It is not a normal sight to see athletes painting with water color, or expressing themselves visually through different artistic mediums other than shooting basketballs and holding baseball mitts. But the Selma Police Athletic League is offering an art program for the first time ever for their young athletes involving art.

“When we first told the children about the art camp they were hesitant,” Director for Selma PALS, Detective Dorothy Cowan said. “When you think about art, you think about something that is boring and something you may not enjoy.”

Cowan said that once all 20 of the athletes enrolled in the two-week camp, began to learn more about art with the help of the Selma Art Guild, then they immediately developed an interest.

“They have never done anything like that before, but once they got into it, I mean those two hours they actually love it,” Cowan said.

The camp has changed some of the youth’s mind about police officers, and beyond enriching the lives of those in the community, teaching children that police officers are good is the ultimate goal.

“When kids think about police officers they think of somebody that’s going to do something bad to them,” Cowan said. “So the main focus of PALs is to interact with young kids who don’t know that police officers can help them. When you see us wave or just don’t be afraid of us and don’t be afraid to come and tell us if something is wrong.”

The arts camp for Selma PALS is a two-week camp and this is their first year. Next week will begin the second week of camp, which is everyday from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.

The camp will conclude with an arts show displaying all of the works the young athletes have created.

Everyone in the community is invited to attend the show from 4 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Friday, July 20. The show will take place on 145 Washington Street at the PALS Center and refreshments will be served.