ADVOCACY attention to the visual art program to students, parents, and visitors. Art Speakers In an effort to expose our students to professionals in art-related vocations, we invited experts to make presenta-tions to our students enrolled in art classes. This included Mike Wimmer, painter and illustrator; Joe Don Buck-ner, award-winning photojournalist; Don Smarto, filmmaker and photog-rapher; and Will Terrell, comic book artist. Media coverage of these events highlighted the visual art programs on each of these campuses and devel-oped community awareness. Gallery Field Trips Field trips to gallery exhibits spon-sored by the local universities and community art organizations provide students with the experience of view-ing an organized exhibit. Opportuni-ties to attend event openings or to hear special presentations by artists are enriching for students as they begin to see themselves as future art exhibitors. Our community has a strong First Friday Art Walk. Mul-tiple formal and makeshift galleries A student photography display at Hutch Middle School. School-wide Art Advocacy Samuel J. Ayers I magine a team practicing plays every afternoon but never playing an actual game in front of family and friends. Or imagine a band playing full pieces in practice each day but never performing at a concert hall. If these situations persisted, student athletes and musicians would lose interest in their craft and lose interest in investing the time and energy required to develop their tal-ents and skills. It can be the same way for art students. Formally recognizing the creative efforts of student artists can positively reinforce their talents and efforts, enhancing the visibility of school visual arts programs. As a principal, I worked with each of my art teachers to highlight the work of our artists and promote our visual art programs. Our goal was to honor our student artists and to develop awareness for the visual arts within our community. The examples that follow can be rep-licated or modified at any level. Student Art Gallery We dedicated a wall near the middle-school entrance as a gallery for student art. Wooden letters were installed for the Glenna Goodacre Ga ller y, honoring the nationally renowned sculptor who attended the school. In other schools, trophy cases were dedicated for displaying art. Bul-letin boards throughout the school were used for exhibiting student art. Framed Student Art We professionally framed student art pieces at several campuses for per-manent display in the hallways. This highlighted the individual artists, who donated their pieces or, in some cases, received a monetary stipend for their pieces. The art enhanced the beauty of the school hallway and drew Formally recognizing the creative efforts of student artists can positively reinforce their talents and efforts, enhancing the visibility of school visual arts programs. highlight area professional artists each month. This venue provides an opportunity to view work by a variety of professional artists. H igh-school and middle-school student artists have been extended opportu-nities for group exhibits at this spe-cial event. Art Honor Society At the middle school, we created a chapter of the National Junior Art Honor Society. We named our middle-school chapter in honor of CONTINUED ON PAGE 46. 8 FEBRUARY 2020 SchoolArts
School Arts Magazine February 2020: Page 10
