Feature ArticleNovember 7, 2001
LAND O'LAKES NewsWeb HomeContact Us
Artist spends week at Land O' Lakes PSby David BrisonA Kingston artist, Pamela Allen, brought art to Mountain Grove for a week under the Artists in Education program of the Ontario Arts Council.
Teacher
Erik Vreeken helped organize the weeks activities. The new
elementary curriculum is more stringent. If teachers dont have
special background in an area such as art, it is often difficult for
them to deliver the curriculum. Pamela consulted the curriculum and
organized activities directed at each grade level. She presents art as
very open-ended not just painting and drawing. This is helpful in
that it broadens kids views (and often teachers) of what art
really is, said Erik.
Pamela introduced a crayon etching technique in Jo Ann McCulloughs Grade 2/3 class. Crayon colours are applied on paper and then the colours are painted over with black paint. A sketch is then etched with a tool by removing the paint, leaving the crayon colours. Andrew Barr sketched a bat flying over a town at night. The photograph on this page of Andrews etching doesnt show the colours he used; they were subdued in the nighttime scene.
Techniques
used in other classes were: a crayon resist process, where a drawing
done in crayon was covered with blue paint which didnt stick to the
waxed portions; creations of stick figures from recycled materials
provided by Pamela; and a 3-dimensional depiction of a Picasso
painting with a backdrop mural and life-sized figures.
Bill Taylors Grade 7 students made tin foil reliefs. They pasted strips of cardboard, pieces of string, small beads, and other objects onto paper to create a pattern. Pamela then demonstrated how to apply a layer of glue and press tin foil on and rub it down carefully first with fingers and then with a rounded stick. The last, and messiest stage, was to apply a heavy coat of paint and then rub most of it off with a wet paper towel. The kids worked industriously and paid close attention to Pamela as she demonstrated the techniques. Classmates pitched in to help others, and everyone seemed pleased with the results.
Pamela
has received nine Artists in the
Schools grants in the last 12 years. This year she will visit six different schools for a week
each. Over the 12-year period, she says that she has seen a decline in
support for arts in education. Teachers have to ration art
supplies, and often they dont have any things like masking tape
or bristol board. There also dont seem to be as many art rooms as
before.
Pamela
ended with some nice words about the Land OLakes students: The
kids here are extremely open not blasas they often are in more
populated areas. They appreciate what is offered and are really
enthusiastic.
She was in Mountain Grove three years ago and would like to come back again. She obviously wants to do her part to counteract what she sees as a decline of interest in the arts.
