Three students from Oakridge School District have been selected to display their artwork at the 2016 NewArt Northwest Kids exhibition at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA). The art in the exhibit was selected via a juried competition, which received 247 submissions united by the theme, “The Road Not Taken.” Kyla Wilder, Gage Burton, and Melissa Rouska submitted their work at the urging of their art teacher, Bev Isacksen.

Rainbow Road by Kyla Wilder

Wilder described her submission, Rainbow Road, as a self-portrait on a cloud. “Each cloud represents an experience that influenced my art,” she said. From early drawings and video games to her tight-knit friendships, the clouds surround and support the central figure of the artist.

Keep Portland Weird by Melissa Rouska

Rouska, who moved to Oakridge from Portland three months ago, expressed her love for her former home in her piece Keep Portland Weird. “You can’t see that many stars in Portland,” she said, “but I drew it the way I like to imagine it.”

Contrast by Gage Burton

Burton shows the dichotomy between urban and rural in Contrast. Drawn entirely in black, the city skyline and streets morph into trees and mountains.  “I do all my art in black,” said Burton. “I just prefer it that way.”

STELLAR is proud to congratulate these three young people on receiving recognition for their excellent work. Rouska, Burton, and Wilder, along with the 44 other young artists selected for the exhibition, will be honored at a reception at JSMA on May 21.

For more information about NewArt Northwest Kids, visit jsma.uoregon.edu/NANK2016.

Top image L-R: Kyla Wilder, Gage Burton, and Melissa Rouska

It’s 3 PM on a Wednesday, and the Imagination Bus is packed with eager second-graders.  The bus, covered in eye-catching murals and dubbed “Artie,” has made its way to the rural town of Lowell, Oregon for the second in a series of five visits to Lundy Elementary School. A collaboration between Imagination International, Inc. and the River Road Park and Recreation District, Artie the Imagination Bus is on a mission. The rolling classroom, with room for 22 students at a time, brings arts education to schools throughout Lane County.

Artie the Imagination Bus

Students in the program learn basic skills while doing fun art projects, according to Lundy Principal Kay Graham. “We have had very positive feedback from the students and staff.  It is great to have an art class on wheels.”

Lundy teacher Jessica Edgerton agreed. “It is so neat to hear about all the creativity that is coming out of this experience.  The first few weeks, the students thought were really tough. They weren’t fully understanding the color wheel.  But now that they have been putting it to use and coloring, drawing, they are very excited.”

Imagination International staff teaching Lundy students

Imagination International generously donated the visits to schools participating in the STELLAR Project at the University of Oregon’s Center for Advanced Technology in Education. Additional funding for the Lundy visit was provided by Philip and Sandra Piele.

Community Program Instructor Nori Rice explained that while Imagination International has numerous educational programs, they only have one art bus, and Artie’s schedule is filling up. “It goes out to Kelly Middle School twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays and comes out to Lundy for two classes on Wednesdays. So it’s three times a week now, but during the summer it’ll be five times a week,” Ms. Rice said.

The art bus program was launched in October with the goal of bringing art education to the community. This mission is especially valuable to rural districts where arts funding has been reduced or eliminated entirely.  At Lundy, the bus is so popular that there isn’t enough room for all the students who want to participate this time, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be other opportunities. “We hope to have the bus return for summer classes as well as during the 2016-2017 school year,” said Principal Graham. “This is a great partnership and we are thrilled with the opportunity provided to Lundy Elementary School.”

A young artist hard at work

School administrators who are interested in scheduling a visit from Artie can find more information, including how to contact the River Road Park and Recreation District at www.rrpark.org. To learn more about the STELLAR Project, visit owp.uoregon.edu.

Photo credit: © 2016 Rachel Cameron. Used with permission.

STELLAR officially kicked off its second year October 23-24, with prior participants returning to serve as mentors to a whole new group of participating teachers. Over two days, teachers from four districts immersed themselves in preparation for the upcoming year, learning about Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), STELLAR, Second Life, and more.

STELLAR participants practice VTS

Friday night, participants learned the ins and outs of the STELLAR Project’s immersive virtual training environment. Friday, the group met at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) for an intensive VTS training presented by Yoon Kang-O’Higgins of the Visual Thinking Strategies organization.

STELLAR participants practice VTS on a sculpture

After the training, participants had an opportunity to practice VTS in the JSMA galleries, asking the three central questions of VTS:

1. What’s going on in this picture?
2. What do you see that makes you say that?
3. What more can we find?

What a great start to our new year!

Photo credit: Eric Tuck. Used with permission.