Arts still alive at La Paloma

FALLBROOK — With funding declining for “optional” subjects in local schools, elementary grade students often miss out on art and music instruction. The administration and the PTA at La Paloma Elementary School have been fighting hard to make sure that their school does not neglect this important aspect of a well-rounded education. One way they have accomplished this is through the unique ArtDay program.

For four years, the ArtDay program has provided students with instruction by professional artist and instructor Vonda Day. Day has developed a program to introduce students to master artists and the techniques they employed, through lessons on the history of art, art movements and with hands-on projects.

“I also think it is really important that the students use ‘real’ artist tools,” said Day. “Let’s face it: the paintbrushes in a regular classroom would challenge even accomplished artists. When I first started volunteering in one of my children’s classes, the children were unhappy with their pictures, so I picked up a brush to help them out and I got unhappy, too. The typical, flimsy brush just wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do.”

“No wonder people feel like they are not artistic; the tools that they’ve been exposed to make them think it’s them and not the brush. They have been deceived!” she added with a laugh. “It is amazing the difference in the quality of their projects when they use good tools.”

In the fourth grade, students learn the fundamental principles of art, including line, shape, perspective and color. They study artists who exemplify these principles, such as van Gogh and Matisse. At the end of the year they take all of those principles into the garden and paint en plein air like the Impressionists did.

“We are fortunate enough to have a beautiful garden and while it is a challenge to have 30 kids outside with paint, it is truly worth it just to give them the feel,” said Day. “Plus, they learn to really look at what they are painting and see that there really isn’t ‘a sun in the corner,’” a common phrase heard in Day’s classroom.

Fifth-graders start their year with studies of individual artists beginning with Cezanne and Post-Impressionism and Edvard Munch, whose painting “The Scream” helps students understand how emotion can influence their art. They then move into such masters as Picasso, Matisse, Klimt and Georgia O’Keefe. Projects completed in fifth grade include still-life pieces and self-portraits.

Sixth-graders are challenged with ideas of what makes something art and that art is more than technique or beauty. They acquire knowledge of the Modern/Post-Modern period, learning about the theory and styles of artists such as Dali, Magritte, Rothko, De Kooning and Warhol as well as contemporary artists such as Vic Muniz. “It’s important that they know that not all artists are old, dead men!” said Day.

One project in sixth grade has the young artists producing a large Abstract Expressionist piece. “I especially love that project,” reported Day. “They see these works of art and scoff at how easy it looks and then realize there is more to it than just smearing paint around.”

This past year sixth grade students were able to do a personal piece on canvas instead of the usual paper. “It was great to see what they learned and what they took from it over the years and how they were stumped by the white canvas, an artist’s most daunting experience, only to overcome it and make something special,” said Day.

La Paloma classes have enjoyed ArtDay instruction at least once a month for about one hour and 15 minutes each session. However, in the coming school year ArtDay instruction will be expanded to every other week.

The school’s principal, Lea Curcio, believes so much in this program that she is allocating a portion from the school budget to help pay for it.

By the time students graduate from La Paloma, not only have they have created many pieces of artwork worth framing, but they have gained a broader framework upon which they can build their further academic studies. As they study the Renaissance in junior high, the students will already be acquainted with the thoughts that influenced the art of that day.

Their elementary school study of Impressionists will come to mind as they study Impressionistic literature in high school and college. Synthesizing knowledge and applying lessons across a wide range of subjects is only available to those who have been exposed to a wide range of subjects.

Producing lifelong learners and thinkers begins with solid, broad-based, early education; the staff and administration at La Paloma pursues this end by presenting their students with a strong beginning.