Art Day brings students, art educators together

Subjects included, graphic design, drawing, glass blowing, ceramics, printmaking, photography, museum studies and mixed media.

CSC students Phil Colella and Jordan Koch led the photography and drawing sessions, respectively, and over 40 other students assisted faculty and fellow students leading the other workshops.

Laura Bentz, chair of the CSC Art department, said she was grateful for the work by office assistant Jessyca Hovendick, faculty, adjuncts and students. She was particularly pleased to offer a breakout session designed specifically for the high school teachers to help build the art education community in the region. As an extension of ideas generated during the breakout session, an exhibit of high school student art work will be hosted at CSC in the spring of 2016, Bentz said.

CSC graduate Mattie Churchill, now the high school art instructor at Hemingford, said Art Day was beneficial for her students, as well as herself.

“After helping organize the CSC Art Day in the past it was good to look at it from a teacher perspective and how each station was set up. The students seemed to really enjoy going from session to session and it seemed as if they learned a lot. The staff and students that were working Art Day were very friendly and helpful to everyone who entered the building,” Churchill said. “The teachers’ meeting was really nice to have considering it is my first year teaching and meeting with other art teachers to get their perspectives and ideas from their classrooms was extremely beneficial.”

Bayard High School art teacher Kristina Gregory agreed that the teachers' session was helpful because she was able to discuss with her peers how they approach art shows as well as discovering creative ways to display student art throughout the schools and communities.

For the first time, Museum Studies, now aligned with the Art program as degree option or as a minor, was one of the eight Art Day modules.

MacKenzie Carroll of Sacramento, California, was the facilitator of the activity as part of her Museum Education project.

“I wanted the event to be something new and fun to the high school students while also engaging them in just a couple of the opportunities. I thought the archeological dig and pottery repair was excellent because museums frequently work with archeologists and the artifacts they discover. It was exhilarating leading the event and I would like to think that the students were receptive not just to the day’s activities but also to learning more about museum professions,” she said.

Two other museum studies students, Jessamyn Kostman and Dara Edwards, helped Carroll organize an archaeological dig for replica artifacts, complete with soil, trowels and screens. When students found an antique button or other item, they washed, identified and cataloged it. Students were invited to thread the replica they discovered onto a leather or plastic bracelet or necklace to take with them as a memento.

Students were also invited to glue pieces of broken pottery items back together as part of the Museum Studies module. Jessamyn Kostman of Ogallala, Nebraska, said she thought the students seemed to enjoy reassembling pottery the best.

“I hope they were able to gain some new information about the museum world and what museum studies here at CSC has to offer. I talked with one Chadron High student who is planning to join the museum studies program next fall,” she said.