All STEAMed up

Art in Action fills the gap between the traditional “four Rs” and STEM with the creative education often missing in our schools today. Funding shortfalls cut back on art, a huge mistake. Art education is foundational to learning executive processing and fine motor skills. It’s a key to brain development.

The concept is simple: The program trains teachers and parent-volunteer “docents” to guide kindergarten through eighth grade students through a wide range of art projects and skills development right in their classrooms.

They provide packages for schools and home-based learning that deliver: masterpiece-based lessons inspired from diverse cultures, age-appropriate techniques that grow skills sequentially, complete lesson plans, and they integrate with the history, language, math and science curriculum.

This is not amateur stick figure sketching. It’s a professionally designed course for kids that’s fun, functional and very sophisticated, yet also age appropriate. That’s quite a feat and the lessons are very impressive.

Art in Action is a 44-year-old national program that began in Atherton. More than 25% of the 91,000 students per year come from 74 schools right here in the Daily Journal’s readership area.

“Art provides a way to illuminate what’s normally unspoken,” Emily Ma, a high school alumna of the program, said.

“I’m just so grateful for art, because it saved me,” Sydney Martin, another former participant, said.

Marri Nijem and Laurie Lionetti co-chair the program at St. Matthew Catholic School in San Mateo. Nijem is a hands-on classroom parent/docent and glowingly said, “Art sparks joy!” For the classroom docents it’s “foolproof,” and for the teachers everything is supplied.

“What’s really special to us,” Lionetti said, “is when we arrive the kids’ eyes light up. ‘Are we having Art in Action today?’ Then room erupts with a ‘YES!’’”

Does it work?

Today Chelsea Stewart is working within the contemporary art field, and she still vividly remembers her first inspiration at an Art in Action kindergarten lesson on Van Gogh. She was instantly inspired by the sunflowers project. She looked forward to those lessons every week through fifth grade.

Her best memory was clay sculpture day. “The freedom to lose yourself in clay and get messy — what kid wouldn’t want to get her hands dirty?”

That moved her to get a Masters in Spatial Art, sculpture, and she still revels in getting her hands dirty or wielding a brush.

Whether students take up careers in art, everybody wins, because the business world is built on creative thinking from product development to packaging to marketing.

“There’s art in everything a person does, every field,” she said. “You learn how to communicate besides with words. You slow down, learn patience and notice the world around you.”

Come see for yourself at their annual Student Art Show.

Eighth graders from Redwood City’s Mt. Carmel show real skill in portraits inspired by Dorothea Lange.

Two contrasting visions would delight Picasso from fourth and fifth graders at San Carlos Mariposa Upper Elementary.

A fifth grader in Our Lady of Mount Carmel painted a bedroom after the Jacob Lawrence lesson, that I see as homage to Van Gogh’s room.

Sixth grade dragons from the school are a fun take-off on Chinese textiles.

There’s a lot more expressive work here.

This is the future of creativity.

You Can Create Too: There will be hands-on art activity for all ages at Art in Action’s Annual Student Show April 26 from 1-4 p.m. at the Foster City Library, 1000 E. Hillsdale Blvd. This is one day only; just walk in and enjoy.

Art in Action, 1755 E. Bayshore Road, Suite 24A & 25A, Redwood City, (650) 566-8339, artinaction.org.

Bart Charlow, author, artist and consultant blends over 45 years of painting and photography with narrative storytelling. Explore the intersection of observation and expression through his insights on the local art scene, find his books at bartcharlow.com and his art at bartsart.weebly.com.