children participate, but events like these also bring out the best in our children.”

Smith said that the awesome part about the Sammamish Arts Commission’s events is there is no ‘cookie-cutter’ mold children have to fit into in order to attend. She said they can go and be themselves, with all their uniqueness and quirks.

“It is obvious by the looks on the children’s faces that they so enjoy getting to explore new things without someone saying you’re doing it wrong or you’re not staying in the lines or you need to play softer,” Smith said. “They are free to express themselves the way they want to.”

The arts commission’s next event is “Creative Characters!” in October. The event will include a professional cartoonist to help students experience cartoon drawing, a published children’s author and illustrator to help students write and illustrate a short book, and a puppeteer who will perform puppet theater and help students bring their own puppet creations to life.

“There needs to be more opportunities for those with and without disabilities to share in the uniqueness of each other,” Smith said. “I would love to see events in the future that welcome ‘all abilities.’ We all as a community need to recognize what everyone brings to the table.”