Parents Teach Art - Part 2

The following article, written by me, was published today in the Storque.

In my recent article Parents Teach Art I shared information about Duniway Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, and its award-winning, parent-led art program. Now I'll go into more detail about how to make a program like this work at your child's school.


[Second grade "Paint and Poetry" lesson]

The Art Committee
If you are lucky enough to have your school's support, and you have a strong force of willing parent volunteers, form an Art Committee. At Duniway, we found that the program runs smoothly with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, such as:

• Chairperson or Co-Chairs – Runs committee meetings, assigns tasks, follows up on action items, liaison to school administration and PTA.
• Art Room "Mom" (or Dad!) – If you have a designated art room, this person keeps it clean and organized.
• Art Show Coordinator – Manages volunteer crew for set-up and take-down of student art show.
• Curriculum Master – Develops lessons, leads training sessions, maintains overall art curriculum.
• Kiln Master – Maintains clay and kiln-related supplies, develops kiln use schedule, provides kiln support.
• Publicity Coordinator – Creates and distributes promotional materials for art show, writes press releases, etc.
• Scheduling Coordinator – Develops master schedule for art room and individual schedules for each class based on classroom teachers' input.
• Supply Master/Treasurer – Orders and maintains supplies, responsible for budgeting and cash flow, seeks donations.
• Web Master – Maintains a website or blog to post lesson plans, showcase student art, and keep parents informed.
• Volunteer Coordinator – Maintains volunteer database, recruits Classroom Art Coordinators, makes phone calls, etc. to enlist help!

It's also great to have at-large committee members who can assist where needed. Of course, you might not need to fill all of these positions — remember to start small!



[Kindergarten "Basic Bugs" lesson]

Getting Ready
Now that you have a framework in place, it's time to start making it happen!

Develop an "art year calendar" outlining deadlines and important dates. At Duniway, art is a twelve-week program that begins in January and ends in April, with a student art show in May. (But the art committee works all year long.) You can expect to put in 1-3 hours a week volunteering, so be sure you have the time before making the commitment.

Come up with a theme. Duniway holds a poster contest and incorporates the theme at the art show: for "Art Rocks," we held a silent auction of kid-decorated musical instruments; for "Art á La Mode," we sold pie and ice cream, etc.


[Guitars decorated by kids for the "Art Rocks" silent auction]

In the fall, work on developing curriculum, creating schedules, soliciting donations, recruiting volunteers and inventorying supplies. Try to get all your supplies in stock by mid-December. Hold information and training sessions for parents so they'll be ready to start teaching in January. Provide copies of lesson plans, show samples and demonstrate techniques.

Build a library of prints, posters, slides, books and music to help enhance the kids' art experience. Slide presentations are amazing, but even walking around showing pictures from a book will be inspiring. An alternative is to go digital and project images from the web; try Artcyclopedia for a vast library of masterpieces.

Appoint a Classroom Art Coordinator for each classroom who will make sure parents sign up to teach and assist with every class. The Coordinator also creates portfolios for storing finished work and meets with each child at the end of the program to select and title pieces for the art show.



[Young designer at work in one of my mandala classes]

Teaching Art
You're standing at the front of the class with 24 pairs of bright eyes expectantly fixed on you. Don't panic! Here are some tips to help you out:

• Allow adequate time for set-up and clean-up.
• Set ground rules, like: raise your hand, keep a positive attitude and turn mistakes into "happy accidents" by finding a way to make it work instead of erasing or starting over.
• Be prepared. Study the lesson plan and check supplies in advance.
• Explain that examples are for inspiration, not copying.
• Demonstrate the technique, but keep it short and sweet! Kids will grasp the concept quickly, and you don't want to bore them. Explain the lesson, then get out of the way!
• Have free-drawing materials available for those who finish early.
• To get kids' attention, clap your hands and have them put down their materials and clap back in the same rhythm, such as "clap, clap, clap-clap-clap." Dimming the lights also helps.
• Never, ever tell them they've done it "wrong." Encourage free expression — each child's artwork is unique and special.

Do you have more teaching tips? Post them in the comments below!


[Second graders' abstract paintings, based on the work of Joan Miro, hanging at the Duniway Student Art Show]

Putting on a Student Art Show
Just one 2-D piece and one 3-D piece from each child provides enough art to transform two gyms and two hallways into an incredible art gallery.


[A parent volunteer arranges mounted artwork to hang]

At Duniway, we made banners of black vinyl which are attached to long poles. The selected artwork is mounted, labeled, laid out and attached to the banners with removable putty. Then, with the help of tall ladders, the poles are suspended from the metal window screens and basketball backboards in the gym using chains with hooks.


[Hanging art is fun!]

A student art show is a wonderful time to celebrate art with the community. Duniway makes it exciting with student musicians, student portrait artists, a pizza dinner and a hands-on art station for little ones.We've even had a mini-tattoo parlor featuring temporary tattoos made from children's artwork! Silent auctions of classroom art projects, raffle prizes, and the sale of children's art note cards and custom t-shirts can also help raise funds for the program.

[The South Gym is transformed into the South Gallery for the evening]

Do What You Can
I hope these articles have been inspiring. If you can't find a way to work art into the school day, consider after-school classes such as those offered by Portland's SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) program. Even if you just teach one class, you will have touched young lives in a way that will make a difference. Keep asking for more art, and don't be afraid to do it yourself.

Further Resources:
Duniway Art Lesson Plans: Duniwayart.org
Artcyclopedia — Art image library and search engine: Artcyclopedia.com

Please see Part One of this article for more resources.

About the author: Christine Claringbold, aka EyePopArt, has been in business since 2003. She is also a mom, an art teacher and a back-up singer in a punk rock band. Her designs have been published in Tattoo Flash Magazine, and her record products have been reviewed by Venus Zine, National Geographic Traveler, Brainstorm Northwest magazine, and blogs including Great Green Goods and Wickedly Chic. She is a proud member of Trillium Artisans, Etsy Trashion, PDX Etsy and Eco Etsy. Check out her blog at eyepopart.blogspot.com.

Parents Teach Art - a DIY Approach to Elementary School Art Education

The following article, written by me, was published yesterday in the Storque.

Where I live, there are billboards all over town that simply say, "Art. Ask for More." At the bottom is a line of smaller print that says, "Are your kids getting enough?"

As an artist and a mother of two, I feel fortunate that my kids attended a public elementary school with a thriving, well-established, award-winning art education program that is available to every student during the regular school day for twelve weeks out of the year.

This is rare. Many schools have after-school programs with enrichment classes or occasional projects with artists-in-residence, but very few public schools have a comprehensive art program incorporated into their regular curriculum. Portland, Oregon's Duniway School, which my kids attended, is even more impressive when you consider that they don't even have an art teacher. Instead, the entire program is organized, funded and taught by parent volunteers.

Are you a parent who is frustrated by the lack of art education at your child's school? Are you "asking for more" but still not getting enough? Maybe it's time to take matters into your own hands, in the true DIY spirit. This is the first in a two-part series that will provide some tips and resources for starting and maintaining a parent-led art program at the elementary school level.


[First grade "Sunflowers" lesson based on the work of Van Gogh.]

Start Small
All you really need to start is one classroom and one lesson plan. Talk to your child's teacher at the beginning of the year. Ask for a chance to come in for one hour to teach a fun, simple art lesson. What teacher could refuse that? To find great lesson plans specifically for your child's grade level, you can visit the Duniway Art website at www.duniwayart.org.


[The Duniway Art website]

These lessons were all designed to be taught by parent volunteers who don't necessarily have any art or teaching experience. Passionate parent artists like Michelle Smit, a mom of two boys who creates abstract paintings and fused glass works, revamp the lessons each year based on student and parent feedback to ensure they are fresh, relevant, and easy to understand. Michelle also makes sure these aren't "cookie cutter" projects, but rich, meaningful lessons that engage the child's heart, encouraging free expression, imagination and "happy accidents." The program encourages exploration of a wide variety of media, while building technical skills and incorporating art history and multiculturalism.


[Artist and parent volunteer Michelle Smit with her favorites from the fourth grade Picasso lesson, which she wrote.]

The program earned Duniway an Oregon Creative Ticket Schools award last year from the Oregon Alliance for Art Education and the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education.

Duniway's lessons are all downloadable PDF files with sample images of student artwork. Each lesson includes the concept and objective of the class, prep work and supplies needed, vocabulary words and detailed instructions for teaching the lesson. Pick one and try it out in your kid's class. Or take a look at some of the many other great art lesson plans on the web (see the Further Resources list below for some links). Or, write your own lesson plan! You don't have to do it all alone — team up with your spouse, a friend, grandma, another parent or neighborhood volunteer to make this an experience the kids will never forget. Take pictures and have fun!


[Fourth grade "Sumi-E" lesson based on Chinese brush painting.]

Get the Community Involved
If you'd like to take this beyond just teaching one class and create a school-wide art program like Duniway's, there are three elements you must have in place: support and commitment from the school, help from lots of parent volunteers, and funding to buy supplies.

Talk to your principal and teachers to see if they could carve out one "art hour" per week for up to twelve weeks. Explain that parent volunteers will be doing all the work. If there are objections that art time will take away from valuable time teaching other subjects, point to Duniway as an example. Duniway is consistently rated an "exceptional" school year after year, based on high test scores and overall academic achievement — yet kids take time out for art, physical education and music one or more times each week. It's no surprise, really — according to Americans for the Arts (the group behind those billboards), kids actively engaged in arts education are likely to have higher test scores than those with little to no involvement.


[Fifth grade "Musical Collage" lesson]

Start talking to your school community. Find out how many parents are interested in art and are available for an hour or so a week to volunteer. Find out which parents own print shops, frame shops, art supply stores or other businesses that can help out with in-kind donations.


[First grade "Houses" lesson]

If your school has a PTA or similar organization, find out if you can form an art committee. With a handful of like-minded parents, your committee can begin to recruit and train parent volunteers and organize fundraising efforts to pay for supplies. How much funding will you need? At Duniway, the PTA's art committee has a budget of $4000 each year, which includes all supplies, as well as expenses related to putting on an annual Student Art Show. With a population of around 400, this averages out to only $10 per kid! As Michelle Smit says, "Where in the world could you purchase 12 great art lessons, including supplies, for under $10.00?"

Further Resources:
EyePopArt's blog post about the 2008 Duniway Student Art Show
Duniway Art
Princeton Online - Incredible Art Lessons
The Educator's Reference Desk
National Endowment for the Arts - State and Regional Art Agencies
Lowe's Toolbox for Education
Americans for the Arts
Arts Education Partnership
National PTA
No Subject Left Behind - A Guide to Arts Education Opportunities

Coming Next Week...
Stay tuned! Next week we will take a closer look at how the program works, including roles and responsibilities of the art committee, scheduling classes, teaching tips, and ideas for hosting an exhibit of student art.

Back-to-School Art Supplies on Etsy

I just finished writing an article for the Storque, the first in a two-part series called "Parents Teach Art - a DIY Approach to Elementary School Art Education." (Who knew it would take me all day to write 800 words?)

I had fun picking out "related items" and used the poster sketch tool to make the above treasury. It's so pretty, I just had to post it here!