Fourth grade students at Oaklawn Arts Magnet Elementary School recently welcomed teaching artist and potter Nina Louton to the classroom to demonstrate how people throughout history have used art forms to reflect beliefs, traditions and culture.
Louton conducted her residency, “Pottery of Mythical Creatures,” during the month of March. She introduced mythical creatures based on the story “The Rainbow, a Sioux Myth.” Students learned about the Sioux, their appreciation of animals and how they used depictions of animals in their art.
This four-day residency was held in collaboration with Oaklawn’s art teacher, Alison Cole. Students had the opportunity to learn not only about the Sioux and their culture, but also the skills of forming their own pieces of pottery and artistically applying intricate glazes to their work. The residency was brought to the school by Arkansas Learning Through The Arts, which works with teaching artists to develop programs that collaborate with teachers to engage students in deeper levels of learning.
Cole stated, “With a project like this [pottery], you need an artist who knows what they are doing. I would not have dared to try to finish a project like this by myself. We learn from each other.” Art teachers are often challenged to be “experts” in every different art form and having a teaching artist in the classroom gives them the opportunity to develop those skills. This process has a lasting effect beyond the residency for both students and teacher.
Arkansas Learning Through The Arts will be participating in ArkansasGives Day on April 6 to help raise funds to support these in-school programs. Any donations given that day by credit card between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the website ArkansasGives.org will have bonus dollars added by the Arkansas Community Foundation. Donations originating from individuals or businesses in Garland County will be used to support residency programming in that county.
For further information about ALTTA, go to altta.org or contact Craig Welle, executive director, 214-676-0222, or Martha Smither, board president, 501-922-2743.
