Big Bear, April 29, 2011, 8:00am – When Sierra Hood found out that two of her classmates were autistic, she started researching autism, and found out that 1 in 91 kids have autism. Sierra, who enjoys art, discovered through her research that art therapy has been a major tool in working with kids with autism. As this is Sierra’s senior year at Big Bear High School, she decided she wanted to combine her love for art, with her passion for helping people with autism, and created ‘Si-Si’s Art Angels for Austism Awareness’, an Art Exhibition and Fundraiser. The art exhibition will showcase paintings, sketches, pottery, and other artwork created by people with autism. The art can be bid on throughout the free event, and donations will also be accepted. Proceeds from the event will go towards The Miracle Project and Big Bear’s Common Ground. The event takes place at the Marina Resort from 4pm to 6pm on Sunday May 1st. In conjunction with the art exhibit, a special showing of the HBO documentary “Autism: The Musical” will be shown Saturday night at Community Church by the Lake, with a special performance by some of the children who were shown in the documentary, as well as local cellist Dru Chilcoat.
