Thank you again for attending the workshop! We very much appreciate your time and valuable input. Here are some brief notes taken at the meeting. If you have any further suggestions, please feel free to comment (after you accept your invitation 
In attendence:
Nancy Behrmann
Sandy Hansen
Ocean Kuykendall
Peggy Dills Kelter
Kathryn Ritter
Tina Cramer
Kelly Asbridge
Mary Reynolds
Betsy Petrick
Matt Ihle
Leigh Hancock
Scotia Bauer
Leith Gaines Rajotte
Goals for the Arts Advocacy Program – Leith Gaines
Looking to improve on our existing arts programming in our schools… would like to use you, the Advocates, to guide us. Would like to support you, and look to you as partners. Identify common strands – so we can plan more sustainable programs and cultivate community stakeholders.
How to spend OAC funds in 2012 – Leigh Hancock
We have funds from the Oregon Arts Commission’s Arts for Learning Program that can be spent in the following ways. These funds must be spent by June 2012.
Mentorship Residencies
In a mentorship residency, a CGAIE artist of your choice comes to your classroom for five days to model the delivery of a pre-selected arts project/residency. Prior to the classroom meetings (which can happen all in one week or over a period of weeks), the artist and teacher meet to set goals, choose a project and work out the details of how the mentorship will occur. Cost to school is $300 + materials – for 20 contact hours (4 hours per day for 5 days). We can pro-rate if only 1 or 2 teachers sign up for this program.
Integrated Arts Curriculum
CGAIE artists are experienced in creating curriculum to help grade level teachers integrate the arts into the teaching of other subjects such as social studies or math. We are especially interested in underwriting the costs of curriculum development if several schools join together to share the lesson plans that are produced. CGAIE could potentially host, in collaboration with a district, a workshop to help teachers understand how to use the created curriculum.
Art Materials Assessment
CGAIE artists can come to your school and assess the state of your art supplies. They can give you advice on what you need and where to buy it in order to maximize quality and minimize cost.
Arts Advocates Workshops
We can host at least one more workshop before June if there is demand. What topics would you like us to cover? Do you have certain speakers or experts (or artists) whom you’d like us to bring in? Give us your ideas and we’ll try to make at least some of them happen!
Project Ideas:
- Artist Trading Cards – Kelly introducted a project that was done with her 3rd grade classes… perhaps we could have something like this in the 4 counties we serve? Hold an event where the cards could be traded. Kits for each school, artists could provide ideas on different ways to work the project.
- Lesson Plans by Subject on Blog
- Teacher Training – At a staff meeting for I hour. Hands on, theme decided by school. Integration? Assessment?
- On Blog – section on Benchmarks, with lessons that tie directly to benchmark (ie. 6th grade math, listed by specific benchmark)
- Pinterest.com – as a model for finding ideas.
- Travelling Gallery – someone to coordinate and fund re-usable frames.
- Integrated Arts Curriculum, better flow with existing art classes. Challenge is time to devote to developing the art program for better flow between all of the grades. Mentorship could help, need to come up with a plan.
- Gorge-wide Middle School Art Show – maybe in Hood River. First Friday? AIE could facilitate – maybe a show at CCA or at the Chamber? Senior projects – maybe wood or metal project (Frames, display?) April is Arts Education Month?
2 Small Project grants (less than $5K)
Example: Welcome Back Old Friend in partnership with the HR Library
Ideas:
- Travelling Gallery
- Community Art Project
- Chenowith – need a project to help beautify the school and make it more welcoming. A funded public art project for the kids would be great. Mosaics, murals…
1 Residency grant
Ideas:
- Movement Residency as PE has been cut.
- Writing in elementary schools as well as MS and HS (low groups)
- Get a writer in to help teachers feel more comfortable with teaching writing – how to get your kids excited about writing. Current model is very dry. WordStock – amazing workshop, but maybe we could do a Gorge version. Beginning of the school year – August? Or also in the winter?
- Intervention classes – smaller groups – 8 to 12 kids – not meeting benchmark, so art could enhance and approach from another angle, that they are not getting through the traditional ways.
1 $10K “Challenge America” grant – could benefit all of the schools – to bring art to underserved areas. Fairly wide open, but our goal would be to get art into the classrooms.
Ideas:
- Social Studies & Science connections… Gorge-wide science and history. We have a unique eco-system. 4 displays.
- Study of the Columbia River and how it connects us and separates us. Kids are disconnected from the river, so it is a need.
- Recycling – Cynthia Caudill (could also be a good Arts Advocacy workshop)
