Hello everyone and hope your summer is starting out like it should.
Our summer ArtsKool program is slated for the weeks of July 13 and July 20, a little earlier this year as scheduling made it possible to avoid the August heat — as if we could tell August heat from July heat. Nonetheless, there is a difference.
We have a great line up of artists eager to teach your young ones something about art. I will be teaching ceramics/raku, Joe Winston and John Fulbright will lead the film photography class and Elizabeth Fontenot will return as our printmaker doing lino cuts with the kids. Andy Ledesma is back making papier mache creatures and having a ball with it, as usual, as will Sheila Busceme who will teach color theory and drawing to our upcoming artists.
Art is a way for young people to explore their world, to bring to fruition an idea, a concept, that can take real form in a lino cut or a ball of clay or an exposed photographic sheet of paper.
Exposing children to art at any age is a positive experience for the development of a child. Through art, complex problem solving is exercised, as well as cognitive thinking, mathematical skills and retention of information.
Most of all, it’s just plain fun.
You don’t need to encourage a child to make art any more than you need to encourage a child to eat ice cream. Most kids migrate to these things automatically. I hope your child gets the chance to participate in this year’s ArtsKool because we are ready to teach them.
On the first of May I had another small heart episode. With a couple of stents I was out of danger, but it makes me think what if? What if it was major or fatal, and who would take my place and who would decide that. The Studio has been privileged to have amazing volunteers through the years who treat this vocation like a high-paying job. How long can we depend on that and what happens if it breaks down?
For these reasons, a good solution would be a strong and involved board of directors. A board can be impartial and utilize a broad range of participants to get things done. A board can direct The Studio to have a paid staff that is necessary for some funding sources and aids administrative credibility. A board can determine the financial strengths and weaknesses of the organization and assist its recovery. And the board can go out and find funding better than any staff can.
Now, I’m not saying my days are numbered, but we haven’t had a strong board since 2004 and it is high time we got one.
The Studio is in fine shape. We live within our means but we can do so much more with the assistance of a board. Board development is a slow process but starting it now will bode well for the future.
Be ready to serve.
Greg Busceme
TASI Director