A-OK starts a new year of art in the schools

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, October 3, 2018

by Geri Turnoy

A-OK Coordinator

Art for Orcas Kids is starting the school year off with new talent in our classrooms, and even more exciting opportunities for our students.

Three new teaching artists have joined returning A-OK instructors Brook Meinhardt, Colleen Stewart and Robyn Gordon. We welcome Alexis Bouchard, Ariana Terrence and Esther Clark. Each of these talented artists brings a variety of experience and knowledge to the classroom. Meinhardt is a nationally known illustrator who has local commissions all around town. Gordon also works at Kaleidoscope, and Stewart is the garden keeper with “Farm to Classroom.” Bouchard studies Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) and is traveling to Japan in October. Terrence is also a farmer who provides vegetables for sale at Buck Bay Shellfish. Clark is a licensed captain and has taught sailing.

Within many of the weekly hands-on art classes in grades K-5, A-OK will provide art literacy instruction. These units allow for an overview of a specific artist or art topic. Students will be introduced to the vocabulary, elements and principles of design while viewing, discussing and analyzing slides. They will also create a project that reflects their learning. This year, the units will focus on Georgia O’Keeffe, Pop Art, the art of NW Coastal Indians, Diego Rivera and quilting. In the middle school, students will choose from a variety of A-OK Art Exploratories. Classes are as varied as the interests of the students: candle-making, ceramics, mixed media and drawing — just to mention a few.

We are happy to announce that Meinhardt just finished the first of three Washington State Arts Commission (ARTSWA) Teaching Artist Training (TAT) Labs. The labs support teaching artists’ capacity to partner effectively with K-12 schools and teachers. A key focus of the program is on developing strong learning plans, with clearly articulated arts learning goals, assessment criteria, and formative assessment techniques. The knowledge she will acquire over the next seven months will be shared with all teaching artists.

A-OK, which is a program under Orcas Island Education Foundation, is proud of the work we are doing in our schools to bring art to children. We cannot do it without the support of our community — particularly OICF and OIEF. We have only just begun our work for this school year, but we know great, creative things will be happening in classrooms across the campus. For more information, go to www.OIEF.org.