Here is a great article from guest blogger Lisa Pemerton on art education. Sharing ideas like this is important because it relates to interdisciplinary common core subject matter. This project is showing what is possible and how art can be made to have a lasting impression.

Mariah Art: 25 of program’s students help create ‘vibrant’ mural for wildlife refuge center

LISA PEMBERTON | Staff writer • The Olympian—Published September 04, 2012  Creative Commons License 4.0 Attribution

Mariah Art students installed a mural about the life cycle of a salmon last week at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge’s Environmental Education Center.

“I’m really proud of it,” said 12-year-old Ellison Roycroft, a seventh-grader at Griffin School. “The colors are really vibrant.”

About 25 students worked on the project that involved 180 4-inch-by-4-inch hand-painted ceramic tiles, said Diane Gaile, the school’s owner and director.

“The children drew individual pictures and the teachers put together the composition,” she said. “It’s all original. They painted all of the animals that are on it.” Read more →

I would like to preface this editorial by saying that Terrance Pratt could just as well be talking about the state of education in America. Education is being corroded by extreme right wing tax policies that are literally cutting the budgets of schools to the point of even closing schools. These ideological policies are destroying the foundations and principals that built a strong educational and Democratic system. Today reform is the hot topic and exactly what ideology prevails in the short and long term is what will determine the building of a strong social society or one that plunges our children into poverty and all the misery associated with it.

We have a moral responsibility to give our children the strongest education we can.  The Born to Draw art education platform advocates visual literacy, integrates art into core curriculum and it gives children and adults the permission to express the creativity of the Human Mind.  As Terrance Pratt so rightly states,

We study art, not because it will get us a job at Atlantis, but because it shows us and allows us to express the creativity of the human mind. In short, a good education system awakens in its students a sense of awe and wonder and engenders in its students a love of learning for learning’s sake.

I am a life-long learner working on the third, maybe fourth, act in my life which is allowing me to give back to a system, that when it was strong, gave me the tools to help change children’s lives. Let us develop a common core value for a future of critical thinkers who will pass the torch and allow light to shine on our Democratic principals on keeping our society strong in all the correct ways. Read more →

My View: Don’t narrow the focus of our schools

By Gene Carter, Special to CNN

Licensed through the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Editor’s note:  Gene Carter is CEO and executive director of ASCD, an international education leadership association with 150,000 members—superintendents, principals, teachers, professors, and advocates — in more than 145 countries.  A veteran educator with experience as a teacher, administrator, superintendent and university professor, Carter took over the helm of ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) in 1992.

Every parent knows how important it is for a child to experience classes beyond math and reading. Many parents I talk to tell me that their child’s favorite subject is art, history or physical education.

One parent recently described to me how her daughter’s physical education teacher was able to tie science and physics to each lesson. Another parent praised the school gardening program and how much her son was learning about health and math by plotting out garden planters that grew many varieties of vegetables. Read more →

“I Draw Pictures All Day”

By Alma Hoffmann  August 3rd, 2012  Creativity, Inspiration, Workflow

From Smashing Magazine — Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0

“So, you do nothing all day.”

That’s how many people would respond to someone who says they spend the day with a pen or pencil in their hand. It’s often considered an empty practice, a waste of time. They’re seen as an empty mind puttering along with the busy work of scribbling.

But for us designers and artists, drawing pictures all day is integral to our process and to who we are as creative people, and despite the idea that those who doodle waste time, we still get our work done. So, then, why are those of us who draw pictures all day even tempted to think that someone who is doodling or drawing pictures in a meeting or lecture is not paying attention?

What does it mean to be a doodler, to draw pictures all day? Why do we doodle? Most of all, what does it mean to our work? It turns out that the simple act of scribbling on a page helps us think, remember and learn.

Read more →

We are working to pin down time and dates of two 6 week Session

Born to Draw Saturday Mornings

Jacob age 11 completed charcoal drawing is the Summer Session of Born to Draw

2 sessions:  Total length of class time 2 hours including set up and clean up

Session 1: January 26 – March 2, 2012 10 am – 12 noon

Session 2: March 23            – April 27, 2012 10 am – 12 noon

Course Proposal and Syllabus: 

Session 1

Born to Draw: A Children’s Drawing Program

The Born to Draw program is designed for children k-6^th Grade. The Children’s Spring Workshop will for children 7-11 years of age. The course is designed to teach observational drawing though Shape Relationships. The students learn formal elements of drawing such as mark making, line, shape, placement, angels, textures, value, color, and perspective.

Each class is geared for the child to complete a drawing within the allotted 40-50 min or less time frame. The Born to Draw Step by Step Drawing program features animals and still life. Children should know basic shapes of the square, triangle, circle and oval. I encourage parents to have their children attend both sessions.

The classes will be offered for two 50 min sessions with a five-minute break and time for set up and clean up included in the class.  Total length of class time 2 hours.

Drawing and Art Techniques

Depending on the age and the child’s development and skill levels. If children want to continue for another session we will continue to working on developing drawing skills.  Throughout the class the children will experiment with different medium Color pastels, watercolor, charcoal, pen and ink.

Painting by Cezanne Still Life – 1890-94 oil on canvas

Session 2

Drawing Still Life

Drawing from 3D objects increases your children’s knowledge of the effects of light on form, volume and line. Observational drawing teaches one to learn to see. Students will work with still-life setups, start with simple materials and compositions, then move to more complicated media exploring textures and concepts. This is a great class to begin studies in art or to improve drawing skills.

Painting of Giorgio Morandi Modern still life

In this session the students will be introduced to great master artists like Cezanne, Matisse, Morandi, O’Keeffe and Steir.

The second session builds on the first session, however, all beginning drawers are welcome.  Beginners who have not had the Born to Draw classes’ prior will start with the curriculum of the first session.

Upon her arrival, however, she was disappointed to find virtually no art program in her children’s new elementary school. Because of budget cuts, funding for the arts varies among school districts, as do the programs. So she made an interesting pitch to the principal.

Read more →

Children’s Drawing classes that teach from the Born to Draw Children’s Drawing Program iBook date have changed.

The new dates are July 2 through July 23rd for a 4 week Session at $45.00 art supplies included.

The Born to Draw Children’s Art Program was developed by Elaine Cimino who has taught studio art for over 20 years. These classes have been taught as part of artist–in-residence in the public schools in Northern New Mexico.
The classes are geared by age groups. No previous experience necessary.
Limit is 8 children per class.

Read more →

Just over 1% of public arts funding is directed towards work for which children are the main audience, reports Neil Rathmell

Against a background of growing concern about children’s wellbeing in the UK, negative perceptions of children and a feeling that childhood itself is undervalued, perhaps we should not be surprised that little more than 1% of public funding for the arts is directed towards work for which children are the main audience.

This is what Action for Children’s Arts found to be the case when we sent Freedom of Information requests to 20 of the UK’s major arts organisations, the four national Arts Councils and the British Film Institute. Their responses are included in a report, Putting Children First, to be discussed at a conference at the Unicorn Theatre, London, on the 19 June.

Read more →