Thanks both to the ingenuity and quality of the program and to the limited instructional space available in the Gallery’s temporary location, Artist in the Classroom is now our flagship school program. As the name implies, the program brings professional artists into school classrooms to offer memorable experiences to students. The program is convenient and cost effective for schools, and has been an astonishing success. Funded by a grant from the Ainsworth Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie, the program kicked-off in January 2007 with visiting artist Nicole Bauberger from Whitehorse inspiring 209 students in their own local classrooms in only four days. Requests for the program were received by the Gallery well before its official announcement at the 2007 Teacher’s Convention in March.
Artist in the Classroom was also the ideal program to serve schools subsequent to the collapse of the Gallery building. The program resumed in early May, less than a month after its components were rescued from the collapsed building. From January to June 2007, despite the interruption of the disaster, the Gallery ran 56 programs in 11 different schools serving a total of 1, 174 students, meaning that the program is on pace this year to meet or exceed the total number of students served by the Gallery in 2006 (1,827).
Six qualified instructors, four local and two regional, are available now to spread their talents and inspire students with art!
For all of the details, please download our 2009-2010 Artist in the Classroom Catalogue.