Parents of school-age children tend to receive a steady stream of kids’ artwork, which they proudly display on the fridge or in another special spot in the home.
But at the Jefferson Foundation’s Equity & Excellence Art Show in Golden, the best art produced by youngsters in Jefferson County public schools is elevated to gallery status.
“The show looks professional, and it’s all very high-quality,” says Swanson Elementary School second-grade art teacher Aimee Pickar, who co-chaired the exhibit along with middle-school art teacher Phyllis Bubeck.
Now in its 10th year, this annual art event was created “to promote and celebrate diversity in the school district,” Pickar says.
The Jefferson Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports Jeffco Public Schools. Its Equity and Excellence art show is the only Jeffco student show to combine work produced by student in grades K-12, featuring more than 100 pieces of art from 55 schools throughout this largest school district in Colorado. Art teachers were asked to select up to three submissions. “Best in Show” awards were given for two- and three-dimensional pieces created by artists in the elementary, middle-school and high-school grade levels, respectively.
Combining age groups for the exhibit allows viewers to learn about arts education at different stages of the process. While younger students explore cultural diversity by participating in teacher-directed art projects, older students produce pieces that are more personal.
“The upper-level students can reflect their own ethnicity, culture or experiences,” Pickar says. One young artist produced a painting of her sisters, with an artist statement describing the importance of family in Mexican culture.
And Conifer High School student Kat Jarvinen traveled to Ghana and submitted photos of the villagers she met there.
Pickar, on the other hand, chose Navajo weaving as a subject for her elementary students. She taught the children about Navajo weavers and the way technology and styles have changed over time. Then the students created small cardboard looms to craft their own yarn weavings.
“They got an understanding of weaving and of the people who have done this for centuries,” Pickar says.
And at Wayne Carle Middle School eighth-grade students studied gyotaku, or Japanese fish prints. This tradition stems from fishermen pressing real fish onto rice paper to record the size of their catch. Phyllis Bubeck’s students used fresh trout from the supermarket, but the art form can easily be replicated with rubber fish, seashells and other objects.
Another teacher introduced students to the Ukrainian art of psyanka, a batik-style method of decorating eggs with hot wax and dyes.
The student art show also works to encourage creative thinking. “Anytime a student receives recognition for their efforts, they are more likely to pursue something,” Pickar says. “We see that a lot in sports, but it’s also true of the arts.”
The Jefferson Foundation Equity & Excellence Art Show runs through April 5 at the Jeffco Public Schools Education Center, 1829 Denver West Drive, No. 27, Golden. The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 303-982-6500.
