frontlines

Spreading Art With Heart

A

n imagination is a terrible
thing to waste."
So believes 13-year-old
Ryan Waldman, an eighth-grader at
Bloomfield Hills Middle School and his
brother Jordan, a sophomore at Lahser
High School. The two boys started a
Michigan nonprofit to make sure that
underprivileged schoolchildren in cit-
ies like Detroit and Pontiac have the
supplies they need to bring art to life.
Their nonprofit is called Visions To
Art and its mission is to help create
and sustain art programs at elemen-
tary schools that don't have
any supplies.
"The thought of
not being able to
express yourself
through art is
a huge bum-
mer," said Ryan
Waldman, who
hit upon the idea
for his nonprofit while planning for
his Nov. 18 bar mitzvah at Temple Shir
Shalom in West Bloomfield. "I decided
to go out of the box and do something
different."
Ryan has always loved expressing
himself through art, whether it be car-
tooning, pottery or digital arts, which
is his newest love. He is in charge of the
marketing and collecting, while Jordan
acts as the treasurer for the nonprofit,
handling anything to do with money.

The boys, who live with little brother,
Luke, and mom Cari and stepdad Joe
Vaughn in Bloomfield Hills, did every-
thing on their own, according to their
mother.
"I'm so proud of them both," she
said. "They filed all the paperwork with
the state by themselves. It's been so
beautiful to watch them problem-solve
and learn that they can make a differ-
ence.
"Watching them work together — as
a parent, that's an incredible gift. This
can lead to so many things. And they're
learning that the more effort you put
into something, the more you
get back."
Jordan added
that they are
"fortunate
to have the
resources,
time and abil-
ity to give young
children the opportunity to create."
Visions To Art's first goal is to
restock elementary classes with
enough art supplies for the balance
of the school year, said Ryan, who has
been in touch with schools in Detroit
and Pontiac that could use the extra
supplies. So far, he's raised $600 and
a few boxes of art supplies. He's cur-
rently collecting crayons, markers,
paints, paper and other art supplies at
Bloomfield Hills Middle School and

CONTENTS

Jordan and Ryan Waldman want all

kids to be able to create art.

Temple Shir Shalom.
"Our next plan is to supply special
hands-on guest art teachers to show
children their own capabilities and let
them know that the gift of creating is
inside themselves," Ryan said. "Even we
know, as teenagers, there is too much
emphasis on video games and televi-
sion, and brains need to draw, think
and be inspired to create."
For more information or to donate,
email visionstoart@gmail.com .

heJEWISHNEWS

Oct. 27-Nov. 2, 2011 I 29 Tishrei - 5 Cheshvan 5772 I Vol. CXL, No. 12

Fred Fryman lived and worked in
Metro Detroit all his life. "I graduated
from Oak Park High School," said
Fred, "and I had a home and a job
and friends here. No family, though.
My sister lived in Georgia."
When Fred retired from banking,
his sister's family asked him to move
down with them. Fred sold his home,
his furniture and most of his personal
belongings, driving South with only his
television, clothes and his dog. "It
didn't work out," Fred said. "My sister
died, and that lifestyle just wasn't for
me. I didn't last a year. Now I'm back
in Oak Park." The problem was, Fred
had almost nothing left of his own.
"I'm starting over, almost literally
from scratch," he says, "but I'm fine.
I have an apartment now, and my
dog, and my friends, and things are
coming back together."
In re-establishing his life here, Fred
says, "Hebrew Free Loan was a life-
saver. They were polite and helpful,
and put me at ease. I had a mental
image of retirement, but things came
up that I didn't expect. Banking aside,
I recommend HFL to my friends. All
it takes is a phone call to get started."

The Power of Recycling

Ann Arbor
Around Town
Arts/Entertainment
Calendar
Food

Health/Fitness
Letters
Life Cycles
Marketplace
Metro

47
20
41
24
50
27
5
54
58
8

Obituaries
Points Of View
Sports
Staff Box/Phone List
Synagogue List
Torah Portion

66
36
34

6
38

40

Shabbat: Friday, Oct. 28, 6:13 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Oct. 29, 7:14 p.m.

Shabbat: Friday, Nov. 4, 6:04 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Nov. 5, 7:05 p.m.

Times are according to the Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah calendar.

Columnist

Danny Raskin

Shabbat Lights

52

On The Cover:

Page design, Deborah Schultz

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'like" Hebrew Free Wen Detroit

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Federation

of Fletroportran Detroit

WERE PART OF THE TEAM

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