Spring 2019
by Ashley Lodato Education Director, Methow Arts Alliance The third grade animal studies program at Virginia Grainger Elementary School uses Common Core standards to integrate biology, literacy, art, and geography. Working with third grade teachers Patty Caryl, Nancy Bishop, and Amy Sullivan, students begin the process by selecting an animal and using the internet and… [Read More]
Winter 2019
by Ashley Lodato Education Director, Methow Arts Alliance When do you get to see the Methow Valley Elementary School art room filled with eagles, cougars, rattlesnakes, herons, and black widows? Second graders know the answer to this–when Bruce Morrison visits the school, that’s when. Bruce, a Twisp-based artist and teaching artist, has been leading residencies for… [Read More]
March 2019
by Ashley Lodato, Education Director for Methow Arts What do you get when you mix a sunny winter day, trailside art, and an outdoor ice rink? You get 45 happy second graders, that’s what! Orchestrated by Okanogan School District Instructional Coach (and former second grade teacher) Jill Streeter, a second grade field trip to the… [Read More]
spring 2019
Okanogan High School junior Madeline Luther is the face of poetry for the Okanogan area this spring. As the newly-proclaimed Washington State Poetry Out Loud Champion, Madeline was one of 13 high school students to participate in the annual Washington State Poetry Out Loud competition, and rocked it, reciting her poems with poise, passion, and… [Read More]
Spring 2019
by Ashley Lodato Education Director, Methow Arts Just imagine that you’re a high school drama class teacher in the tiny Methow Valley and you want to produce the musical “Chicago.” Your school is located in what many people would consider the middle of nowhere. Your class size is 30. The theater you’ll be performing in… [Read More]
Arts Education Spotlight 2019
by Ashley Lodato, Education Director Using sketching and acrylic painting techniques fourth grade students at Methow Valley Elementary School created still life compositions through a Methow Arts Artist-in-Residence program. Teaching artist Deirdre Cassidy showed students a diversity of examples throughout art history and taught them about the nature of the content in still life compositions.… [Read More]
Arts Education Spotlight
by Ashley Lodato Education Director, Methow Arts In any given day, Methow Valley 4th graders move effortlessly among core subjects, integrating visual arts, science, language arts, social studies and math into their International Baccalaureate units. With one teacher who is a former wildlife biologist, a weekly “Schoolyard Science” experience facilitated by the Methow Conservancy, and… [Read More]
Arts Education Spotlight
by Ashley Lodato Education Director, Methow Arts Second graders at Methow Valley Elementary School combined fiber arts with creative writing in a felted wool residency, using a wet felting process to create designs inspired by the theme of “winter gratitude.” Winter Gratitude by Ember Johnson I am thankful for snow white, super, yummy, and wet… [Read More]