Published: March 05, 2009 07:45 am      

On the Bright Side: Grant adding color to school

Worcester students work on project funded by UCCCA

By Patricia Breakey
Delhi News Bureau

The drab entryway to Worcester Central School will be adorned with “Jewels of the Forest” when a mural project celebrating area flora and fauna is completed in June.

Ann Walton is working with her fourth- and fifth-grade classes on the project, which is funded through the Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts Creative Partnership Grants.

The Creative Partnership Grant is a local arts-in-education matching grant. It is funded by the Local Capacity Building Initiative of the Arts in Education Program at the New York State Council on the Arts, or NYSCA. Walton said students are working with guest artist Joanne Spina on a mural to illuminate the entrance to the school. The children will work as apprentices, choosing much of the subject matter and painting portions of the mural.

Walton said that in preparation, the children have been studying the work of Hudson River School artists because their landscapes feature local trees, plants and geological features.

They have also studied John James Audubon’s painting of birds and wildlife.

On Wednesday, four of the fifth-graders discussed the project by phone inside Walton’s classroom. Melissa said she had chosen a robin to be part of the mural, while Abby wanted a squirrel and chipmunk included. Other animals chosen by students include a rabbit and a kestrel.

James and Michael said there should be birch, sugar maple and oak trees.

The mural will be done on six to eight panels, which will initially be placed around the walls of the kiosk where the receptionist greets people entering the school. After the building project is completed, the panels will be transferred to the walls.

While the mural project is under way, short documentaries about the process of completing the mural will be filmed.

“We have filmed the drab space the way it is now, and the students priming the panels to prepare them,” Walton said.

The children will also be journaling about the project as it progresses. Walton said the project must be completed by the end of the school year. She said the Worcester PTA provided the matching funds for the grant.

Corrine O’Connor, UCCCA arts education coordinator, said the mural is an excellent local project, incorporating everything in the area.

Each year, schools in Otsego and Delaware counties are eligible for funding to support the integration of the arts into the mainstream curriculum.

Applicants may request $500 to $2,000 for a proposed project. A panel of teachers, artists and community members review all applications.

Artists and teachers work together to create a cohesive agenda where the arts are integrated into the average school day. The Creative Partnership Grant is designed to create connections between creative arts and other subject matter.

“These grants are a wonderful opportunity for teachers, artists and students to engage in learning experiences using the arts,” O’Connor said. “By incorporating arts in core-subject courses, students are able to creatively engage in material that they may otherwise find uninspiring or uninteresting.”

Schools receiving funding are responsible for a public performance to showcase the project. The following projects also received grants:

ä Milford Central School: “Eva Coo: Murderess of Milford,” development and production of an iconic image for all publicity of the event.

ä Otsego County Head Start: Cultivating understanding of rural heritage that has shaped the land and the culture, inclusive of pre-K art projects using The Farmers’ Museum setting.

ä Springbrook: “Our Stories Come to Life!” A student-created theatrical project in which students will guide and structure their own stories. ä Cooperstown Elementary School: “Students as Storytellers: Performance Art Across the Curriculum.” Students will develop stories, learn the oral tradition of storytelling and perform their stories.

ä Cooperstown Middle School: “Diverse Interpretations: Making and Using a Journal,” using the wonders of sound and art on the wind.

ä Unatego Elementary School: “Storytelling How and Why: Stories from the Rain Forest.” Students will develop storytelling and oral performance skills while developing and in-depth knowledge of animals, plants and life in the rain forest.

ä Unatego Middle School: “Tapestry of Tales.” Middle-school students will research a variety of books and CDs demonstrating the different cultural applications of storytelling. Then, they will develop and tell their own.

ä Riverside Elementary School, Oneonta: “Poetry of Conscience: Raising Third Graders’ Voices for India’s Children.”

Third-graders will be made aware of the social, gender and cultural issues surrounding India’s children. They will then express their feelings, thoughts and emotions in poetic form.