Think 360 Arts is delighted to premiere a new short documentary: “Connecting with Kindness” Mural Project: Coal Creek Elementary School & Tony Ortega, created by filmmaker and Coal Creek Elementary parent Megan Sweeney of Big Heart Film. Think 360 commissioned this artful and joyful short film to tell the story of this important artist residency in a community that is still recovering from the Marshall Fires of 2021.
Tony Ortega, a renowned artist and veteran Think 360 Arts teaching artist, collaborated with Coal Creek Elementary 4th and 5th grade students and their art teacher Michelle Zuccaro on the project throughout Spring, 2023. During his residency at the school, the students worked with Tony to realize a vibrant mural celebrating the strength and resilience of the school community and the joyful ways that they connect with one another.
What the full video here:
Megan Sweeney of Big Heart Film is a part of the Coal Creek Elementary community and reached out to Think 360 Arts with an invitation to bring her filmmaking talents to the project – this artful and joyful short film is the result! Megan has won three Heartland Emmys for “Directing” & “Youth/Children” categories, produced, directed, shot, & edited a travel TV show, The DC, and created a documentary web series for Techstars in Boulder, Colorado called “The Founders”, among other projects. Megan received a degree in Cinema/Television: Production from the University of Southern California’s film school and currently makes Colorado her home. Learn more about Big Heart Film here.
Think 360 Arts thanks the Boulder County Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) for its generous support of the spring 2023 residency at Coal Creek Elementary, Megan Sweeney/Big Heart Film for producing this wonderful documentation, and Think 360 Arts’ supporters who generously made funding this documentation possible.
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