‘Lismore Draws’ Art Initiative Brings Hope to Flood Affected Kids

By: Justin Rouillon

When Matt Knight visited his hometown of Lismore following the first round of flooding that the town received, he knew he wanted to make a long term difference to kids who’d lost everything in the record breaking floodwaters.

The dad still has immediate and extended family in and around Lismore, and said the flooding and clean-up efforts had hit his niece and nephew especially hard.

“They had been helping with the clean up in the mud for days and were just so tired of it,” said Matt.

Matt’s son Ellis said that seeing the mud everywhere in his cousin’s and grandparents town was particularly difficult.

“It was so hard on everyone to clean all the mud and rubbish up, only for it to happen again,” said Ellis.

To help kids recover from the devastating floods Matt and Ellis have started up Lismore Draws, and have been collecting art supplies to support and help kids get through this challenging season.

Matt said that they were inspired by their own challenges of the past few years when the pair would draw and take online art classes to cope with Covid lockdowns.

“We found that drawing was just really relaxing and took our minds off things, so that’s what we hope these art packs will do for the kids in Lismore.”

Specifically Matt and Ellis are seeking donations of art diaries, drawing pads, textas, markers, Sharpies, crayons, pencils and Blue-Tac.

“We’ve included Blue-Tac so that kids can display their artworks wherever they’re staying,” said Matt.  “We’re also encouraging kids to take photos of their art and send them to us so we can create an online art gallery through social media.”

The Knights are also hopeful to bring artists into Lismore to paint and for art lessons.

If you’d like to make a donation of art supplies to help flood affected kids you can get in touch with Lismore Draws via their Facebook or Instagram pages.  There’s also recommendations about specific products as well as ideas to get you started for a shopping trip.

Article supplied with thanks to 96five.