Awards for art
Students will get chance to explore variety of artistic projects
The Artssmarts program awarded $142,500 for 30 projects taking place in schools across Newfoundland and Labrador at a ceremony held at St. Mary’s Elementary in St. John’s Thursday.
Providing students with the vehicle to explore their artistic side is what Artssmarts has been doing in Newfoundland and Labrador for the past two decades.
This collective of groups that include corporate sponsor Statoil Canada, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s Cultural Connections Strategy and the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers Association (NLTA) has helped the program continue its high level of success.
The Artssmarts program awarded $142,500 for 30 projects taking place in schools across Newfoundland and Labrador at a ceremony held at St. Mary’s Elementary in St. John’s Thursday.
Some of the projects funded this year include Storytelling in the Valley, taking place at St. Mary’s Elementary, where all 180 students in kindergarten to Grade 6 and their 15 teachers will work with storytellers from the St. John’s Storytelling Festival to explore the art of storytelling.
“You will get to publish a book, produce a play or perform a dance through this project,” said Mark Browne, MHA for Placentia West-bellevue and parliamentary secretary to the minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation.
“I look forward to seeing your finished products.”
The students will also work with visual artists Catherine Wright, Gina Rae King and Susan Parsons to create visual art pieces that express their stories in images.
The project will support language arts, science and social studies, and, depending on the grade level, the visual art pieces will be drawings, paintings, collages, painted silk or quilted squares.
Mentoring is key
“I want to thank all the music teachers and the mentors for making a huge difference in the lives of a lot of people,” said Gwenyth Puddester, the 2017 Statoil Artssmart Scholarship winner.
“The kindness, tolerance and dedication of these people does not go unnoticed,” she told the students who attended the assembly.
The students were treated to a performance by Eastern Owl, a First Nations women’s drum group based in St John’s. As part of its performance, Eastern Owl led the students through a snake dance.
Schools apply to Artssmarts for funding to bring professional artists into the classroom to help teachers and students integrate arts activities into non‐arts subject areas.
The funded projects this year will see 2,633 students and 170 teachers working with different artists, creating 61 professional artist positions encompassing 14 schools throughout the city of St. John’s and 16 additional schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Paul Fulton, president of Statoil Canada, said being involved in the program was a privilege for his company.
“I have three children who are artistic kids. But they were born to sciency parents,” he said.
“They would benefit from this program.”
Fulton told the students they are the heroes of tomorrow and they will be an inspiration to their friends, parents and others.