Art as Therapy

Feeling stressed?  Or Upset?  Art can act as a form of therapy for anyone going through difficult times.  What is Art Therapy?  It is the therapeutic use of art making.  While this form of therapy is usually done under the direction of an art therapist for people with severe trauma or illness it can be done at home.

Art Therapy can be done at home to help alleviate the blues or a bad day.  It can be as simple as setting aside time in the day to do artwork.  While your mind is engaged in the art making process it helps your mind to refocus on the task at hand instead of the problem you had before.  So kick back and take an Art Break with your children.  It just may help you both to relax.

Zentangle is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns.  For more information, visit  http://www.zentangle.com/

Photos from Celebrate the Arts Day

We have a great day with wonderful workshops and performances.  If you didn't make it be sure to take a look at the photos below to see what you really missed.

Celebrate the Arts Day Schedule

The Schedule for Celebrate the Arts Day is finally ready.  Hope to see you there!

Celebrate the Arts Day coming soon!

Kirksville Primary School witll be hosting Kirksville R-IIIs Celebrate the Arts Day on April 20, 2013.

Our overall purpose for this event is to clebrate the Arts within our school district and community.  The event will be for all members of the Kirksville community.  It will provide attendees with performances and workshops in Visual Art, Music, Theater, and Dance.

We are looking for volunteers to help with our event.  Interest and support for the arts are the only requirements.  No expertise needed.  Please spread the work to anyone you feel would be interested in this even.  More details will be coming out in the following weeks.  Please contact Laura Halter if you have any questions or would like to volunteer for the even.

WOW! Wall

Getting the chance to see their artwork in the hallway is a very big deal for my students. I really want them to feel proud of their work that is there, but also want other students and visitors to our building to see and know why artwork is featured in the hallway. That is where our new signs come in. Our local JCPenney donated old signs they used in their store to the art room and I went right to work on reusing them to liven things up at KPS.

The signs have really caught the eyes of the kids! My goal is for every student to have art in the hallway by the end of the year. We are not there yet, but getting closer to our goal. Don't forget to ask your student about the WOW! Wall.

Our Chihuly Chandelier Finds a Home

Our Chihuly chandelier was installed in the commons area today.  It seems a little lonely all by itself, so we need to get started on our next one soon!

Zoom! This year is really flying by....it's time for an update.

Wow! This school year is just zooming by.  I usually feel like I start off at a run and then we slow to a walk and then everything takes off again in April and May.  This year has been usual, because we started off running and have never slowed down.

I started an Art newsletter to share what is happening with parents at home and I forget to add all that information to our blog.  But here is a quick overview of what we have been up to so far:

Kindergarten has been learning all the basics of Art.  They have covered drawing, painting, collage, and sculpture.

1st grade has been reviewing all the things that they learned in Kindergarten and have focused learning more about subject matter.  At this point they should all be able to explain what a portrait, still-life, and a non-objective picture are.

2nd grade is once again building on what they have been learning for the last two years.  We worked on collaborative sculptures for the commons area.  (I'll post more about this later.)  We have just started clay and their pottery is looking amazing.

That sort of sums up what has happened over the last 99 days of school!


We have a student intern with us from Truman this semester, Miss Lisa.  She visited our class last year and loved us so much she wanted to comeback for her internship.  We are thrilled to have her and learn new ideas from her too.

Lastly, I have been doing a lot thinking and planning trying to get digital art into our classroom.  As of today, we have registered with donorschoose.org requesting help for purchasing an iPad.  The possibilities for an iPad are a simple as a digital drawing, but what I would love to see happen is animated movies or interactive books created by our students for each other to enjoy.  I have seen a lot of creative ideas happening with iPads in other Art rooms and I am really excited to get this started for my students.  With donorschoose.org you can choose to donate a little towards funding a project or a lot.  It is your choice.  Every little bit helps us to reach our goal. So see our project's progress.....  http://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/1730664.-340888601