Recognizing the positive impact creative arts can have on mental health, Sidney Kiner of Chattanooga wanted to provide an outlet for teenagers to express themselves and connect with their emotions. “The Art of Mental Health” project that Sidney created earned her a prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award in 2024.

Gold Award Girl Scouts are rock stars, role models and real-life heroes who address issues they’re passionate about by using everything they’ve learned as a Girl Scout to solve an issue. They plan and implement projects that produce lasting change in the community and beyond. It is the Girl Scouts’ highest honor.

“As someone who has struggled with mental health, when I discovered art therapy I found it much more helpful than traditional therapy,” Sidney shared. “I wanted to complete this project to share its benefits and help people understand more about art therapy.”

The first phase of her project included working with school counselors at Baylor School in Chattanooga to distribute notecards intended for doodles from students, so they could try their hand at sharing feelings through art therapy. “I made a video and sent to the faculty to show to their classes that discussed the purpose of the project, then collected the doodles.”

She found the results interesting and put them on a wall outside the school cafeteria. “Some people did colorful drawings, some had words, some had physics equations written over and over,” she said. Stove Works gallery in Chattanooga wanted to do a temporary display about teen identities, and she shared the doodle cards with the gallery when it was time to take them down from the wall.

To create a permanent installation highlighting mental health and wellness, she also designed and painted a mural at her school. “When the doodle cards came down, there was a big empty space,” Sidney said. “I had many discussions with school administration to get approval to create a mural wall.” The discussions became life lessons in teamwork, compromise, persistence and patience.

Sidney created the base of the mural, then invited students on a weekend to paint flowers all over the wall, which now had the message, “Spread kindness like wildflowers.”

She used Instagram and online video tutorials to share the impact of the project and her mural and encourage others to use art to connect with mental health.

Now a freshman pursuing human resources management at the University of Tennessee, she recently went back to her high school and someone remarked that the mural brings smiles and it was her legacy. “That’s the point,” Sidney said, “To spread joy, and I succeeded!”

Her fondest memories of Girl Scouts are times spent selling cookies at community cookie booths. She still can’t pass one up without making a purchase and said that those experiences showed her how important human interaction is to her. “I considered other majors but chose HR management because I learned in Girl Scouts that I need interaction to be fulfilled.”

In her free time, Sidney enjoys art, choir and playing guitar. She also enjoys time with her family and boyfriend, Gavin.

Congratulations, Sidney! Visit girlscoutcsa.org to learn more.