By Dana DuGan
Research on the brain and how people think, act and learn is influencing the way some teachers teach. In fact, art combined with science, language, social studies and math may help young brains expand and learn.
Using this philosophy, six years ago the Sun Valley Center for the Arts began a collaborative classroom enrichment model to work with teachers in bringing art into every classroom. The Center and Blaine County School District—from grades 6-12—collaborate the entire school year on the program. The participating schools are Hemingway STEAM, grades six and seven; Wood River Middle School; Wood River High School; Silver Creek High School; and Carey School.
As part of the program’s mission, The Center brings professional museum educators and teaching artists into the schools to work with teachers in developing a hands-on art project. The program is sponsored by Wendy and Alan Pesky.
“It’s a powerful way to learn,” said Katelyn Foley, director of Education and Humanities at The Center. “This exhibition is the first time we’ve highlighted student artwork and the process involved in our classroom enrichment arts education program. It’s incredible to see how it has grown. By showcasing student artwork, we hope to share with our community the power of arts integration on learning.”
Jordyn Dooley, The Center’s art enrichment educator and a professional art therapist, works directly with the students and teachers throughout the year.
“The exhibition will elevate the students’ hard work and celebrate it with the broader community,” Dooley said.
Over the course of the school year, these “projects provide students with new tools for interpretation and problem-solving; encourage three-dimensional learning, critical thinking and self-expression; and deepen student engagement with academic course material,” Foley said.
For a science class, the students studied rocks through geology and history.
“They look at every aspect, make a 3-D model out of wire and papier-mâché, then paint it and also do a whole monologue about their rock from the perspective of that rock,” Foley said.
This approach engaged the students to learn using all their senses.
In the past, the artwork has been displayed at each school but this year they quickly realized that they could fill the Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ gallery with the students’ work. As such, there will be some 740 pieces of art that are going up, Foley said.
The artwork will be returned to the students at the end of the exhibition.
All the students went into this year’s program with the expectation that their work would be displayed for the first time at The Center, in public.
“There are a lot of moving parts,” Foley said. “We see the benefit and impact. We also see it as something teachers learn from, as well. We ask them to suggest a new teacher each year and that spreads it around. If we continue at this rate, we would probably be able to see it in every district. The curriculum is on our website so that teachers outside of the area can learn, as well. It’s a free teaching aide for whomever.”
