Will Carey of Valrico has a huge heart for his community. He is on the board at Tampa Bay Harvest, a local nonprofit that helps individuals who are food insecure.
Carey and his wife, Nancy, also support the arts. They recently commissioned Winthrop Arts Factory students who are part of the Pepin Academy welding program, which is held at the Arts Factory, to create a metal piece of art for their front lawn.
“I saw that the Arts Factory does various community programs with their Mobile Arts Program, so my wife and I thought it would be cool to have them make a piece of art for our front yard,” Carey said. “We left it up to the kids to design and create the piece. Our hope was to help the Winthrop Arts Factory known in our community in an effort to get their programs more community support. We want people to stop by our house and ask us about the crazy art piece in our front yard so we can tell them about Winthrop Arts Factory.”
Winthrop Arts Factory is a local, cultural arts nonprofit based in Riverview. Its mission is to create a bridge between the arts and community in tangible and meaningful ways with a focus on developing and inspiring the next generation of artists and patrons.
“By bringing the arts into central focus, they deepen their roots, enrich their local community, expand their global reach and strengthen our humanity.”
The Arts Factory recently partnered with Pepin Academy in Riverview to create a welding program. This program aligns with the school’s mission to empower students with learning disabilities to maximize their potential in a positive, therapeutic, educational environment.
“When my wife and I found out that the students in the program were on the autism spectrum, we wanted to help this program even more,” Carey said. “Since the students created our lawn sculpture, they are now creating small pieces of furniture and other art pieces to help raise money for this program. We hope more people from the community take notice of our lawn art and want to have the students create something for their lawn.”
To learn more about the Winthrop Arts Factory, you can visit its website at www.winthroparts.org.
