Natalie Worthy, Miss Greater Vancouver 2026, is championing a new community event in Battle Ground’s Old Town district, highlighting student creativity.
The new event is set to highlight student artists in the area while bringing foot traffic to local businesses along Main Street. Worthy, founder of the nonprofit Amplify the Arts, has been organizing the student art walk scheduled for April 13-17 with final student submissions on Thursday, April 9. The event will feature artwork from K-12 students across the Battle Ground area, displayed in storefronts throughout Old Town.
Worthy said the idea grew out of her recent volunteer work with arts advocacy organizations.
“For almost a year, I’ve been volunteering with two nonprofits called Inspire Washington and Arts Ed WA, and they both support arts education and they support cultural initiatives,” she said. “And just a few months ago, I was able to lobby with Inspire Washington and Olympia at the Capitol, where I spoke to Representatives McClintock and Ley. I talked about my experience as a private music teacher currently, as a Prairie High School graduate, and as someone whose life was truly impacted by the arts, and in working with these nonprofits and volunteering for them, it really was a catalyst for me to create change locally.”
This year, Amplify the Arts was born.
“And with that nonprofit, I really hope to get the word out more for students to be able to show their talents and for Battle Ground community members to see the incredible gifts that our local students have,” Worthy said. “So that’s why I created the art walk. … It’s also a People’s Choice voting competition, similar to how we do the Battle of the Lights during Christmas time, is how I kind of think about it.”
With the art walk serving as both an exhibition and a community competition, visitors can follow a digital map that links participating businesses and vote for their favorite pieces via QR codes.
The student receiving the most votes will earn a prize package sponsored by Battle Ground Cinema, which has also contributed prizes for all participating artists, Worthy said.
“Anyone participating is going to be receiving a super student pass from Battle Ground Cinema, as well,” she said. “They were really generous in offering that. And we just want to make sure that every student has a chance to showcase their voice and their talents in this.”
As this is a first-of-its-kind event for Battle Ground student artists, Worthy hopes to see this grow year after year into an annual display of talents and foster community support and engagement with youth arts.
Worthy said participating locations include several Main Street businesses such as Music World, Galleoti’s, Uptown Screen Printing, and 6-8 Church on Northeast First Street. A Google Maps guide will be available on the nonprofit's website to help visitors navigate the exhibit at amplifythearts.com.
Worthy hopes the event will not only showcase art but also remove barriers that often prevent community members from engaging with youth creativity.
“I think for a lot of people, if their child isn’t involved in something like this, they might not ever see it,” she said. “Everyone is so busy, and so if your kid isn’t in orchestra or isn’t in choir or doing an art show, then you’re not going to see that because it’s not something in your radar. So my hope for this is that people in Battle Ground are able to see that we have incredible talents here. And for so many of our youth, they deserve a place where their talents can be shared and also their stories can be shared, as well.”
She added that ongoing funding challenges in Battle Ground Public Schools, due to repeated voter levy failures, could pose a threat to youth arts.
“For many young people, there is a threat to arts education because of the consistent levy failures in Battle Ground,” Worthy said. “And so for many of these kids, this might be the only opportunity that they get to showcase their work in a sort of a semi-professional way.”
Ultimately, Worthy hopes the event encourages residents to explore the local arts scene and continue supporting young artists beyond the weeklong showcase.
“This is a week to take an opportunity to try something different, to go on an art walk,” she said. “Maybe you’ve never been on an art walk, you’ve never even stepped foot into an art gallery, but I encourage people to use this if this is their first time engaging with public art to take it as a catalyst moving forward. There are so many other ways that people can support local art and youth arts. They can attend musical theater productions from our high schools. They can support youth and community theater. They can visit various local bands and orchestras for concerts. So there are lots of ways that we can support the arts.”
