The look of wonder on this student's face was repeated hundreds of times during this year's MPA ArtReach school tours.
More than 1700 elementary school students and teachers visited McLean Project for the Arts (MPA's) galleries in January and February for tours of Contraptions: Reflections on the Barely Functional.
Eight of the 12 schools served and 81 percent of the students who attended were from Title I schools, schools with high percentages of English as second language students or students who qualify for free or reduced lunches.
In an email to MPA ArtReach Program Director, Sharon Fishel, here is what one Graham Road Elementary School teacher had to say:
“On Feb. 4, my fifth graders from Graham Road Elementary along with a couple of parent volunteers learned quite a bit during our visit. Your demonstration on angles built background knowledge on the angle lesson that I taught the week after our visit. Your comparison of the center of the wheel from one of the art pieces to the nucleus of a plant led me to choose a National Geographic article on plants to use during my reading workshop. I could not pass up the opportunity to build on the foundation that you so cleverly introduced for the Plant Unit I plan to teach in March. Thanks for keeping it relevant! “
The tours were conducted by artist/educators and focused on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) concepts.
ArtReach is offered FREE to schools and is funded entirely by contributions and grants. MPA also subsidizes the full cost of school bus transportation for Title I schools that might otherwise not be able to pay for transportation.