Showing posts with label art students. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art students. Show all posts

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Thank you "Pirate Fine Arts!"


Pirate Fine Arts: Showing support, and showing their stuff

Photos

Mike Christopherson

During the junior high orchestra performance of a “Pirates of the Caribbean” tune, eighth grader Alyssa Fee plucks her viola.

  

By Mike Christopherson, Managing Editor
Posted Nov 16, 2011 @ 12:47 PM

    Fine arts programs in Crookston's public schools are receiving a financial jolt thanks to the latest efforts of the Pirate Fine Arts Boosters (PFAB), which presented the Crookston School Board with a $13,300 check this week after its latest fund-raising effort.

    A major milestone was reached this year, too, PFAB Board member Jim Kent told school board members, as the eighth and final sound shell will be purchased. Kent said the goal of raising money to purchase eight – for a total cost of around $18,000 – was set in 2005. "That was a major undertaking in itself, and we're finally there," he said.

    PFAB's impact was also on full display Tuesday evening in the Crookston High School auditorium, where the junior high choir, orchestra and band performed their 2011 Fall Concert. Every singer and musician wore a matching new, dark blue Pirate Junior High Music polo shirt. A PFAB contribution helped to make the purchase of the shirts possible, Kent said. (Parents of junior high music students were asked to contribute $5 for their child's shirt.)

    The 2011-12 PFAB membership roster is more than 100 strong, with a mix of  individuals, families and businesses. Depending on their contribution level, they're broken into groups such as the Maestro Club, Bravo Club, Conductor Club, Director Club and PFABulous Club. Want to join? Contact them at PFAB, PO Box 743, Crookston, MN 56716.

    Total contributions in 2011-12 amounted to $22,169, the highest one-year total in the organization’s history. Since it was born in 2011, PFAB contributions total $150,327.

    The $13,300 this year is being allocated as follows:
    • $2,500 each for choral, band and orchestra
    • $500 for Highland School art
    • $1,000 each for CHS art and theater
    • $1,800 for Highland music
    • $1,500 for speech

    In actuality, Kent said, $14,750 was raised, but $1,450 in the form of a contribution to cover auditorium-related costs was made.

    Kent also lauded the Legacy Fund made possible by a 2008 vote of Minnesotans that has brought various artists into the local schools. "PFAB is able to do some cash matches and write some grants because of the fund," he said. "It's made a major impact in our schools."
   

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Seth Godin's definition of art and artist

Seth Godin’s Definition of ‘Art’

February 19th, 2011 by Michelle Basic Hendry
Arthur Lismer
Arthur Lismer, Sombre Isle of Pic, Lake Superior, 1927;
Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery

What is Art?

The topic of Seth Godin’s last blog post and his definition of ‘art’ and ‘artist’ in his recent book “Linchpin” has proven touchy in the fine art community.
It’s not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it. What matters, what makes it art, is that the person who made it overcame the resistance, ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making.
~ Seth Godin
Some time ago when I first read Seth’s controversial interpretation, I found a discussion in the comments section of the Fine Art Views Blog.  The whole idea was making some wonder if their ‘identity’ was threatened or that the meaning of ‘artist’ was in some way being diminished. If anybody can be called an artist in any form of work – what are we?
I shared my thoughts at the time, but, when the topic came up again today, it stuck with me yet again. Clearly I had not resolved it in my own mind. I went so far as to leave the post up in my-e-mail all day.
I was updating my website tonight (I am in the middle of a switch) and I was moving over one of my favourite quotes. I immediately ran back to my e-mail and realized that it seems that one of Canada’s most innovative ‘artists’ of the 20th century agreed with Mr. Godin:
Inside each one of us is an artist. . . . And that’s what an artist is, a child who has never lost the gift of looking at life with curiosity and wonder. Art is not the exclusive possession of those who can draw, write poems, make music, or design buildings. It belongs to all those who can see their way through all things with imagination.
~ Arthur Lismer
Arthur Lismer (1885-1969) was one of the founding members of the Canadian Group of Seven – a group of fine artists that changed painting in Canada and helped Canadians find their identity in their landscapes. These artists/painters risked criticism and overcame resistance in their communities. If Lismer can so broadly define ‘artist’ then why can’t we?
To anyone who lives and acts with imagination – thank you for sharing your art.
from:  http://bit.ly/h3oI4U

Friday, February 11, 2011

Crookston Artists

Artist in the Schools: Trey Everett helps students make pen and ink come alive

Photos

Everett1.jpg
Natalie J. Ostgaard

rey Everett has (from left) Chris Ibarra, Gabe Montieth and Mandy Von Reuden add their own text to the large text-within-outline mural that’s been accumulating all week at Highland School.

  

Related Galleries

By Natalie J. Ostgaard, City Editor
Posted Feb 11, 2011 @ 01:34 PM
Thanks to a grant from Minnesota Northwest Arts Council, Crookston Artist Trey Everett is working with students at Highland and the high school this week to help them produce original pieces of pen and ink artwork, the goal being “to help students gain confidence and take pride in their abilities and unique creativity.” All that's needed to express yourself is a pen and paper, he says.

Everett has been concentrating primarily on students in fourth grade on up, helping them create age-appropriate unique pictures made up of text within an outline. Beth McDougall, retired Highland fifth-grade teacher who specializes in art, has assisted by working with second and third grade students on creating realistic self-portaits.

A culmination of the students’ work will take place this evening (Feb. 11) in the form of an art show in the CHS  commons, in conjunction with the Artist Series concert, from 6 to 9 p.m. The show is free of charge and open to the public.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Cinco de Mayo in Crookston MN

Arts Council grant gives Cinco de Mayo $10K boost

Photos

Submitted

Pictured, front row, left to right in the UMC Prairie Lounge: Thomas Williams, director of diversity programs; Janelle Encinia, a junior at Crookston High School; Chuck Casey, chancellor; Ken Mendez, a senior communication major; Mara Wittman, director of the Northwest Minnesota Regional Arts Council. Back row, left to right: Peter Phaiah, associate vice chancellor for student affairs; Melissa Dingmann, director of financial aid; and Laurie Wilson, coordinator for disability services.

By Staff reports
Posted Jan 13, 2011 @ 12:16 PM
    A $10,000 grant awarded by the Northwest Minnesota Regional Arts Council will support this year’s Cinco de Mayo celebration at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. The event is set for Friday, April 15.

    The grant, offered through the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund, helps support access and exposure to the arts in all corners of the region. The goal of the Cinco de Mayo Celebration is to promote learning, understanding and appreciation for the Mexican culture through traditional Mexican entertainment, crafts, and cuisine.

    As director for the Northwest Minnesota Regional Arts Council, Mara Wittman is pleased to award the grant to help bring a cultural event of this caliber to the Crookston campus.


    “We are excited to be able to support a cultural event that highlights the Mexican culture and celebrates their arts, music, and customs,” Wittman said. “This kind of event is what our funding is designed to support, and we are proud to be a part of helping bring this exciting opportunity to the Crookston campus and community, as well as the region.”

    Over the past two years, hundreds of people have attended the celebration at the U of M, Crookston. The event is held in honor of Cinco de Mayo, a day that historically, represents the victory of Mexico over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 and culturally, represents Mexican heritage and pride.

    The year’s events include the dance troupe, Los Alegres Bailadores, who will perform in Kiehle Auditorium, a children’s arts area that will include homemade piƱata making, and the Latin Groove Band.

    Melissa Dingmann, director of financial aid and Laurie Wilson, coordinator of disability services worked closely with Kenneth Mendez, a senior communication major, on the grant proposal. Mendez, who has been involved since the first celebration three years ago, wants to see the tradition continue on the campus.

    ”The collaborative effort among the University, Crookston Public Schools through the VOICES program, Northwest Minnesota Regional Arts Council, and the potential for new partners joining us is evidence that when we work together across boundaries of all kinds, we can enrich the quality of life for everyone in our region,” Mendez said. “It is exciting to see this come together, and I would like to thank Chancellor Casey and the campus community for embracing the celebration.”

    Mendez’s desire to see the Cinco de Mayo celebration continue after he graduates are being encouraged by having Janelle Encinia, a junior at  Crookston High School, shadow the preparations for this year’s event. Encinia is also a post-secondary enrollment option student at the U of M, Crookston and has been observing firsthand the event planning process to prepare her to take over the work Mendez started.

    “To know that the celebration will continue after I graduate is both gratifying and rewarding,” Mendez said.

    The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council serves the seven counties located in the northwest corner of the state. This activity is funded, in part, by a grant from the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council and the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota in 2008. To learn more about the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council, visit www.nwrdc.org/arts.


Saturday, November 27, 2010

Art Changes Lives

CHS art students back from trip of a lifetime

Crookston Times Nov. 15, 2010

Crookston High School art students and their chaperones, including their instructor Gary Stegman in front, pose before the backdrop of Chicago lights.

A group of 25 Crookston High School art students and their chaperones returned last week from a five-day trip of a lifetime to Chicago, where they attended plays such as "Romeo and Juliet" and "The Lion King," visited art galleries and took in the sights of the city. Students paid for the trip themselves and also got to experience riding on a train there and back.

Stegman: Art trip to Chicago could change lives

By Mike Christopherson, Managing Editor
Posted Sep 29, 2010 @ 12:00 PM
Crookston —
On one level, it's a field trip to Chicago that focuses on art and culture. But there are many other levels to the upcoming trip that 18 Crookston High School students will embark on in early November, CHS art teacher Gary Stegman told the Crookston School Board, which put its official stamp of approval on the trip this week.
    "I can't emphasize the benefits of this trip enough," he said. "They're going to ride public transportation in a big metro area, they're going to walk about five miles a day, they're going to eat real Chicago deep-dish pizza, they're going to meet homeless people, they're going to learn compassion and, of course, learn about art history and culture."
    CHS students in recent years have taken an art-themed trip every other year,  usually to the Twin Cities. The last time the group went to Chicago was four years ago, Stegman said, and he knew soon after that successful trip that students needed to return. The trip itinerary for this year's four day/five night trip from Nov. 2-6 looks very similar to the itinerary from four years ago, he explained, including the Amtrak train transportation, and a visit to a major museum every afternoon, sandwiched by various activities in the mornings and afternoons. Even most of the chaperones going along this time took the Chicago trip four years ago, Stegman said.
    Eight students, mostly seniors with some juniors and sophomores sprinkled in, are going on the trip, which costs each of them around $700. They've done all of the fund-raising themselves, Stegman said, so the trip isn't costing the school district any money.
    "I promise the parents every time we take this art trip that their kids will come back changed," he said. "They don't just learn about art and culture, they learn compassion."
    The students will write journals during the trip and author papers when they return, Stegman added.
    The art trip tradition has boosted the CHS art program itself, he contends, adding that more CHS art students advance to state art competition now than they did before the trips began. They're also being awarded significant college art scholarships, Stegman added.
    Asked by board member Robin Brekken about safety and liability issues, Stegman assured board members that safeguards are built into the trip, and they basically come down to "what do you do if something happens." Students travel in groups, he said, and have access to cell phones. "There's a chain of command, where everyone is watching somebody," Stegman explained. "We want these people to see that life is different elsewhere, and that life is pretty good right where they are now."