Artist-in-Residence::St. Augustine

From mid-April until the end of May I will be working as an Artist-in-Residence at St. Augustine Fine Arts School and I'm really, really looking forward to working with 164 students in grades 1 to 6...not all at once, thank goodness, but in eight separate groups.  Because I love working with the Jr Artists Program at the library (our students range in age from 7-13), I am so excited to be asked to be involved in this venture and have already begun preparing samples for the classes.  I feel so blessed.  The Vision Statement of the school resonates with me and I wish I would have had an opportunity to attend a school like this:

 “We witness inspiration of spirit in the voice of a child, in the colors of an artist, in the vision of a teacher, and in the most simple acts of daily kindness.  Let our creative spirits shine.”

Celebration and assessment of integrated arts learning is a key part of our Fine Arts Program.  Documentation of student learning is visible throughout our school.  Teachers and students work with a variety of Calgary artists throughout the year in the areas of visual, photographic, dramatic, movement and musical arts.

“inspire”           “dream”             “explore”                  “achieve”

 Why Fine Arts Integration?

• Arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution.
• Arts teach children that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.
• Arts teach children about other tools besides writing to represent their knowledge.
• Arts help increase confidence and self-esteem for students who do not necessarily learn in a traditional way.
• Arts increase collaboration among students with more project-based work to achieve common outcomes.
• Arts teach children and teachers to look differently at the community that surrounds them.
• The arts provide students an opportunity to develop and showcase their talents.
• Learning through the arts is fun, active and engaging – children remember what they learn better what they are learning in an active way.St. Augustine School offers a Fine Arts Program to all Kindergarten to Grade 9 students who attend our school. Our Fine Arts program integrates the arts with academic subjects as much as possible and allows students to experience links between the arts and other core subjects.