Want to help a hungry child AND support the art programs in Walton County Schools? The Cultural Arts Alliance and Food for Thought are teaming up to raise funds for these two worthy causes.

The Full Plate Project is a community-wide art project that will raise funds for critical programs in Walton County through the creation and sale of painted plates. Artists of all ages and skill levels will transform plates into works of art that will be exhibited and sold at the ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival, May 8-10, 2015.

The net proceeds of the project will be split evenly between the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County and Food For Thought Outreach. The CAA’s portion will go directly back into the underfunded art programs of Walton County public schools. The other half will go to Food For Thought Outreach, which provides backpacks filled with easy-to-make meals so children can focus on their development and education, not where the next meal is coming from.

“Our partnership with Food For Thought through The Full Plate Project is an important one in which overall child development and wellness will be improved through access to food and arts education, and we look forward to it becoming an annual project,” said Jennifer Steele, executive director of the Cultural Arts Alliance.

This project is open to all and anyone — children and teenagers, adults, parents, grandparents, professional artists, budding artists and even your pet can create a plate.

A wood, bamboo, ceramic or glass plate, between 8” and 12” in diameter should be used. Artists should re-purpose a plate of their own or find a low-cost used plate at a thrift store. The Cultural Arts Alliance will have a limited number of wooden plates available for purchase at the Bayou Arts Center. Ceramic paint, enamel acrylic paint or alcohol ink is recommended, but the Cultural Arts Alliance encourages participants to get creative: porcelain paint pens, spray paint, sharpies and other mixed media (glass, fiber, metal, etc) may be used to create the plate masterpieces.

Finished plates must be delivered to the Cultural Arts Alliance no later than 4 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2015. All artwork must be dry and accompanied by the information form to be accepted. The majority of the plates will be sold for $25 each but a portion of the plates will be silent auctioned during the festival weekend.

For more info, visit the Cultural Arts Alliance or call 850-622-5970.