Emmett Gardner Completes Free Little Art Gallery (F.L.A.G) for his Eagle Project
Emmett Gardner, a Senior at Lexington High School who has been living in Lexington for 8 years, completed his Eagle Project, a Free Little Art Gallery (F.L.A.G) last November after months of hard work and planning.
Gardner stated that the project is “the art equivalent of a community library but instead of exchanging books, the people of Lexington can exchange the art they’ve made.”
This project took about six months to complete. Emmett met with Eagle Project coordinators and the beneficiaries of the completed project. Eagle projects are community servive projects. Emmett met with the Lexington Recreation Committee, and they provided his community sponsorship.
Part of the work involved in successfully planning and executing an Eagle Project is organization and documentation. Emmett created a plan, a materials list, and purchased all the supplies. He completed a 30-page booklet cataloging his planning, progress and journey. This project-based learning is key to the value of Eagle projects in the scouting program.
Chip Webb, the scoutmaster for Gardner’s Troop, Troop 10, reviewed and approved Gardner’s project. He explained to the Lexington Times what an Eagle Project is exactly. He said, “The Eagle Project is a capstone experience for Scouts, and it fulfills one of the requirements for earning the highest rank in scouting, Eagle Scout. It is a service project that the Scout plans and leads. It is important because it is often the first significant leadership opportunity the Scout gets, and Scouts learn a lot from the experience.” He further stated that “For a project proposal to be approved, it must meet specific criteria, including that it benefits the community in a meaningful way, and that it can’t be too small or too big.” He continued to state that “Scouts often learn the importance of planning ahead—they can do their project ‘next weekend’ but then find out they actually have to plan a month or more in advance for all sorts of reasons like approvals, permits, fundraising, detailed design, material purchases/delivery, volunteer and venue scheduling, weather, etc.”
In “Emmett’s case, he planned far enough in advance so that wasn’t an issue.” Webb stated that Gardner made a significant presentation to the Community Center (a 40-slide PowerPoint Presentation) to “sell” his project. He noted that it included details about what he wanted to do and about different design choices. He noted that “most Eagle Projects do not require this level of detailed work, so it was clear that Emmett had plenty of perseverance to bring it to reality.”
Scoutmaster Webb helped Gardner immensely by providing him with the tools since he was familiar with woodworking and construction. He also provided advice in selecting the materials for the project. During the construction, Scoutmaster Webb operated the power tools and cut the wood as scouting has safety rules that prohibit the youth from using powered cutting tools like table saws and miter saws. He stated that “it was Emmett’s responsibility to plan the cuts ahead of time so that I would know what to do. He did the ‘thinking’ part of the cutting.” Gardner used an online tool for making a cut list for the plywood which Scoutmaster Webb found to be a good solution. Gardner also coordinated all the work of the other adult and youth volunteers who used power sanders, drills, power screwdrivers, and hand tools to assemble the F.L.A.G. and the volunteers who did the painting and digging.
Troop 10, according to Gardner, “is an incredible place with some really kind and gifted kids.” Webb, who has been Scoutmaster of the troop since 2021, said that he works directly with the Scouts, providing direction, coaching, and support. He became the Scoutmaster in 2021 because he wanted to give back to the troop and the community. His son joined the troop in 2018 and really enjoyed the trips. He became close friends with many of the other scouts, and Webb saw firsthand how much the program helped his son develop independence, maturity, and leadership skills.
Gardner stated that what sets their troop apart from others is that they are scout-led. Once a year, they elect members of their troop to take up positions of leadership. Gardner has held three troop-elected positions in his time on Troop 10.
Back in July of 2024, Gardner, who is going to college for Game Design, was approached by the Lexington Recreation Department’s Senior Service Coordinator, Kelsey Rollins, with the idea for Gardner to complete this project. He said it was “an offer I couldn’t pass up.” Beth Gardner, Gardner’s mother and Troop 10 Committee Chair, said that for Gardner’s project, he did all the work, planning, managing volunteers, and writing up the report. She noted that this was the third project he tried to get off the ground. Prior to this, he had worked with two other non-profit organizations in the community. He did preliminary design work and documentation, but unfortunately, the first two projects did not end up working out. She commented that when “Free Little Art Gallery became an option – you could just see the passion and excitement about the project. This inaugural FLAG meant something to him.” She continued to state, “It was a privilege to be a part of Emmett’s Eagle Project and see him as a leader. We are very proud of the young man he has become!” Webb stated, “I like that the F.L.A.G. is a brand-new thing for Lexington and that it is located right at our Community center. I like that it reflects Emmett’s passion for art and gives other people in the community a place to share art and supplies. His project isn’t just checking boxes to complete a requirement. It is something he really believes in.” Webb continued to state that he also likes “that he allowed the Scouts that helped the project to ‘sign’ it by putting a fingerprint ‘leaf’ on the tree that Emmett painted on the back. A very nice artistic touch.”
Beth Gardner stated that her son took the summer months to plan his Eagle Project and also to work on college applications and essays. When school started up in August, he would go to school, work on special requirements for his school applications (Game design or creating a video game) after school, attend weekly Scout meetings, and on the weekends and he had to complete camping nights in order to achieve his last Eagle rank merit badge – the Camping Merit Badge. She further revealed that there were many weekends of camping with the troop.
Emmett worked with the troop, his volunteers, and Scoutmaster, Webb spending a number of weekends in November and December cutting, sanding, building, painting, and installing the Free Little Art Gallery (F.L.A.G) at the Lexington Community Center. At home, Emmett continued to paint the F.L.A.G. The final art project was to add a thumbprint in paint (from each of the volunteers) on the FLAG (in the shape of a tree). Beth Gardener was very happy with the final project noting that it turned out beautifully! She said “It was made with heart from a lot of volunteers from Lexington (and Arlington). We hope the Lexington Community creates art, displays art, and even takes art from the F.L.A.G!”
Gardener stated that this project would not have been possible without a few people. He wanted to give a special thanks to his grandfather Carl Johnsen. He said his experience in woodworking was a lot of help. Also, he wanted to credit his mother for being his greatest helper in all this. He wanted to thank his Scoutmaster, Webb for helping with the design and giving them access to his workshop and Mr. Charles Hatvany for his mentorship to achieve Eagle Scout Rank. Finally, he gave thanks to all the scouts who helped bring this project to reality including his two brothers Tucker and Kai. He said, “this wouldn’t have been possible without you guys so thank you.”
Scoutmaster Webb stated, “I think it is a nice complement to the Little Free Libraries that I have seen around town, and I think it will foster appreciation for art and encourage people to create and share art with each other. It will also serve as an example to inspire other youth in Lexington to get out and do good things for others.” Gardner said “One of the worst things a person can do is stop caring, it prevents any possible change, any possibility of improvement. So, do me a favor, as we head into uncertain times, promise me this one simple thing, that you’ll never stop caring, that you’ll never stop loving, that you’ll never stop being human. That’s the lesson you as a community taught me, so thank you Lexington. I’ll always love you.”
On January 13, 2025, Emmett Gardner achieved and was awarded Eagle Scout Rank.