USBE Board Room Art – From Amy Boehme & Jackie Webster

Each month BTS Arts is highlighted by Cathy Jensen, the Director of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program at the State Board of Education.  We collect art from schools across the state, and Cathy has time on the agenda where she can talk about the art and describe what the students did.  This is remarkable for our program to have a monthly spot on the agenda. The 15 board members have said this is one of their favorite parts of Board meetings.  We’ve even had Board members and members of the Governor’s staff request art for their offices.

Amy Boehme, BTS Arts Educator in the Jordan School District,   had her students do several projects.  They did chalk landscapes that are a study of warm and cool colors.   The students chose to either use warm or cool for the land and the opposite for the sky. They also talked about space, background, foreground, and middle ground.  They also did portraits which were done in a Tim Burton style, which excited the students since he’s a living artist.  They were very excited to learn he’s the creative director of one of their favorite movies, “Nightmare Before Christmas.”  Amy also had her students work on scarecrows.  It was a direct draw helping students to master special awareness and craftsmanship with their coloring.  They talked at length about what you need to do to make your art look good: slow down and take your time.  They also read the book, “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.”

Jackie Webster, BTS Arts Educator at Eastlake Elementary in the Jordan School District, brings art to life with her students.  Some of the projects done by her students were: Flowers, Watercolor Aspen Trees, and Habitat Silhouettes.  To create the flowers, they learned about different parts of a flower and how there are so many different flowers.  They were taught how to draw different styles of flowers and added their own creativity.  Her second-grade students painted watercolor aspen trees using masking tape and watercolors.  They also read a book about how seasons change and the effect this has on trees.