Skyway and West Hill youth are building chicken coops to learn about healthy food through an art project. It’s called ARTfarm and the chicken coops will be auctioned off at an upcoming event with proceeds benefiting the youth.

Skyway Solutions, a community-building nonprofit, has partnered with Renton Area Youth Services (RAYS) and Urban Family, another community-based youth organization, to bring this experience to kids in the area.

“The youth in Skyway don’t traditionally have much programming for them that’s up on the hill,” said Jared Burwell, of Skyway Solutions. “We wanted to see if we could bring some programming to them that would make good use of their time, would utilize the parks – Skyway Park that is an underutilized space – and also would teach about healthy food.”

Fifteen kids, from age 10 to 17, are participating in the six-week program. In the first week they learned about healthy soil and animal husbandry through a field trip to CitySoil Farms, a 1.5 acre farm, located at the King County Wastewater Treatment Plant in Renton. The kids did everything from harvesting fruit and pulling weeds to learning about chickens. There was some classroom instruction as well, but the kids seem to enjoy the hands-on work much more, according to Burwell.

The kids worked on the coops and got classroom instruction at the RAYS Cynthia A. Green Family Center. Its director, Morgan Wells, agrees that the program is unique because there aren’t many programs or gathering spaces for activities like this to take place.

“RAYS is honored to offer our space to host this collaboration with Skyway Solutions and Urban Family, and see our youth working so hard and having fun,” said Wells. “They deserve this, and we only wish there were more things like it to fill their summer days.”

In the subsequent weeks, the kids have moved on to constructing their chicken coops. Working in teams, they will build four coops and paint murals on the outside. The coops will be auctioned off at an unveiling event from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., August 15 in Skyway Park. The proceeds from the silent auction will go back to the youth who built the coops.

“So each chicken coop is designed for three to four chickens, which would get you two to three eggs everyday, without hormones, without unhealthy things added to them,” said Burwell. “A lot of the single-family houses could raise chickens and eat their own eggs.”

The kids in the ARTfarm project don’t get to keep the coops because many live in apartments, where they wouldn’t be able to house the contraptions.

An artist was hired to help the participants come up with designs for their chicken coop murals.

“Some of these kids have multiple risk factors that’s part of the reason they’re engaged with these youth organizations right now,” said Burwell. “So to see them out there enjoying themselves, working together, working hard, was tremendous.”

Alta Planning and Design will also be at Skyway Park for the unveiling to present some preliminary conceptual drawings for how the park can be revitalized. An entrance improvements project is underway for Skyway Park.

For more information about the event, visit http://buildskywaywesthill.org/events/.