Published: October 06, 2008 11:52 pm            

Arts Council kicks off 2008 season

By Leah Dill Blackard

Special to the Daily Sun



The Navarro Council of the Arts, in celebrating 30 years of service to Navarro County, is proud to present the 30th Annual October Arts Festival, “Passport to the World of Art.”

The festival began presentations to students on Monday, and will continue daily through Friday in the Optimist Room at Corsicana’s YMCA.

“PASSPORT to the World of Art” is a five day arts festival designed for third and fourth grade children in Corsicana and Navarro County. The hands-on children’s festival explores how the visual arts are a vital way of communicating ideas and creating relationships between cultures around the world. The goal of this year’s festival’s theme is to appreciate the beauty and aesthetic simplicity of the primitive art of the aborigines of Australia and the paintings of nature in the style of the Chinese people of Asia.

Guest artists Julio Suarez, VET and Janet Reynolds will work with festival participants in hands on experiences in drawing, painting and mixed media. Julio Suarez, a professional visual artist, art educator and festival director, will help children create cartoon-like paper people using markers and illustration techniques. The paper people will be glued onto a paper mural to create a collage filled with children, each representing each festivalgoer.

VET, a professional mixed media artist and art educator (specializing in working with children), will teach the students the art of Australian aborigines in creating bark paintings of stylized animals using authentic colors and pattern designs on brown paper.

Janet Reynolds, a professional visual artist from Dallas, will share her knowledge of painting and nature in teaching the participants how to design beautiful watercolor paintings in the style of the “Flower, Bird and Insect” Chinese paintings. Students will use Chinese bamboo brushes, watercolors and ink.

The goal of “PASSPORT to the World of Art” arts festival is to invite the children to think about how other world cultures with rich pasts in art history still create art today influenced by their ancestors while using modern ideas. It is the hope of this festival to stimulate the festival-goer’s creativity and curiosity and learning more about Australia, China and other countries. Students and teachers will understand that there are similarities of creating art among different cultures and that symbolism and storytelling (e.g. myths and dreams) can be expressed in art when interpreting nature.

For more than 30 years the Arts Council has been celebrating the October Arts Festival with the 3rd and 4th graders of Navarro County. This is a one of a kind residency in that it allows these students to learn and appreciate the visual arts and have hands on projects to take home and enjoy. A full teacher’s packet and study guides are available on our website at www.navarrocouncilofthearts.com under publications.

This year the Arts Council will reach over 1500 students with this festival with the help of local volunteers and donors.

        

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