May 29, 2020
as told by our favorite Art Coach, Bruce Hucko Africa, The Book is a celebration of an artistic collaboration that took place at Helen M. Knight Elementary School in Moab, Utah during the 2019-2020 School Year. It centers on the creative energy of Mrs. Charlotte Quigley’s 3rd Grade class. It involves the school’s inspired music teacher Sheila Strahan and BTSALP-Visual Art Specialist Art Coach Bruce Hucko. The Adventure began when – Mrs. Quigley’s 3rd Grade class was reading folk tales as part of their social studies curriculum. Good teacher that she is, Mrs. Quigley saw the opportunity for creativity and […]
May 11, 2020
Debbie Beninati, BTSALP Music specialist at Sandy Elementary School in Canyons School district wrote two original songs and one original rap for a production of The Day the Crayons Quit. Students in the after school program did the rest: staging, casting, orchestrating on Orff instruments, painting protest signs for the crayons to carry, and creating art work that accompanied the story. Their only “script” was the text of the story, The Day the Crayons Quit , by Drew Daywalt. Safe to say it was a SMASH HIT!
April 7, 2020
Zoe Bennion (10 years old,) a fifth grader at Rosemond Elementary School in Jordan School District and her sister Mia (5 years old,) a Kindergartner at Foothills Elementary also in Jordan School District made a slide show to make all the teachers in Utah happy! Trust me, it does just that! BTSALP’s website designer, Anneliese Bennion took the LOVE up a notch by creating the . . . Awesome project for teachers, parents and creative spirits of all ages!! Check it out below.
April 3, 2020
Enoch Arts Night (Title 1 Family Engagement Night) for Enoch Elementary in the Iron County School District under the direction of BTSALP Visual Arts Specialist, Kirsten Anderson, Principal, Daniel Ekker, and Reading Specialist, Marcy Christensen was held on Monday, February 10th. It was a wonderful night FULL of creativity and fun! The event featured a large student art show full of the arts integrated projects the students had been working on since the beginning of the year. There were trainings for parents on how to best support their students academically and emotionally. The SUU Play Team was in attendance to […]
January 12, 2020
The Granite School District Art Gallery is currently showing art from BTSALP students. The exhibit – Do Art To Be Smart – will be on display until January 31, 2020. Images below are just a “sneak peek” into the creativity of BTSALP students! The following Specialists shared integrated art pieces created by their elementary school students. Sheryl Larsen, Cottonwood & Howard R. Driggs Lucille Stearman, Plymouth & Freemont Cynthia Micken, Copper Hills & Magna Catherine Widner, Pioneer & Jim Bridger James Camargo, Elk Run & Jackling Geometric and Organic Line and Shape, Grades K-6 – BTSALP Specialist, Lucille Stearman Positive […]
November 7, 2019
Robert Smith, BTSALP and Alpine School District Coach, is back guiding the 4th grade students in Ms. Mickelsen’s class through a session of scientific sketching and drawing. Topic: Butterflies! Scientific drawing require the artist to look at things through the eyes of a scientist. Charles Darwin was a scientist who was also an artist. He studied plants and animals and drew them in an accurate and detailed way. Boxes of butterflies, beetles and other creatures can be checked out from the Museum of Natural History on the University of Utah campus.
October 21, 2019
Spencer and Camilla Duncan are BTSALP Drama specialists and . . . they are also husband and wife! Spencer teaches at Copper Canyon Elementary and Elk Meadows Elementary in the Jordan School District while Camilla is at Edgemont Elementary and Park Lane Elementary in the Canyons School District. Spencer’s sixth grade class Copper Canyon have been studying and acting out the Egyptian myth of Osiris during drama class this month. Below is a short synopsis of the Egyptian myth. The Osiris myth is the most elaborate and influential story in ancient Egyptian mythology. It concerns the murder of the god Osiris, a primeval king of Egypt, […]
October 15, 2019
This Fall, 2019 the Artsbridge Honors course at Weber State University will design and co-create a new faux-stained glass installation called Utah Birds & Ecosystems. This is a course designed for Weber State University students to work closely with professors and BTSALP Visual Arts Specialist, Brent Rhodes, and his 4th graders at James Madison Elementary. Through this collaboration students design and build a hanging installation that depicts the birds and ecosystems found in Utah. This aligns with the 4th grade Utah State Science Standards. All of the Weber State students and 4th Graders will visit the Ogden Nature Center to gather field […]
October 7, 2019
BTSALP and Alpine School District Coach, Robert Smith is a man of many talents. Follow along as he guides Mrs. Everitt’s Kindergarten class in some drawing exercises on National Dot Day! “We are learning to tell stories with pictures. Artists use exercises and mark making to strengthen the muscles in their hands. It improves our drawing.” Mr. Smith puts on the music, first a lullaby and then some . . . Super Hero music and students take their pencils dancing! Group and Peer critique is an important part of the art lesson. First students respond to the question, What is […]
September 26, 2019
A new study found on artnetnews.com discusses research commissioned by Arts Council England that makes the case for why smaller towns should amp up and promote their arts offerings. Kate Brown, August 26, 2019 File this under things you probably intrinsically knew but now have data to support: arts and culture really do go a long way toward making people feel content. A new study in the UK has quantified just how much arts offerings influence people’s choice to relocate or stay in a particular city. And as it turns out, the presence of arts and culture overwhelmingly affected respondents’ sense of well-being and […]
September 22, 2019
Art at elementary: School programs encourage creativity Kathleen Snow, For The Spectrum & Daily News | Published 3:26 p.m. MT Aug. 20, 2019 The Washington County School District visual arts program in the elementary schools encourage individual student creativity while incorporating other academic areas into their artwork. WCSD Fine Arts Coordinator, Robert Schmidt, oversees all fine arts including; music, visual art, dance, and theater in schools K-12. He said visual art teachers have a core curriculum to follow just like all other academic areas. “One difference is the level of collaboration that occurs in the elementary schools,” Schmidt said. “Most […]
April 25, 2019
“It’s long been known that drawing something helps a person remember it. A new study shows that drawing is superior to activities such as reading or writing because it forces the person to process information in multiple ways: visually, kinesthetically, and semantically. Across a series of experiments, researchers found drawing information to be a powerful way to boost memory, increasing recall by nearly double.” Read more about this at edutopia.
March 14, 2019
from The Conversation From biotech to climate change, advances in technology raise significant moral questions. To engage responsibly, our next generation of scientists need training in the arts and ethics.
February 25, 2019
BTSALP Visual Artist, Alisa Webb, from North Ogden Elementary School (Weber State Region) recently hosted an art night during parent-teacher conferences. Every student had more than one piece of art hanging throughout the school. Students and parents were able to see these amazing works of art all around their school. Alisa was facilitating grade level art installations that will be permanently hung at North Ogden Elementary School. This year, each grade created a Crayon Mosaic made with recycled crayons donated by teachers and families in the community. Students are recreating famous pieces of art, while also re-purposing materials that are no […]
January 30, 2019
Here is an excellent excerpt from the book, You, Your Child and School: Navigate Your Way to the Best Education by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica. Share with parents, principals, colleagues, and community members to advocate for the benefits of Art Education in schools. Click here to read more. Just for fun – a bit of Doodling. Enjoy!
September 10, 2018
BTSALP Specialists gathered at Luminaria Photography Studio on Saturday, September 8, 2018 to learn the process of Cyanotype. This is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. Engineers used the process well into the 20th century as a simple and low-cost process to produce copies of drawings, referred to as blueprints. Thanks to Dave Hyams & Christine Baczek. The Process of Cyanotype The English scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel discovered the procedure in 1842. Though the process was developed by Herschel, he considered it as mainly a means of reproducing notes and diagrams, as in blueprints. Hard at Work Rachel Jacobs, BTSALP […]
September 3, 2018
The Department of Art and Art History at the University of Utah, the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program (BTSALP) and Murray City have created an opportunity for University of Utah undergraduate art majors, graduate art majors, BTSALP Visual Art specialists and elementary students to collaboratively paint nine socially engaged, portable murals in the elementary schools within the Murray City boundaries. The murals will be unveiled by Murray youth at their annual “Murray Fun Days Parade,” July 2019. The murals will then be permanently displayed at various schools in the district. Each mural will have a theme developed collaboratively specific to […]
October 20, 2016
Watch as fourth grade students at Greenville Elementary School in Logan, Utah make art for local city buses. Art is everywhere!
October 3, 2016
“With new teachers, new classmates and a new batch of facts, figures and concepts to learn, the start of a new school year can be a tough time.” – Jeff Bogle BTSALP Visual Art specialists know that creating self portraits might be the perfect art project to boost self-esteem at the start of a new school year. Check out the many, varied and unusual ways Utah students started off the school year!
September 22, 2016
Here Are 3 Benefits Of Arts Education For Students By Daniel, Parent Herald 1. Arts Education Improves School Performance One of the biggest benefits of arts education for students is that it can actually improve their learning skills, school attendance, critical thinking skills and creativity. All of these are essential for a successful academic performance. “In fact, several recent studies have concluded that the creativity and innovation utilized in the artistic process will be highly valued by employers in the United States in the coming years as we continue to shift into a global economy,” The Education Fund shares. […]
September 8, 2016
Classroom teachers and BTSALP specialists don’t take the Summer off . . . they are always thinking about their students and their curriculum. Teachers and specialists from all over the state came together at a variety of university locations for hands-on, arts integrated workshops. It may sound like work but I bet they’d all say it was really more like FUN! Find out more about what teachers and specialists REALLY do on their summer vacations in this month’s newsletter! Click here to read.
February 11, 2016
Researchers link arts and crafts in childhood to financial success in adulthood. Find out more about this at Psychology Today here.