Forest Grove Art Literacy

The goal of my project was to encourage an enthusiasm for art in the students of elementary schools as well as get the administrators interested in and excited about art education. The connection between art and improved creative thinking and problem solving skills seems important to me, and I think that art education is important to create a society we can rely on. I worked with two schools in the Forest Grove School District, Echo Shaw Elementary and Dilley Elementary.

At Dilley I implemented the art literacy program, which existed but had fallen by the wayside, and at Echo shaw I began an after school art club. I utilized existing supplies and lesson plans that the district had to teach art literacy lessons with 8 classes at Dilley, and four classes at Echo Shaw, and did an original project with the four Echo Shaw classes as well. I taught kindergarten through fourth grade between the two schools, and gave lessons on Kandinsky and Matisse, two famous artists who I was familiar with.

Through this project, I was able to make ties to community members such as the elementary principals (Angella Graves and Perla
Rodriguez) as well as Forest Grove School District administrator Connie Potter. Although some of the students did seem to misunderstand or didn’t seem invested in the purpose of the projects, the understanding and enthusiasm on the whole was significant enough to make me consider the project a success.

For more information, see the e-portfolio for this project.