VSC Learning in Art & Culture Program On the Air
Vermont Studio Center’s Learning in Art & Culture Program documentary will air on GMATV Comcast Channel 15 starting June 14, 2010. The documentary includes interviews with participating students, teachers and parents of Johnson Elementary School, Lamoille Union Middle School, Hyde Park Elementary School, and Green Mountain Technology and Career Center, as well as international artists of the Vermont Studio Center. Please call GMATV15 at 802-851-1592 or visit their website and click on ‘Broadcast Schedule’ for specific airing times.
The documentary offers a taste of what goes into producing Johnson Elementary School’s annual Fine Arts Night, as well as Lamoille North Supervisory Union’s District-wide Art Show. Earlier this June, Johnson Elementary School (JES) was again transformed into an art gallery for the highly anticipated 15th annual Fine Arts Night. The walls of the gymnasium, hallways, and art room displayed pieces created by all of the students at Johnson Elementary. For days before the show, VSC Learning in Art & Culture Program Coordinator Arista Alanis selected and mounted students’ work—drawings, wood and clay sculptures, masks, decorated t-shirts and more—with the assistance of volunteers that included parents and Vermont Studio Center residents. The event was a celebration of the talent and creative potential of the Johnson Elementary School students.
Lamoille North Supervisory Union District-wide Art Show is also featured in the documentary. This year “Art Shines” was held in the VSC Barbara White Studios May 5-6 and featured work from students of Hyde Park Elementary, Waterville Elementary, Lamoille Union High School, Cambridge Elementary, Lamoille Union Middle School, Eden Central School, Green Mountain Technology and Career Center, Johnson Elementary, Laraway School, and the Johnson Home Schoolers.
VSC’s Learning in Art & Culture Program was established eighteen years ago when VSC’s executive director, George Pearlman, and his wife, Andrea, saw a need for art education in the local schools. Begun then as a volunteer effort, the Pearlmans were instrumental in the vision, planning, and development of the program. For the past eight years, VSC staff artist Arista Alanis provides weekly, hour-long classes in fine art creation and art history. In addition, international artists in residence at VSC volunteer their time and talent to give students hands-on instruction in creative arts such as Indonesian shadow puppetry and batik making, Chinese calligraphy and landscape painting, and Venetian mask-making. Many of the pieces in last night’s Fine Arts Night were created under the tutelage of these world-class artists.
The more recent component of the program that awards creative revitalization residency fellowships to teachers locally and statewide, is also featured in the documentary. During the residencies, teachers focus solely on their own creative work and are given space, time, and mentorship opportunities. In the following school year they develop new creative curricula and expose their students to VSC’s cultural and artistic resources. This year 278 students of Hyde Park Elementary, Lamoille Union Middle School and Green Mountain Career & Technology visited numerous VSC artists’ studios, had question and answer sessions with professional artists and writers, and participated in creative writing and visual arts workshops with VSC artists and writers.
This year’s Fellows, Matt Neckers (Art Teacher, Hyde Park Elementary School), Tamra Higgins (Language Arts Teacher, Lamoille Union Middle School), and Barbara Flack (Digital Media Instructor, Green Mountain Technology) were all granted solo exhibitions of their work at VSC’s Red Mill Gallery and readings at Lowe Lecture Hall in Johnson. These events were open to the public and well attended by fellow teachers, colleagues, family, VSC artists and community residents.
The Learning in Art & Culture Program is made possible through the support of the Vermont Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Merchants Bank, Canaday Family Charitable Trust, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, Green Mountain Fund, Lamoille North Supervisory Union, and participating schools. For more information about the program contact Zelda Alpern at 803-635-2727 x 218.
