Artist's Residency: MCMS

Last week I had the privilege of teaching 200 grade 5 students how to paint with acrylics.  They are currently studying the history of Indigenous people and the animals that are native to this part of the country so we had fun making marks and using lots of colour to paint animals and tipis.  We wanted to give the students the opportunity to paint something that was important to them, so having a few options worked beautifully.. 

As exhausted as I get teaching (I really don't know how teachers do it!) my heart is also filled when I see kids create.  There are times that they become frustrated and struggle but then are typically very proud of what they accomplish in the end.  And I am so pleased to be a small part of that...if introducing them to art allows them to become excited about it then I feel what I do is a success.  I also enjoy watching the teachers have fun with it, too, and hope they can carry this experience forward to future classes.