June 5, 2020
as told by our favorite Art Coach, Bruce Hucko The Performance This really needs to be experienced in person. We have a video and it’s wonderful, but it’s just not the same as having been there in Ms. Sheila’s music room, which had been converted, quite simply, easily and indeed, magically, into a hybrid theatrical performance space and African ceremonial plaza laying deep in the jungle. The background was hung. Stage sides were set. Drums, Xylophones and other instruments were placed. Characters held their dance masks. Introductions were made. Everyone took their place. Actors, parents, and audience held their breath. […]
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 21, 2020
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 […]
February 5, 2020
One hundred and fifty years ago, on February 12, 1870, the Utah Territorial Legislature passed a women’s suffrage bill that allowed female citizens to vote under the same laws as the men. Join Better Days 2020, Utah Department of Heritage and Arts, and Utah Cultural Alliance at the Utah State Capitol to commemorate and celebrate this important anniversary and our Utah HERitage of women who continued to fight for representation and improve their communities. Social and political change is often long and difficult and involves many different women and men working together – and sometimes against each other. The year […]
December 9, 2019
Robert Smith, BTSALP Art Coach in Alpine School District, led Ms. Decker’s 5th grade class through an integrated lesson using the book, The Mountain Dance by Thomas Locker. He started by having students close their eyes and listen to a Beethoven selection that complemented the wonderful illustrations in the book. Students listed words that described the music such as happy, intense, adventurous, calming and relaxing. He then read the book to the students, pausing at certain passages for the students to visualize the words being read. The class then discussed the vivid verbs and interesting adverbs they found in the […]
November 25, 2019
Leaves From Roots is the brainchild of Britt Black, BTSALP Visual Art specialist at Philo T. Farnsworth Elementary School (Granite School District.) The exhibit celebrates the rich and diverse cultures that make up the community and student body of the school. This project comes with a lot of thought and meaning. Students have been working since the start of the 2019-2020 school year to create a leaf based on an investigation into their own roots. These artists know that there was once a member of their family that brought them and their culture to Utah, whether it was quite recently […]
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 […]
May 9, 2019
The plaster animal masks are finished and on display (Just in time for Art Night!) at Moss Elementary School in Granite School District. Kirsten Schiel, BTSALP Visual Art Specialist did a wonderful job of guiding the fifth grade students through the research, drawing and constructing phases of this integrated mask making project.
May 5, 2019
A great time was had at KRCL’s 90.9 RadioActive show talking about Oakridge Elementary School’s (Granite School District) graphic novel project and the Transcontinental Railroad. Thanks to the incredible work of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program. Segment starts at the 7:52 and ends on a wonderful 4th grader’s rendition of John Henry at the 27:28 mark. Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike in a graphic novel with Max Chang of Spike 150, Oakridge Elementary student Taegen, and Trish Saccomano of Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program. As home to the site where Central Pacific and Union Pacific crews […]
April 19, 2019
Shout out to Denise Manzione, BTSALP Arts Coordinator in Tooele School District and the students at Vernon and Ibapah Elementary Schools. Both of these schools are 2 room school houses in farm/ranch communities. Students were studying wool and how it is processed (in Ibapah quite a few already knew because they raise sheep). Wool was purchased from Utah’s Ag in the Classroom, but some of the students offered to run home and sheer a sheep if we needed more! The wool was dyed using Kool-Aid and coffee. Then students created faces and rolled it between sheets of bubble wrap to wet […]
March 29, 2019
Guest Blogger: Rachel Zumaya Drama Specialist at Suncrest Elementary School, Alpine School District Pantomime /ˈpan(t)əˌmīm/ nouna dramatic entertainment, originating in Roman mime, in which performers express meaning through gestures accompanied by music. In the Drama space at Suncrest Elementary School, students have been learning about pantomime and how tableaus can tell stories. 2nd graders learned to do “the rope” and had a pantomime Tug-O-War that they acted our for their class. The 5th grade also did a Tug-O-War activity integrating the Underground Railroad and the Salem Witch Trials with drama skills. 3rd graders worked on a collaborative project where they […]
March 20, 2019
Jeremy Chatterton, principal at Dilworth Elementary School in Salt Lake City School District, is definitely a friend of BTSALP. He is willing to share the success of the BTSALP every chance he can! Jeremy presented information about his school and the program at the Principal’s Symposium held at the University of Utah and at the BTSALP Legislative Dinner.
January 15, 2019
Jean Gardner, BTSALP Dance Specialist at Meadowlark Elementary School, and her students are Happy to Dance and Happy to Learn! The First Graders learned all about the process of plant growth through dance. Third Graders combined the study of Australian Folk Tales and the phases of the moon. Upper Grades studied and danced ratios and rates using hand and leg movements. They also created a dance inspired by the artwork of Jean Michel Basquiat and the words of Maya Angelou’s poem, Life Doesn’t Frighten Me.
November 13, 2018
Guest Blogger: Melissa Deletant Visual Art Specialist at Lapoint and Naples Elementary School, Uintah School District All students at Lapoint Elementary have spent the last five weeks working on portrait paints of Veterans from the local community. Images of veterans were provided by families, Robert Lucero – Veterans Director for the Ute Indian Tribe, and from various other sources including The Wall of Faces. The students started the first week by learning the proportions of the human face; following the ‘map of the human face’ to locate the placement for the eyes, nose, and mouth. The second week was spent […]
October 28, 2018
Guest Blogger: Melanie Haslam Melanie Haslam is the BTSALP Visual Art Specialist at Canyon Elementary School in Cache County. Follow along step by step as she brings Science, History and Visual Art together with Eco Printing. A big thank you to Melanie for an excellent lesson and blog post! Supplies: watercolor paper trays for soaking paper a variety of fresh leaves from different plants (any color, but not dry leaves) mordants (I used iron oxide and alum) 2 large tiles (that will fit in a pot) large c-clamps a large pot with a wire rack a heat source (I have […]
October 18, 2018
Maurya Fox, BTSALP Specialist, is a music teacher extraordinaire. She teaches before and after school programs, conducts and accompanies 60 participants in the “Soaring Singers” chorus, and directs a musical theater group that has 55 participants. But the “real magic” happens when you walk through the doors of her classroom at Riverside Elementary School in Jordan School District. Her classroom is filled with instruments, artifacts and treasures from countries all over the world. Ms. Fox uses African instruments to teach sixth grade students about the culture and music of African nations. Agogo Bells – Nigeria, Ghana Background: The agogô may […]
September 26, 2018
Just bringing you an update from one of our BTSALP long term projects! This project is “in the works” so keep checking back to see the progress. Laurie Shea, BTSALP Visual Art specialist, is working on a large scale, permanent installation for the open foyer at Beacon Heights Elementary in Salt Lake City. She started with the sixth grade and the paper mache Birds of Prey. She is now working with the lower grades. Each grade level is creating a different type of bird that will be hanging as part of the installation. Kindergarten students used Styrofoam balls, pom poms, […]
April 13, 2018
You won’t believe what the BTBALP students and specialists in the Weber State University region have been up to! Click here to see excellent arts integration in action! GreenWood Charter School Community Mural with Second Grade Lydia Stewart, Visual Art Specialist The second graders at GreenWood Charter had an expedition where they painted a mural along the Ogden River Trail. To prepare, they took a close look at the artist James Rizzi and created a rough draft of the mural on paper, which was posted in the school. They used the paper mural as a template for the design of their final product North Ogden & Hooper Elementary Schools […]
March 25, 2018
Students in BTSALP schools all over the state have been busy connecting curriculum to all four art forms. Click here to see our amazing students drawing, dancing, singing and acting in this month’s newsletter. Wayne Geary, Visual Art Specialist at Rose Park Elementary School, and Louise Fischman, artist and therapeutic art educator, spent the summer of 2017 exploring and absorbing the culture and art of the Canadian First Nations along the Northwest coast of Canada. This trip was like a “master class” in the design process of totem poles and their meanings. Wayne and Louise collaborated with Robin Raine, school counselor, to develop a long term […]
February 23, 2018
It’s time to celebrate – the arts in Utah and the Winter Olympic games. See BTSALP students perform Hamilton: The Making of a Patriot at the Utah State Capitol during Arts Day on the Hill. Do you know what an armature is? Fourth Grade students at South Summit Elementary School do! Learn all about their artistic process and check out their sculptures depicting Olympic sports. Read all this and more in the current newsletter. Click here to see videos on our Facebook page of Summit Academy Bluffdale’s performance of Hamilton: The Making of a Patriot. Arts Day on the Hill The 2018 […]
December 17, 2017
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 […]
October 22, 2017
Fourth graders study of Utah comes alive as they view the scenery of Arches National Park. Follow BTSALP Visual Art Specialist and “Art Coach,” Bruce Hucko with his merry band of students as they make art in the park! Read all about right here…
October 20, 2016
Watch as fourth grade students at Greenville Elementary School in Logan, Utah make art for local city buses. Art is everywhere!
April 14, 2016
This week’s newsletter shows us the power of using Drama and Theatre productions in the classroom. Then the landscapes and natural beauty of Utah are highlighted in visual art projects created by visual art specialist, Bruce Hucko and his BTSALP students from the Moab area. Click here to learn more…
March 24, 2016
Welcome to Draper Elementary’s Art Night 2016. Enjoy the visual arts projects created by the students and their BTSALP specialist, Kylie Welling. Arts and academic integration at it’s finest. Click here to learn how visual art can support and enhance content area learning.