GARRISON
ART CENTER
SCHOOL INVITATIONAL THEME EXHIBITION 2008
Every Picture Tells a Story
welcome… teachers, students,
parents and school personnel to another year of Garrison Art Centers’ school
based program fondly referred to as SITE
which stands for School Invitational
Theme Exhibition. Each year we offer an art related theme for teachers to
use as a jumping off point for special projects with their students. The goal
is for the participating classes to be part of a region wide exhibit at Garrison Art Center (GAC) during the
months of April/May 2008. This opportunity assists teachers with a special
project that introduces different ideas about art and helps preserve the
relevance of art history and artistic endeavor in school curricula. This project
also provides direct access for schools and parents from five surrounding counties
to a community based art organization.
The process is simple, with this letter is
enclosed a registration form to be
completed and sent back by teachers or education facilities (please remember
the $30.oo registration fee) by the specified due date; December 21, 2007. The rest is up to teachers to decide
how they want to incorporate the SITE
theme into their art classes and to wait for forthcoming letters or (emails if you
prefer) that will have details for the shows. Garrison Art Center would like to
extend help to teachers where possible. GAC creates a visual reference package
that contains pictures of art works that relate to the theme and that offer
ideas for interpretation. We will lend this package to teachers who call and
reserve the reference package for a specified time. GAC also welcomes visits by
school groups to GAC for a workshop and/or artists’ talk that focus on the SITE theme. If class trips are
complicated GAC can visit your school with a small “art squad” for a
presentation or workshop type experience. This requires some planning by
teachers or administrations but we hope you will take advantage of the offer to
give students different experiences.
This year's theme takes a descriptive turn
towards the storytelling aspect of visual images. This can mean anything from
serious historical subject paintings, to book illustrations and, why not even
comics. Teachers should be able to find relevant thematic content in any era of
art history or any academic subject for that matter. Literature and art have
been inseparable throughout the ages. They take turns influencing and
determining creative outcomes, like siblings unable to stop pestering and
relishing each others’ company. Our reference package will represent some of
the ways in which stories and art have collided through the ages but we also
encourage finding twists and turns that will challenge the conventional
picture/story relationship. We hope this year will be another amazing
collection of young energetic ideas inspired by thoughtful guidance. Please
contact me for more information or help with ideas. All participating teachers will receive letters with show dates and
other relevant exhibit information after receipt of the enclosed entry form.
Sincerely,
Carlos Uribe, Director of Arts Education