Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program

Tag: Utah State University

  • Art in Transit: From Schools to Community

    Brooke Smart is a visual artist collaborating with Better Days, the organization celebrating both Utah and national suffrage by honoring women throughout history. Brooke was brought to Logan as a resident artist with both Cache Valley and Logan City School Districts. During her week stay, Brooke worked with BTSALP visual art educator, Sheree Given and her 4th grade students at Wilson Elementary. She also spent the week with visual art instructor Katie Shupe’s Art 1 and AP Art classes at Mountain Crest High School. 

    The students learned about Brooke’s artwork and her traveling art exhibit, “Utah Women Making History,” which includes illustrations of Utah Women (and a few men) who worked to advocate for women and advance their communities.  The 4th graders chose an important woman leader that has impacted their lives or a woman in history that inspires them. Using watercolors, they each created portraits and meaningful compositions representing their chosen person.  The student artwork will be reproduced and displayed on the CVTD buses (Cache Valley Transit District) as part of the Art in Transit: From Schools to Community project. Art in Transit: From Schools to Community is directed by USU’s Beverley Taylor Sorenson Endowed Program for Elementary Arts Education.

    Learn more about Brooke Smart and see her portfolio of work.

  • Creativity Unbound

    Visitors to Utah State University’s Sorenson Center for Clinical Excellence were greeted with music and the buzz of children’s voices as the Lyndsley Wilkerson Gallery celebrated the opening of its newest exhibit, “Creativity Unbound.” 

    The gallery featured student artwork from K-8 schools in the Logan, Cache County and Box Elder School Districts in a celebration of the importance of the arts to both learning and self-expression. Those in attendance at the grand opening enjoyed a performance by the North Park Elementary Honor Choir, and students were thrilled to see their masterpieces displayed.

    Read more about it….

    The exhibit features many different kinds of pieces, including watercolor paintings, yarn collages, and wire sculptures.

  • Utah State: Arts Are Core Conference

    Utah State University sent BTSALP specialists and classroom teachers “back to school” with strategies and lesson ideas to reach every learner. Arts Are Core: One World, Many Makers held on August 1, 2019 provided professional development arts-integration for K-6 classroom teachers, arts specialists, administrators and university students/pre-service teachers.

    Educators participated in a full day of professional development exploring how the core curricula of Math, Science, Language Arts and Social Studies can be taught using the rich hands-on art forms of dance, drama, music and visual art. Participants delved into the foundation of arts-integration, unpacking all of the quality characteristics of best practice. They also walked away with enriched lesson plans to kick off the upcoming school year!

    If this looked like fun, check out some of the other workshops coming up at Utah State University!

  • Cache County Glass Project

    What do Egyptian hieroglyphics, bus stops and colored glass have in common?  Read our latest newsletter and find out!

    Cache County Glass Project

    Sixth grade classes (90 students) at Canyon Elementary worked with glass artist, Carrie Trenholm and created fused glass panels inspired by ancient cultures. Students learned about West African Adrinka textile designs & symbols, Egyptian hieroglyphics, and symbols/imagery relating to cuneiform tablets.

    Carrie was in the schools Monday through Thursday with an Art Show on Friday (November 27 – December 1). Utah State University Anthropology Museum director came the first day and showed work from the collection. “That was really cool!”

    Students created abstract designs representing something about themselves and inspired by ancient symbols. Each student created an individual glass piece and as a group the pieces were assembled together onto a clear glass plate (6 in each group).

    Altogether 5 collaborative panels were created for each class. The panels were adhered to a metal frame and installed inside the school as a legacy project.

    Later this year, the panels will be photographed and reproduced as bus placards, placed inside Cache Valley Transit District (CVTD) buses.

    Art in Transit Show

    6th Grade Teachers: Tricia Parker, Logan Smith, Allison Tyson
    Visiting Artist: Carrie Trenholm
    Principal: Stacie Williams
    BTSALP Art Specialist: Melanie Haslam
    Cache District Arts Coordinator: Maele Shakespear
    BTSALP Program Director/USU: Aurora H. Villa