DALLAS – Did you know Saturday, November 21 was national Family Volunteer Day? To celebrate, United Way Tocqueville Society members and their families participated in a transformative art project, uniquely designed by HKS Inc., benefitting The University of Texas (UT) at Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders (CCCD).
The CCCD, with locations in Dallas and on the UT Dallas campus in Richardson, is one of the nation’s preeminent educational research and treatment centers focusing on communication and communications disorders.
“To brighten and enliven the center’s existing interior environment, we designed distinct artwork based on the five senses with a focus on hearing, placed in the center’s waiting lobby, clinic entry and lining the corridors,” says Michael Ufer with HKS. “We created the canvases, and the volunteers transformed our ideas into reality at the event.”
Volunteers expressed their creativity through a variety of art projects including painting a collection of 16 canvases, transforming a wall into a sound wave using paint and enhancing a waiting room learning table through decoupage at the CCCD. The unique art pieces serve as valuable learning tools for the center’s clients and their families.
In addition to the art activities, volunteers learned more about communications disorders through an audio-simulation of hearing loss, a sign-language bingo game and a demonstration of assisted listening devices.
“It’s incredible,” adds Ufer. “The space was transformed in one afternoon from unassuming to invigorating. The new artwork also provides a tremendous wayfinding tool. Instead of directing visitors down a white-walled corridor, staff can now say, ‘Go to the splatter paint canvas and take a left.’”
About HKS
HKS Inc. is a leading architectural design firm. Since its founding in 1939, HKS has completed construction projects totaling more than $45 billion in more than 982 cities located in 46 states, the District of Columbia and 59 foreign countries. The firm operates from 24 worldwide offices. Visit www.hksinc.com to learn more.
About United Way/Tocqueville Society
United Way of Metropolitan Dallas is the largest non-government funder of health and human services in Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and Southern Dallas counties. Locally governed and volunteer-led, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas works with community partners to deliver more than 300 health and human services programs in the serviced counties. Visit www.unitedwaydallas.org to learn more.
For the past 20 years, the United Way Tocqueville Society members have worked to advance the common good for the people of North Texas. Collectively contributing $37 million dollars in the last five years, members have helped individuals and families form the building blocks of a good life: good health, a quality education that leads to a stable job and enough income to a support a family through retirement.
About Family Volunteer Day
Family Volunteer Day is presented by the HandsOn Network, generated by the Points of Light Institute and The Walt Disney Company. The annual day of service, held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, is designed to demonstrate the power of families who choose to volunteer together to support the communities in which they live and serve.
