Family Art Night at Peabody Elementary

I wanted to touch base with you about Peabody's Family Art Night. Again, the date is set for March 11, 2008 @ 6:00pm. The event will be held at Peabody Elementary which is located at 2086 Young Ave. in the Cooper-Young community.

Family Art Night was started last year, as a vision by me to promote Arts in the schools. As you may know, when budget cuts come along, the Arts are oftentimes the first to go. Also, some people view the Arts as simply a creative past-time and do not understand the value it has in impacting a student's learning. My aim was to show that despite these woes, discipline-based art education was still attainable in the classroom. I worked to show teachers how to integrate art into the regular curriculum. Also, I strived to show parents the importance of art when it comes their child's education, and I wanted everyone to walk away with an awareness and appreciation of the Arts.

Furthermore, Family Art Night consists of stationed-based activities for the students; a Meet-and-Greet with local artists and art organizations; and special performances. All in all, it is a night where the Arts come alive!

Many people, both students and parents, commented on how they thoroughly enjoyed the event and looked forward to it again.

This year, the theme for the event will be "Passport to the Arts", which coincides with Peabody's International Studies Program and we have added a "traveling artists" component whereas artists will create artwork and the New Ballet Ensemble School dancers will show various ballet techniques.

Artfully yours,
Regina Boyd
"Every child is an artist..." -Pablo Picasso

I met Regina and heard about this great event at the CODA Conference last fall.