By Vivian Shipe
KNOXVILLE, TN — For over twenty years she has been using art as therapy in the inner city of Knoxville. Audrey Wallace has been an advocate for young children, showing up in parks and centers helping children see their future in a positive light .
Audrey Wallace shows up in a park and all over Knoxville, children come from all over to sit
with the “Art Lady.” For awhile technology is forgotten and the children become fully engaged in creating vision boards and coloring pages as Miss Wallace teaches love, resolves conflicts, and encourages them to believe they can be whatever they want to be. TLC, (Teach Love to Children) is a major theme of hers.
“Children must be nourished. They are in a world of negativity. They see it and feel it everywhere “ she said. “I teach love thru the coloring pages. I pull the positive out of them, I tell them you can be the change, and tell them you are our future.”
Over the years she has developed a coloring book, the designs of which were created by the children she has mentored over the years. She hand
makes and sells the books for three dollars to buy the art supplies for the many children she serves
Her own vision is to one day publish the book and to give them out to all the children she encounters every day.
The Art Lady can be reached at 865-237-7355.