While I spend my time at Bixby either making art with kids or keeping the facilities together; my true passion is helping these students begin to realize some of their vast potential. Anyone that teaches can tell you how much work it is; preparing lessons, writing rubrics or grading papers, even the daily maintenance of the classroom as groups come and go at times can be a grind. None of that matters however when we are in the art room and a first grader discovers the wonder of mixing paints or a third grader conquers the intricacies of Tinkercad or a fifth grader comes in during their free time because they’re working on a complex drawing. Having an open studio in terms of being able to experiment or pop in during free time is something I’ve tried to maintain with the art room. The payoff in those individual moments of discovery is priceless!
There is a lot of process that happens in the art room and it’s within that process that people find a way to express themselves and maybe call it art or maybe not. With the Bixby auction right around the corner, we’ve been creating class projects in some of our art classes. In the interest of time, they all have a process that the kids are asked to follow but each student is going to have a different take on the instructions. Some will result in a minimalist take on the assignment where another will not be able to finish because their vision was so intricate. I love when a student gets so lost in their work that I need to push them out the door. I love when a kid bangs out a piece of work and shows it to me with pride.
Be sure to notice the murals in the first grade hall and on the way out to lower. They all got the same palette of colors and the same size canvas but they’re all as unique and different as the wonderful kids that go here.