“A hush fell over the class.”
Lisa Conlon, a long-time teacher at Carl Cozier, noted the quiet because of how unusual it is, in a room packed with fifth grade students. But when the kids were tasked with creating an art composition of marine life – with artist-grade paints, canvas, and tools – they were ready to focus.
After cuts slashed the budget for a longstanding partnership between Allied Arts and the fifth grade Carl Cozier classes, Conlon wasn’t ready to give up the beloved program. She applied for and received an Educator grant from the BPSF that allowed them to keep the program running for this year’s students.
Allied Artist collaborator Rachel Potter spent a total of six days in Conlon’s and Siri Baldwin’s fifth grade Carl Cozier classes, drawing on the IB principles and their own familiarity with literary composition (main characters, side characters, etc.) to start thinking like artists.
The students created three separate works of art, including colored pencil sketches, watercolors, and acrylic on canvas paintings. While each project had a theme to work from – based on the IB principles of inquiry, risktaking, and caring – it’s clear from the creativity displayed that individual expression was valued over all else.
With budget cuts impacting the availability of arts in the schools, this opportunity is rare and valued. “I don’t think these kids ever had a lesson in art composition,” Conlon says.
And getting access to artistic instruction can be significant; Conlon points out how art can reach kids who lack confidence in other areas of their student experience and sparks interest in kids heading towards middle-school.
The time and thought put into the projects is what made them successful, Conlon and Baldwin say. “One project wouldn’t have equaled a third of the outcome,” Baldwin says. “The sum of these really are greater than the parts.”
The BPSF recognizes that arts in the classroom reinforces educational curriculum and opens doors for expression. If you’re interested in donating to arts projects, donate today to Educator Grants that keep arts in our schools.
