The Monster Project Brings Students and Artists Together

Here’s something great we think you should know about—The Monster Project. This unique undertaking was started by Katie Johnson, a designer living in Austin, Texas.

“It’s amazing how much time and effort people are willing to put into this project.”

Katie’s mom is a teacher, so she grew up exposed to the trials and tribulations of teaching young people, made harder by dwindling funding for school art departments. In response, she took what she’d learned from both her design career and her upbringing and founded The Monster Project—a light-hearted venture that encourages children to draw and create something, a monster, in their own artistic style.

It aims to help children recognize the power of their own imagination, expose them to creative thinking at an impressionable age, and demonstrate that art, from design to metalworking, can in fact be a career.

First, elementary students draw some truly awesome monsters. Then, designers and artists reimagine the monsters in their own aesthetic. These new interpretations expose the students to modern artistic methods, and show them how their idea inspired real life professional artists.

“It’s amazing how much time and effort people are willing to put into this project,” Katie said. “It makes my heart full to see how much love people have for art, and how eager they are to share it.”

The project’s contributors include talented artists like James Victore, Timothy J Reynolds and Austin designer Ryan McLaughlin. Having worked with Katie in the past, I’ll be reviewing portfolio submissions to find future collaborators—so bring ’em on for 2016, artists!

You can learn more at GoMonsterProject.com, and contribute to the cause on Kickstarter.

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