Artist Spotlight: Self-Love Art Club with Danitra Hunter
DNDA works with talented artists from across Delridge and West Seattle, and we want to highlight them and their amazing work. So, welcome to a new series from DNDA – Artist Spotlight. We are honored to have one of DNDA’s newest teaching artists, Danitra Hunter, as our first spotlight.
Photo of Danitra teaching a SYP class.
Danitra was one of our teaching artists during DNDA’s Summer Youth Program (SYP) this year, hosting Self-Love Art Club. Every week, kids excitedly joined Danitra for art activities including building mini sculptures out of recycled materials, painting, making buttons, and creating self-love affirmation cards. Needless to say, the program was a hit with children ages 5 to 17 years old.
“It was a dream come true to share my gift with youth this summer,” Danitra said. “The highlight was teaching kids to do mirror work — saying affirmations like, ‘I am enough, I have enough, I do enough’ while looking at themselves in the mirror. Hearing those voices say such powerful words truly touched my heart.”
Image of Purrdie Burrdie.
Danitra joined DNDA’s community of teaching artists earlier this year, but she has been teaching art in our communities for more than 15 years. She is well-known in Seattle for her beloved self-published children’s book, Purrdie Burrdie I Love Myself, Can You See?. The main character of the book, Purrdie Burrdie, teaches children to love themselves in a fun, new, and whimsical way.
Danitra wrote the book because she wanted to teach her two young girls to love and appreciate their skin color and heritage. But Danitra couldn’t stop there — she is on a life-long mission to ensure every young person knows they are worthy of love, and, most importantly, their own love. Danitra has read her book at schools, libraries, and community organizations across the area — some of our SYP participants recognized her.
We are so grateful for our partnership with Danitra and the joy she brings to youth in our communities. Check out Danitra’s Instagram to get in touch with her @purrdieburrdie.
Self-photo of Danitra Hunter.
— Written by DNDA’s EcoArts Program Coordinator Erin Kollar