Art-Making, Family Style

Brought to you by National PTA.

by Betty Sainz and Ann Pike

Family Art Night at H.C. Vial Elementary School in Garland, Texas, sponsored by the PTA, is an evening of fun for entire families to create special art projects together.

Due to a lack of accredited art teachers in the school and the economically disadvantaged makeup of the student population, many students never have had the opportunity to create art in a medium other than crayons, so Family Art Night gives them a chance to explore. During this event, students and parents are encouraged to get messy and create art that is all their own.

On this night, the school cafeteria is transformed into an artist's studio offering a rainbow of supplies. Six to eight stations are set up, each with its own art form. In the past the PTA has offered tie-dying, metal impressing, paper mosaic, clay sculpture-making, sponge painting, "stained glass" tissue paper, rubbings, and collage-making. Parent and teacher volunteers assist at each station by encouraging individual creativity. All supplies, including paper, paint, markers, glue, sponges, and clay, are provided by the PTA and local merchants.

Even though the PTA conceived Family Art Night as a means to increase participation in the National PTA Reflections Program, it chose not to limit the art making. Art not eligible for entry into the program such as modeling clay sculptures and parent-child collaborative efforts have been encouraged and enjoyed. Still, since this program's inception in 1997, entries into the Reflections Program have more than doubled.

In the past, students' artwork rarely advanced past the local level. Last year, however, many were recognized at the council level with a few advancing to the district level. The PTA fully expects these numbers to increase each year, and that H.C. Vial students will place on the national level in the near future.

Presently the Family Art Night staff consists of volunteers with enthusiasm but little or no art experience. The PTA suggests expanding this program into the school curriculum by having a qualified art teacher on staff. With a larger school budget, not only could H.C. Vial afford an art teacher during the school day, but also it could offer art nights throughout the year featuring specific techniques facilitated by professionals.

The PTA set out to create a fun family experience, and succeeded.

Betty Sainz is the president of H. C. Vial Elementary PTA in Garland, Texas. Ann Pike is on the H.C. Vial PTA board. For more information on this program, contact Sainz at 5402 Blue Cove Drive, Garland, TX 75043; (972) 226-6169, or e-mail her at bsainz@multiforms.com. Family Art Night was recognized as an Outstanding Event by the Garland ISD Council of PTAs this past year.

This article is from the October 1999 issue of Our Children, the official magazine of National PTA. Click here for information on subscribing to Our Children.

Click here to learn how to encourage arts in education with National PTA's parenting resources.