Art for children’s sake
Marcia
Gibson and Helena Avery are partners in promoting the arts and science among
children in both public and private schools. Gibson is an art teacher and Avery
is the president of Arts Outreach for Santa Ynez Valley.
One
of the highlights of their joint effort recently involved a 2006 article
written by Gibson for the national Arts & Activities magazine.
“A
teacher in Ohio mentioned me in the magazine. She had used one of my stories in
a lesson,” Gibson said.
The
Ohio teacher had mentioned “A Story to Remember,” which had been published in
the February 2006 edition of the magazine. In the article, Gibson told how
Pueblo people relied on storytelling to pass along their traditions before they
had a written language.
The
story was illustrated with pictures of clay figurines made by Gibson’s
students: A small terra cotta bear cradling two little black and white
“babies”; an owl in black and white, with three terra cotta baby figures, one
on its head; an intricately decorated snake with three tiny baby snakes, and
several others.
In
her magazine article, Gibson wrote, “The Pueblo Indian potters have made clay
figures representing storytellers for many years. These clay figures depict a
grandparent or parent figure with lots of little ones clamoring about to hear
the elder’s words. The cheerful figures honor the significance of the
storyteller and artistic customs of the Southwest Indians.”
In
spite of past, present and likely future funding cuts, Gibson said, “Public
schools do teach arts. The parents formed a foundation to help fund art, music,
drama, dance and science. The parents put in money, and they apply for grants.
I work part-time, and part-time teachers don’t cost the school district as much
because they don’t receive benefits. It’s the only way the schools can afford
it.”
There
are two age groups that are funded by the local Arts Outreach group,
pre-kindergarten through third grade and fourth through sixth grade. The arts
outreach program operates at Solvang School and at Dunn School, a private
school. Gibson teaches the younger children, and the boys and girls in the
higher grades are taught by Suzanne Getz-Merry.
Avery,
the president of Education Foundation, noted that although Dunn is a private
school, “It’s able to have someone of Marcia’s stature, and Suzanne’s,” to
teach there. “There is also a full-time music teacher. The economic demographic
is pretty wide, and there are financially underprivileged children.”
These
enrichment classes are offered to all grades, but it’s the third grade where
things get really lively.
“The
third grade is busy, because children have gotten used to going to school and
are more disciplined,” Gibson said. “Then second graders get help, then the
first grades, where they learn what they want to do in art.”
Gibson’s
article on the Pueblo project is available on line, where Amazon sells magazine
articles at $5 each.
“This way, parents and grandparents can be assured of
having plenty of copies,” Gibson said with a smile.